Depth pays off for Carson girls in win
Dave Price
RENO - As she looked back at the Carson High School girls basketball team's 62-45 victory against North Valleys Friday night, coach Alana Williams smiled as she pointed out to contributions from numerous sources.
"I'm very happy about tonight, especially with our depth," she said. "We had a lot of people contribute, and that's the way it's been all season. Without any exception, everybody on our team has added a spark at one time or another."
Ciarra Christian scored 17 points, 11 in the first half, and Katie Kotter 16 to pace a balanced offense in which eight players scored as the Senators improved their Sierra League record to 2-0 (10-6 overall). And it was an important win because even though North Valleys fell to 0-3 in league, the Panthers are 14-5 overall.
"I was definitely nervous about this game coming in. That's a very good team," Williams said of the Panthers.
Carson took an 11-0 lead to start the game, was up 19-8 after one quarter and never allowed North Valleys to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Free throws were a big plus for the Senators, who shot 25-for-33 from the line. Christian was 10-for-11 and Kotter 8-for-10 to lead the way. Andrea Hoff also shot 3-for-4 and finished with nine points.
"We shot well from the line, but we still need to execute better on offense," Williams said.
Meanwhile, the Senators used various defensive looks to limit North Valleys to 45 points, including just 13 field goals. Catrina Cherry led all scorers with 20 points for North Valleys.
"Our defense is picking up," Williams said.
And then there was that depth Williams spoke of.
"Rachel Winters, Kelli Weyrick and Rosella Nunez ... they all came in and played hard," the coach said.
Weyrick cashed in with a three-point play to give Carson a 42-26 lead with 2:16 remaining in the third period. Nunez hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and Winters hit a baseline jumper that gave the Senators their 11-0 lead in the first period.