Carson's Lilian Bouza guards Galena's Kristin Farrell during Tuesday's game at Galena.
RENO — For nearly three quarters, Carson went toe-to-toe with Galena, and then fatigue set in.
The Senators went more than six minutes without a point bridging the late third and half of the fourth quarter, and that enabled Galena to take control and go on to a 41-32 victory in the Sierra League boys basketball opener Tuesday night.
“We got tired,” Carson’s first-year coach Jordan Glover said. “We got five guys playing the whole first half, and we have one guy (Abel Carter) guarding one guy (Moses Wood) the length of the floor. You’re going to get tired.
“We knew they were going to start hitting shots. It just happened to (start) in the last stretch of the third quarter. The first half they weren’t hitting shots. We were just gassed.”
Scores by Derek Barry, Abel Carter and Jonny Randall had given the Senators a 26-22 lead with 2:48 left in the third period. That, unfortunately, would be Carson’s last lead.
The Grizzlies closed out the quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 31-26 lead after three. Trae Thomson started the surge with two free throws, Austin Crofoot scored on a putback, Wood (18 points, 7 blocked shots) converted a three-point play and Spencer Conatser scored on a driving layup to finish the barrage.
Carson’s only shot in that span was blocked by Wood, who was a human eraser, and the Senators didn’t help themselves with four turnovers, three coming on three straight possessions to end the quarter. Wood had 13 of his 17 in the opening half.
The carnage continued in the fourth quarter, as the Grizzlies scored seven straight to increase the lead to 38-26 with 4:30 left in the game. Thomson keyed the surge with five points. Carson closed to 38-32 with six straight points on baskets by Barry, Randall and Trent Robison, who was subdued by Wood most of the game.
Robison’s basket with 2:06 left provided the final points for the Senators.
Points have been tough to come by though Glover said there were opportunities against Reno and Galena.
“Everybody watches film, and we have open layups,” Glover said. “We just can’t put the ball in the hole. On our first five possessions tonight, we missed four layups. When you don’t score a lot of points, you need every bucket you can get.
“We knew this would be a grind. The kids played hard. We left here with a lot more heart than we came with.”
Manogue 57, Douglas 49
MINDEN — A 17-1 run to end the third quarter turned the tide for Bishop Manogue in its 57-49 Sierra League win against Douglas on Tuesday night.
Manogue (5-2, 12-4) turned a 37-29 deficit into a 46-38 advantage during the pivotal stretch which spanned 3 minutes, 11 seconds in the third quarter. Kolton Frugoli sank a pair of 3-pointers and two technical free throws plus he picked off three steals during the run.
Gabe Bansuelo scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Miners, while Frugoli added 14 and Josh Rolling 10.
Austin Clutts led Douglas (2-5 league, 4-12 overall) with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Andrew Collins also scored 11 points, 10 in the first quarter, and Ian Ozolins 10 for the Tigers. Douglas shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Truckee 49, Dayton 30
TRUCKEE — The Dust Devils, with their two best ball handlers bothered by injury and illness, turned the ball over 26 times en route to a 49-30 loss to the Wolverines on Tuesday.
Chance Peterson played despite feeling sub-par and his brother, Lance, was bothered by a knee injury.
Trevor Burrows scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds to lead Dayton. Joey Martinez contributed six points and three rebounds.
GIRLS
Carson loses thriller
RENO — The Senators were determined not to let Galena’s Kristin Farrell beat them Tuesday night in the Sierra League opener.
Farrell didn’t beat Carson, but her teammates did. Reilly Moss scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, including a basket with 49 seconds left to lead the Grizzlies to a 35-34 victory.
Moss’ last basket came with 49 seconds left and gave the Grizzlies the 35-32 lead. Carson turned the ball over 15 seconds later, and was forced to foul. Moss had a chance to put the game away, but she missed the front end of the 1 and 1 with 17.5 seconds.
Lily Bouza, who led Carson with 18 points, drove the lane and scored to make it 35-34 with 11 seconds left but missed the free throw. Carson got the offensive rebound, but Abby Golik’s final shot was off the mark.
The second half was a struggle for the Senators, who managed just 10 points after leading 24-19 at the half.
“The second half we stopped doing what was working in the first half,” CHS coach Melissa Larsen said. “We didn’t crash the boards and we didn’t get easy baskets. I thought the girls played hard.
“We wanted to shut Farrell down, and No. 11 (Taylor Crofoot) down. It was a gamble.”
Farrell scored just five points, three coming on the first basket of the game. She was visibly rattled as the game went on, as Annika Wick and Bella Kordonowy were the main defenders on her.
Bouza scored seven early points to give Carson the lead. Galena eventually pulled even at 17, but Carson ended the half on a 7-2 run for a 24-19 lead. Bouza scored the first three in the surge, and Kordonowy and Haley Garver added a bucket apiece.
Manogue 65, Douglas 52
MINDEN — Ashley Sprouse scored a career-high 23 points to help Bishop Manogue to a 65-52 Sierra League victory against Douglas on Tuesday night.
Manogue (5-2 league, 9-7 overall) never trailed en route to a win that solidified its hold on first-place in the league race. Sprouse converted four of her team’s nine 3-pointers on the night.
Douglas (2-5, 5-12) only trailed 30-24 at halftime, however, Manogue began the third quarter with an 11-2 run to take control of the contest.
Ashlynn Campbell scored 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Hannah Carred added 12 to lead the Tigers.
Kenna Holt and Julia McElwee scored 13 and 11 points respectively for the Miners.
Truckee 53, Dayton 29
TRUCKEE — Truckee outscored Dayton 22-7 in the third quarter en route to a 53-29 win over the Dust Devils on Tuesday.
Dayton trailed just 20-17 after the first 16 minutes.
“I thought we played one great half,” Dayton coach Kelly Frantz said. “Unfortunately there are two halves to a game. We couldn’t come back from that (third quarter).”
Abby Sikora scored 12 points and grabbed three rebounds, and Tamia Powell added five points and seven rebounds.
In JV action, Truckee rolled to a 64-12 win. Emma Cowee led Dayton with seven rebounds and four points.
Dave Price of the Record-Courier contributed to this report.
