Carson boys falter in second half in loss to Damonte

Truly a tale of two halves.

There’s no other way to describe the Carson-Damonte Ranch boys basketball game Tuesday at Morse Burley Gym.

Carson dominated the first half en route to building a 13-point halftime lead, but wilted in the second half and dropped a 55-45 decision to the Mustangs in a Sierra League game.

The loss dropped Carson to 2-7 in league play. Currently, the Senators are in fifth place, one spot out of the playoffs with seven games remaining.

“We went away from the game plan in the second half,” said a frustrated CHS coach Jordan Glover, whose team blew a double-digit second-half lead. “Our first half game plan was set in stone, and we executed it perfectly.

“We knew they were going to come out and fight. Coach (Brian) Voyles does a good job of making adjustments. They are a good team and we had to weather the storm, and the storm took us out.”

The Mustangs, who trailed for the bulk of the first three quarters, scored 13 straight points to wipe out a 39-33 deficit and take a a 46-39 lead with 2:18 left in the contest.

Drew Damboise and Jordan Aguilar (15 points each) each had two baskets, Chris Sorenson added a 3-pointer and Nolan Urso (12 points) scored on a driving lay-up. Carson turned the ball over five times in that stretch leading to six points. CHS also went 0-for-3 from the field.

Carson never got any closer than five points down the stretch. Abel Carter didn’t score in the final 16 minutes, and that was key considering he carried the team in the first quarter.

“They did a good job of taking away Abel in the second half, and we went away from our offense,” Glover said. “It was a double whammy. I think we walk on eggshells in the second half. We are so used to losing, we’re in fear.”

“We sagged off Abel in the second half,” Voyles said. “It was a mindset. We got a little more aggressive the second half. We didn’t play aggressive in the first half. We were getting pushed around a little bit.”

Carter, who seems to get more and more comfortable, scored eight of Carson’s first 12 points. Carter, Trent Robison and Jonny Randall combined for 25 of Carson’s 28 first-half points. Carter finished with 12 points.

The Senators opened up a double-digit lead, 23-13, with 5:03 left in the half. Buckets by Robison and Randall plus a free throw by Derek Barry made it 28-15 at the half.

Carson maintained its 13-point lead through the first 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter before the game went south. The Mustangs went on a 10-0 run, cutting the lead to 35-32 with 2:07 left in the third.

Aguilar, who was a non-factor in the first half, had six of the 10 points in the surge. Urso and Collin Pontious also scored. A trey by Randall (14 points) and a free throw by Robison (12 point) enabled Carson to end the third quarter with a 39-33 advantage.

That set the stage for a disastrous final eight minutes.