Senator Cameron Price (23) drives against Galena's Zach Lessinger in a loss to the Grizzies 64-42 at Morse Burley gym Friday night.
Tied up with two games to go.
That is the situation atop the Sierra League standings entering the final week of the regular season after Galena slammed Carson, 64-42, Friday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium to snap the Senators’ nine-game winning streak.
Carson and Galena are tied at 11-3. Manogue, which has a make-up game against Reed today, is at 10-3.
Galena has the easier finishing schedule with games against Wooster and Damonte. Carson plays Manogue on the road Tuesday and hosts Douglas Friday. Manogue finishes with Reed, Carson and Wooster. The Senators’ Tuesday game against Manogue is critical, and could determine homecourt for the playoffs.
The 22-point win wasn’t indicative of the game. It was actually worse than that for the Senators, who went scoreless in the opening quarter. The Senators’ effort was a far cry from the one they put together back on Jan. 20 at Galena (63-51 road win).
Carson shot an icy 35 percent and turned the ball over 12 times.
“They (Galena) came to play tonight and we didn’t,” Carson coach Carlos Mendeguia said. “They had us back on our heels from the start. They played like we wanted to play. They were the aggressors. We allowed them to control the tempo. We played timid, like we were afraid. I thought we were ready to play, but obviously we weren’t.
“We ran a 1-2-2 zone the last time, and they adjusted to that. They kept attacking the short corner. The last time we packed it in and they were 3-for-22 from 3. Tonight, they had nine 3s. (Jared) Ford had four of them, and he’d only had three in his last six games.”
The performance comes on the heels of Tuesday’s ugly 31-26 win over Wooster.
“I don’t know if this was a rollover (from Tuesday),” Mendeguia said. “They seemed like they were ready.”
The first half, and the first quarter in particular, said otherwise.
Carson went 0-for-8 in the opening quarter and turned the ball over four times in falling behind 8-0.
It was the first time Carson had gone scoreless in a quarter all year, and Mendeguia said he couldn’t ever remember being blanked for an entire period.
The only thing that saved Carson from being in a bigger hole is the Grizzlies shot just 33 percent from the floor.
The second quarter wasn’t any better.
Jayden DeJoseph broke Carson’s scoring drought with a basket 21 seconds into the second period.
However, the Grizzlies scored 17 of the next 20 to open up a 25-5 lead with 1:52 left in the half.
Jared Ford, who had two 3-pointers in the first quarter, added another. Zach Williams threw in one, too. CHS trailed 29-12 at the break. Ford finished with 18 and Williams 12.
One thing was evident from the outset. The Senators were bothered by Galena’s length inside. Points in the paint weren’t easy to come by.
“We couldn’t get anything going inside the paint,” said Asa Carter, who finished with eight points. “It forced us to take too many bad shots from the outside.”
And, Galena also extended its pressure in the halfcourt.
“They created havoc, especially in the first half,” Carter said.
Carson was 4-for-18 from the floor in the opening 16 minutes, and Galena went 9-for-20.
An early three-point play by Dillon Voyles (12 points) extended Galena’s lead to 20 at 32-12. The closest Carson got the rest of the game was 48-32 after Carter scored four straight points to open the fourth period.
