Galena girls beat Carson

The Galena Grizzlies girls basketball team may have looked human in a win over North Valleys on Wednesday, but on Friday it showed the skills that have bedeviled its opponents all season.

Caitlin Anderson scored a game-high 20 points for the Grizzlies in a convincing 57-35 win over Carson in the semifinals of the NIAA Northern 4A Region playoffs at Morse Burley Gym.

The Lady Senators, who closed their season with 16-14 record, were able to stay with Galena for about nine minutes and trailed only 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, but Galena outscored them 19-9 in the second quarter and were able to put enough distance between them to coast to the win.

"We played the No. 1 seed (in the High Desert League) and we were the No. 2 seed (in the Sierra League)," Carson coach Ric Garcia said. "We weren't able to knock off No. 1 because they played like No. 1. They are well coached, they have talent, and they have played together as a team for quite a while. They showed that they are a true team."

Senior forward Sinead McSweeney led Carson with 11 points, followed by Rosella Nunez, who scored three of her seven points with a trey 22 seconds in to give Carson its only lead.

Nicole Scott and Sarah Evans each added six for the Senators, who got to within two at 9-7 on a Scott basket to open the second quarter before Galena's Amy Scott hit a pair of free throws that would begin a 9-0 run to go up 18-7, with 4:43 to go before halftime.

In addition to the return of the Grizzlies' fullcourt game, Galena's defense was the story of the evening, holding Carson scoreless for 6 minutes, 38 seconds in the first quarter before Nunez's 18-footer cut the lead to 8-5.

"We had a hard time running our offense," Garcia said. "They remind me a lot of Reno (which shut Carson down twice this year) - our kids had the same expression on their faces against Reno."

Garcia said the air went out of Carson when, trailing 39-26 to open the fourth quarter, it gave up a foul on Caitlin Crofts, who hit the 3-pointer and converted the four-point play with her free throw to make it 43-26.

It would only get worse as Galena put it out of reach with an 8-3 run to make it 51-29 with 3:17 to go.

Crofts had 13 points for Galena and was helped out by Scott, who had 10, and Langley Iverson, who added eight.

"We came out strong and were able to run the ball the whole night," Anderson said. "We had a lot of easy layups. We also worked really hard on our defense."

For her part, Grizzlies coach Karen Friel said her team was able to bring an abundance of energy to the game.

"I thought we came out with more intensity today than we did against North Valleys," Friel said. "We wanted to make it a fullcourt game and try to make our offense go more that way."

Friel said another key was to limit the effectiveness of Carson's 6-foot-2 center Nicole Scott.

"Langley Iverson did a good job," Friel said. "You can't go at Nicole Scott with any one person. We were focusing more on a halfcourt defense and rebounding. When you win rebounding, you give yourself a chance."

McSweeney was a bright spot for Carson and was once again strong on the boards and tried to spark her team offensively by driving to the basket. She scored nine points over the second and third quarters, converting 3-of-3 from the foul line.

Evans also brought a late spark, connecting on two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.

Although going out on a losing note, Garcia, in his first year at Carson, said he was pleased with his team's performance over the course of the season.

"This being my first year, I was blessed to have a team like this," Garcia said. "They are the greatest girls in the world. They worked together and made life pleasurable for me in my first year coaching here. In my 27 years of coaching, this was my most enjoyable year."

The work is just beginning for Galena, which will face the winner of Reed-Reno in today's championship round, beginning at 6 p.m. Both teams advanced to the state championships, which will be held at Lawlor Events Center Feb. 23-24.

Friel said she didn't feel there would be a letdown in today's battle for the regional championship.

"Because there are so many seniors (eight), they don't appear to be happy just playing next week," Friel said. "They're excited, but focused. They're training like it's another day and they need to win another game."

In the boys championship game today, Reno (24-5) will play Sierra League rival Hug (26-3) for the third time this season. Hug won both of the previous meetings. The game will begin at 4 p.m. at Morse Burley Gym.