MINDEN - With the temperature outside hovering near 20 degree, the Carson and Reed boys basketball teams tried to stay warm offensively inside Douglas High's gym Saturday morning during the fourth annual Carson Valley Classic.
Carson stayed close through the better part of 2-1/2 quarters, but hindered by the absence of three guards and 22 turnovers, the Senators finally succumbed to the talented Raiders 61-47.
Reed outscored Carson 17-2 during a nine-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters to break open what had been a close struggle between familiar Northern 4A rivals.
Struggle was an appropriate word for an 11:30 a.m. contest in which the two teams combined to turn the ball over 40 times. A sloppy game? Reed coach Paul Gray merely smiled.
"Both teams were throwing the ball around pretty good," Gray said. "It's a good thing more fans weren't watching, the ball might have hit one of them."
Seriously, Carson coach Bruce Barnes knew the Senators were going to have their hands full against a perennial playoff contender with guards Adam Houghton, Kevin Brush and Brian Welch out of action. Houghton sustained a throat injury and Brush an eye injury in their game against Colfax on Friday and Welch is currently ineligible.
"I knew coming in we were going to have trouble with pressure because we had three starting guards out. And that's the way Reed plays," Barnes said.
"We were good in spurts, we just need to put it together and be more consistent," he added.
The Senators were at their best during a stretch of 2 minute and 10 seconds in which they scored 10 unanswered points to turn a 21-11 deficit into a 21-all tie.
Sophomore Tony Fagan buried a three-pointer, assisted by Kyle Bacon, to ignite the run. Brice Crook scored on a drive and Bacon knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner off an assist from Steve Mandoki. Then Mandoki drew a foul after taking a pass from Crook in the corner, and converted both free throws to tie it at 21-21 with 2:09 left before halftime.
Unfortunately for the Senators, the rest of the second half was a different story.
Reed regained the lead on an inside shot by Brad Peterson, then 6-foot-7 senior Kevin Berry turned a steal into a layup. The Senators got back to within one as Jack Jacquet scored on a putback, then they had a chance to take the lead when they got the ball back with 4.5 seconds, but Reed's Alex Greenblat intercepted a pass near midcourt and threw up a shot that banked in off the glass for a three-pointer to beat the buzzer and make it 28-24.
"That was probably the best thing that happened to us," Gray said. "Carson had all the momentum at the time, so it was a big play."
The Senators trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half, but rallied back in the final two minutes as Tilor Smith came off the bench to score five points, Wes Osmer scored on a putback, and Jeremiah Teeter scored on a coast-to-coast drive plus he dished off an assist.
Crook finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Carson finished with a 34-27 rebounding advantage over the taller Raiders, led by Mandoki with eight rebounds and Jake Jeffers with seven.
"Carson will be a good team when they get everybody back. Bruce always does a great job with that team," said Gray, who played as a forward for Carson's 1975 state championship team.
Berry finished with 18 points to lead all scorers for Reed, while Peterson contributed 10.
"Hopefully, we're going to be better, too," he added. "We just got our football players (after the playoffs) and we had a couple of kids out today, including our point guard, so we're a little out of sync right now," Gray added of his own Raiders.
Carson returns to action Tuesday with a non-league game Tuesday at Fallon.
Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com
Carson Valley Classic
Reed 61, Carson 47
Carson717419-47
Reed14141221-61
Carson (0-3): Smith 2 1-2 5, Teeter 1 2-3 4, Osmer 1 0-2 2, Fagan 2 0-0 5, Bacon 2 0-0 5, Gardner 0 2-2 2, Jacquet 1 0-0 2, Crook 4 2-4 12, Mandoki 1 3-4 5, Jeffers 2 1-3 5, Totals 16 11-20 47.
Reed (2-1): Harry 2 0-0 5, Walters 1 2-2 5, Marchant 0 2-2 2, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Greenblat 3 0-0 7, Flock 1 0-0 2, Berry 9 0-0 18, Peterson 4 2-2 10, Dixon 1 0-0 2, Jones 2 1-2 6, Totals 25 7-8 61.
Three-point goals: (Carson 4-12) Crook 2, Fagan 1, Bacon 1; (Reed 4-13) Jones 1, Greenblat 1, Walters 1, Harry 1. Team fouls: Carson 8, Reed 18. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.