Carson boys pull away from Reno

For 16 minutes, Carson High struggled mightily against Reno’s 2-3 zone defense.

Despite shooting 52 percent, the Senators led just 20-17 after two periods because they turned the ball over 11 times.

The Senators scored three baskets in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter to build a nine-point lead en route to a 43-31 win over Reno in a Division I crossover boys basketball game Wednesday night at Morse Burley Gym.

Carson improved to 10-5 overall and 4-0 in league play, while Reno dropped to 7-5 and 3-1. Carson continues its crossover schedule next Tuesday night at North Valleys at 7 p.m.

“They were huge,” CHS coach Carlos Mendeguia. “Coming out of halftime (or at start of game), we always talk about getting the first two or three baskets and get up six or eight points. It can carry over and give you momentum. They couldn’t stay in their zone. That’s what they do. Everybody in the north knows that. They play that 2-3 really well.

“The fact that we’re turning the ball over 20-plus times and still winning ... think what we would do if we cut those turnovers down. What bothers me is that Reno wasn’t trapping or anything like that. It was just a straight 2-3.”

However when you have two 6-6 guys like Michael Heydon and David Kyle who move around well, it’s no surprise teams have trouble.

“The (three) baskets were huge,” said Reno coach Matt Ochs. “I thought Carson did a great job with their spacing, and once we fell behind we couldn’t sit back anymore. When we rotate (properly) I think our length bothers teams. The second half we couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean.”

It wasn’t a pretty game. Carson had 21 turnovers and Reno had 22. The Huskies compounded their problems with a 10-for-31 shooting night. Those numbers won’t win a lot of games. Carson scored eight of the game’s first 10 points, but Reno battled back and tied the game twice at 14-all and 16-all, the latter deadlock coming with 3:09 left in the half. Jared Rooker stepped up and scored on a short bank shot and then had a buzzer-beating putback of his own miss to give the Senators a 20-17 lead.

Jace Keema hit a jump shot from the right side to make it 22-17. Neither team scored over the next minute, but then Jayden DeJoseph, who led Carson with 14 points, had two layups in a 27-second span to make it 26-17.

“He’s a tough match-up,” Ochs said. “He can shoot it and he’s long.”

The game got ugly over the next 3-minutes 52-seconds. Reno went 0-for-3 and turned the ball over twice and Carson turned the ball over four times. The fourth turnover came after the Senators held the ball and forced Reno to play them man-to-man.

Reno scored its only points of the quarter on two free throws by Alex Tsaniff, who took the ball hard to the basket after the Carson mistake. Lay-ups by DeJoseph and Tez Allen gave CHS a 30-19 lead after three.

Two free throws and a three-point play by Heydon trimmed Carson’s lead to 35-26, but two baskets by Asa Carter, one by Rooker and one by DeJoseph made it 43-28 inside the two-minute mark.