Williams leads Carson girls past Mustangs

Pam Williams hit some clutch free throws down the stretch and finished with 20 points to help the Carson High School girls basketball team to a 49-44 victory against Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) in opening-round play of the Lady Wolves Classic Monday afternoon in Henderson.

The Senators staged a second half comeback to improve their season record to 6-2 in a game played at Burkholder Middle School.

"We didn't play great. The girls may have been a little tired from the trip, but it's a W," Carson coach Paul Croghan said.

The Mira Costa Mustangs led 26-23 at halftime, but Williams scored eight points in the third period as Carson came back to tie the score, 37-37. In the final period, the Senators shot 6-for-6 from the free throw line and Jina Padilla converted a key field goal to move ahead for good.

Williams shot 10-for-12 from the free throw line, including four without a miss in the fourth quarter. The 5-11 senior post played well all the way around, according to Croghan.

"Pam played her usual hard game," he said. "One of the things she did was use her strength to go to the basket and draw some fouls that got their big girl (6-3 sophomore Hilary Stromath) in trouble."

Alyson Thurman finished with 11 points, while Meghan Gradert added seven. Laura Borst also contributed six points on a pair of 3-pointers.

Erin Stieber also played an important role with her defense on Mira Costa's Tara Whiteside in the second half. Whiteside scored a game-high 20 points, 14 of which came in the second quarter. Stromath finished the game with 10 points for the Mustangs.

Carson advances into the winners bracket of the 16-team tournament and a 4 p.m. contest today against either tournament host Basic or Outlook (Canada). Basic is led by 6-0 Jennifer Kline, who was included on Street & Smith magazine's All-West preseason prep girls All-America list.