Carson's Tez Allen goes to the hoop against Pershing County Thursday at Wooster High during the 2nd round of the Railroader Tournament.
SPARKS — Sixty was the key number for the Carson High boys basketball team Thursday.
That was the number of points the Senators scored to secure a pair of victories and improve to 4-2 on the young season.
In a 3 p.m. game at Wooster High, Carson grabbed a 60-39 win over Division III Lovelock in a second-round game of the annual Railroader Classic, and then a couple hours later, outlasted Spanish Springs, 60-49, in a Division I crossover game.
The Senators will double dip again today, facing either Dougherty Valley or McQueen at 4:30 in the semifinals of the Rail City Classic, and then immediately driving over to Hug to face the Hawks in a crossover battle starting at 7.
Carson coach Carlos Mendeguia was extremely pleased by the results.
“Anytime you can go to Spanish Springs and get a win that’s big,” Mendeguia said. “Once we settled down and let the game come to us, we did well. I liked the way we finished the game tonight. We made some great passes that led to easy shots.
“Tez (Allen) had a great game, his best of the year. I challenged Tez to win the battle of the boards, and he did. Asa (Carter) did a great job on Marcus (Loadholt).”
Loadholt did finish with 18, but only 11 when Carter matched up with him. It was an excellent job by Carter, considering he’s still getting his basketball legs under him.
Carson, which had a 47-34 lead with 2:14 left in the third quarter, fell victim to a 16-4 rn which enabled the Cougars to cut the deficit to 47-46 with 4:40 remaining in the game.
The Cougars had two chances to go ahead, but Loadholt missed on the first possession, and then they turned the ball over.
On the ensuing possession, Carson missed, but the Senators got the offensive rebound and Allen scored on a lay-up to make it 49-46.
Spanish Springs’ Josh Prizina misfired on the next possession, and then Asa Carter (17 points) was fouled and hit one of two from the charity stripe to make it 50-46 with 3:32 left. Allen (12 points) intercepted a lob pass on the Cougars’ next possession, and Jayden DeJoseph took a nice feed from Jace Keema to make a lay-up, making it a two-possession game at 52-46.
Justus Eaglesmith ended the drought with a free throw to make it 52-47 with 2:40 remaining. Nice passes by Cody Azevedo and Keema led to lay-ups by Carter and Allen, as the Senators stretched their lead to 56-47 with 1:29 remaining. Jalen Townsell scored on a dunk, but two more free trows by Carter and a lay-up by Allen iced it.
“We executed down the stretch,” Carter said. “We started playing better basketball (in the second half).”
It was Carson’s big second quarter that set the tone. After Spanish Springs went ahead 18-14, Carson went on a 19-6 run to take a 33-24 lead at the half. Carter had nine of those points, including the Senators’ last seven points of the half.
“I knew Spanish Springs would come out fired up,” Mendeguia said. “They lost a tough one to Bishop Manogue the other night. I knew if we could withstand their intensity in the first quarter, it would carry us through the rest of the game.”
The big second quarter forced the Cougars to play from behind, and that’s not easy to do against Carson.
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Against Lovelock, the Senators played their starters the bulk of the game, and it’s a good thing.
Lovelock kept it close for a half before the Senators went on a 24-8 surge in the third quarter to open up a 24-point lead. It was only then Mendeguia turned the game over to the subs.
“Yeah, I did play the starters longer than I expected to,” Mendeguia said. “I know their coach (Lance Condie), and he gets his kids to play hard. I don’t think our kids expected them to give us a ballgame.”
Carter, who had just four points in the opening half, scored eight straight to open the second half enabling CHS to pen up a 28-13 lead.
“He (Carter) defers too much sometimes,” Mendeguia said.
“He needs to be more selfish.”
Carter was the only double-figure scorer for CHS, finishing with 14. DeJoseph added seven.
JV BASKETBALL
CHS boys fall
Carson (2-4) was edged by Spanish Springs 52-48. Hunter Rauh scored 16 points, Derek Barry had 14 and Dawson Lamb added seven points for CHS.
CHS girls win
Carson defeated Sierra Lutheran’s varsity 49-30. Lauren Lemburg scored 18 points and Ku’ulei Haupu added 10 points for CHS. Clair Davison scored 16 points and Brynna Hansen added six points for Sierra Lutheran.
FRESHMEN BASKETBALL
CHS boys win
Carson (2-4) defeated Spanish Sprins 27-17. Kahle Good scored nine points and Danny Escalante added seven points for CHS.
