Brian CorleyAdam McKenzie of Carson sets for a shot against Reed on Friday.
RENO -- A day after being able to overcome turnover problems in a double-overtime victory, the Carson High boys basketball team just couldn't find a way to do the same against Reed on Friday night.
The Raiders rallied back from a 12-point third quarter deficit, mostly because of 14 second-half turnovers by the Senators, as they advanced to the semifinals of the Nevprep.com Classic with a 53-50 win over Carson at McQueen High.
Reed (6-0) was led by Dustin Hall, who scored 20 points, despite being knocked out of the game twice because of cuts on his face. Senator coach Bruce Barnes probably wasn't happy to see Hall return to the court for a second time in the fourth quarter. Hall scored seven of Reed's eight points in the fourth, including going 3-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch.
It was the first loss of the season for Carson (6-1), which will play Incline/Woodlake in a loser's bracket game today at 9:30 a.m. at Reno High. Incline beat Woodlake, xx-xx on Friday.
Barnes doesn't like losing too much, although he knew it had to happen eventually.
"I told the kids that we weren't going to go undefeated, I wasn't disillusioned about that," Barnes said. "I just wish we could've played a little better. We didn't play well in our halfcourt sets and we didn't play good transition defense."
The Raiders went on a 13-0 run midway through the third quarter, taking a 36-35 lead after Lucas Delong's basket with 3:05 left in the third. Vince Inglima kept the Senators in it, even with all the turnovers, scoring seven of his game-high 25 points in the quarter. But eight turnovers in the third allowed the Raiders, who were on the verge of getting blown out, back into the game. Carson led 35-23 with 6:40 left in the quarter before Reed's run.
"(Adam) McKenzie got into foul trouble, then we started throwing the ball away," Barnes said. "But it's early, the loss came early. Now we have to get up in the morning and play. I'll be interested to see how we bounce back."
Carson had a chance to tie the game at the end. With the Raiders leading 52-50, the Senators executed the play they wanted perfectly, just as they did in regulation on Thursday in a 62-61 double-overtime win over Foothill from Sacramento, Calif. But just like they did against Foothill, the Senators couldn't finish.
Ryan Buttner found Inglima open underneath, but his shot was strong off the backboard and it rimmed out. Hall was then fouled, but made only 1-of-2 free throws to put his team up 53-50. Carson had another chance to tie. Fittingly, the Senators turned the ball over again. Carson also only shot 3-of-7 from the foul line the second half, missing a few times late in the game that would've tied the game. The Senators led only once in the fourth quarter, when it was 49-48, following a McKenzie layup.
Buttner finished with nine points, all of the coming on 3-pointers in the first half. McKenzie and Ed Jaquette each scored six and Ricky Correlli and Steve Hartman both finished with four.