Djarrah Navarro runs the floor for Carson.
SPARKS – For 16 minutes, Carson High’s girls basketball team battled hard against perennial powerhouse Reed.
The second half? Well that was another story, a truly ugly one at that.
The Senators, who trailed 46-27 at the half, were outscored 26-2 in the first six minutes of the second half and lost 89-37 Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the NIAA 4A regional tournament.
The game was played with a running clock for approximately 12 minutes after Reed attained a 35-point lead.
“We played a good first half,” Carson coach Melissa Larsen said. “It’s been the same thing all year. You have to play four quarters, and tonight we only played two. We have to play a whole game.
“We came out in the second half and turned it over three straight times (and four of first five) . We played a 3-2 zone and they still shot the ball well. They are a good shooting team.”
Larsen won’t get an argument from Sarah Schopper-Ramirez., Reed head coach.
“I thought we shot it well,” she said. “We’ve seen the 3-2 before. We saw their game against Douglas, and we expected Carson to play man. We weren’t used to it, so it took a while.”
That comment is hard to believe when Reed got off to a 13-2 lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game, as Serene Townsell-Williams had seven quick points. Reed got it up to 18-4, but a trey by Lauren Lemburg, a free throw by Haley Garver and a lay-up by Abbey Paulson made it 20-10.
That’s when Autumn Wadsworth kicked up her game. Wadsworth scored Reed’s last eight points to make it 26-10 at the quarter.
Ramirez said she often alternates Williams and Wadsworth in the starting line-up. She said she likes spark coming off the bench.
Wadsworth, who finished with 23, continued the assault in the second quarter, scoring nine as the Raiders left the floor with a 46-27 lead.
Carson scored a respectable 17 points in the second quarter, as Bella Kordonowy had five of her 10 and Dajarrah Navarro chipped in two baskets.
“We did a good job of attacking the basket,” Larsen said.
Carson shot eight free throws in the quarter, sinking five of them.
“We played better defense in the second half,” Ramirez said.
Indeed. Carson managed just 10 points, going 4-for-10 from the field. The Senators turned the ball over 12 times in the second half.
Taylor Johnson, who had a quiet first half with eight points, scored 17 of Reed’s 34 points in the third quarter as the Raiders opened up an 80-33 lead. Johnson had five 3-pointers and a field goal.
She finished with a game-leading 25 points.
The Senators didn’t score a field goal in the final quarter until Amanda Schulz connected in the waning seconds of the contest.
Carson finished with a 13-14 record, and Williams appreciated the effort her team showed throughout the season. Better things should be ahead because the team loses just one senior.
“The girls worked really hard this year,” Larsen said.
