BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Carson's Brandi Vega saves the ball during the second half in Carson on Friday.
For two quarters, the Carson High girls basketball looked woefully out of sync.
Needing a lift, first-year coach Ric Garcia went to his second unit, and that group went on a 10-4 run in the final half of the period, sparking the Senators to their first win of the young season, 39-21, over Fallon in a nonleague game Friday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
"The first half was a total mess," said Garcia, whose team led 12-11. "We came out real flat for some reason. We'd had two good days of practice. We were not in sync.
"The third quarter we used a different press and were a little more aggressive to get them going. We sent everybody to the backcourt. We were willing to give up the long pass if they could get it over the top. That second group kind of got us going."
A layup by Kaitlin Burroughs, a trey by Rosella Nunez and a free throw by Catherine Brekken made it 18-11 with 5:34 remaining. Katrina Olivo knocked down two foul shots to make it 18-13, but Carson scored 10 of the next 12 points to build a 13-point lead, 28-15, after three quarters. Hannah Works had three buckets and Abby Rankl added two baskets to spark the Senators.
Fallon's lack of offense and ballhandling skills played right into Carson's hands. The Greenwave turned the ball over 27 times for the game and hit a paltry 14.3 percent from the field in the pivotal third quarter.
"It was a lack of wanting to handle the pressure," Fallon coach Chelle Dalager said. "We don't have a true point guard. We're handling the ball like it's a hot potato. It's part of being young. Our older players need to adjust to new positions."
Brekken converted a Fallon miscue into a basket, Burroughs drained a three and Sinead McSweeney, who was saddled with early foul problems, scored from inside to stretch the lead to 35-15 with 6:14 left in the game.
A three by Mallorie Getto trimmed the deficit to 35-20 with 4:23 left, but buckets by Brekken and Vega got the lead back up to 19 before Fallon hit a free throw in the final minute.
Carson shot the ball well in the final half, connecting on 12 of 26 from the field. Fallon was 2 for 13 in that same stretch, and at one point went more than five minutes in the second half without a field goal.
As hot as Carson was in the second half, it was ice cold in the first half, sinking only 2 for 22 from the floor. Fallon hit only 4 for 16 in the opening half.
Carson took an early 5-0 lead, but Fallon finished the quarter with six straight points in the final 1:23 thanks to two buckets by Bailey Corkill and one by Stephanie Wolfgang.
Both teams struggled for points in the second quarter. The game was tied at 9 with 5:56 left, and neither team scored until Briana Dodge hit a free throw with 1:49 remaining, snapping the tie. Rankl's layup made it 12-9 before Fallon's Wolfgang hit two free throws with 17 seconds left.
That set the stage for a wild third quarter, as Carson's press forced Fallon into an offensive meltdown.
CARSON JV SQUAD WINS
Carson won its first JV contest, thumping Fallon 37-6 Friday night.
Christa Casci, Kailie Taylor and Brittany DeRosa all scored eight points to lead the Senators.
Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281