Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal #45 Catherine Brekken, wrestle with Douglas forward Jessica Waggner #47 for a loose ball in Tuesdays contest against Carson High.
Sometimes you can't see what a team is really made of until it gets behind early.
Trailing 15-5 to the Douglas Tigers after one quarter, the Carson Senators girls basketball team looked like it was on the brink of being blown out early.
But it never gave up and even though it would eventually lose, Carson went on a late-game rally to tie Douglas, 35-35, before losing 38-35 in the final seconds of what turned out to be an exciting game at Morse Burley Gym.
Trailing 30-21 at the end of three quarters, the Lady Senators finally got it going in the final quarter, going on a 14-5 run. Freshman Brandi Vega had six of her team-high 11 points in the quarter, Nicole Scott added four of her 10 points before fouling out, and Kaitlin Burroughs and Rosella Nunez each chipped in two before the Tigers quelled the uprising in the final 45 seconds for the win.
Jessica Waggoner hit one free throw and Allie Hughes scored a basket to put the game away.
"We're struggling, and to beat a good team like Carson on the road is special for us," said Douglas coach Werner Christen, whose team improved to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in the Sierra League. "We hope to make that game a base for us and go on winning. I told the girls we couldn't go 0-4 in conference. We put it together with duct tape, Super Glue and rosin."
Monica Knight, the Tigers' 6-1 center, scored a game-high 15 to lead her team to victory. Bridgett Maestretti added six and Hughes and Waggoner each contributed four for Douglas.
"Douglas came out fired up and we couldn't meet their energy level," said Senators coach Ric Garcia. "Nicole had two fouls early and we sent her to the bench. And we struggled with their 1-3-1 (defensive scheme)."
Garcia did manage to get his team to come up with an effective counter against his old rival, Christen, however.
"Carson began to screen the point of our 1-3-1," Christen said. "They began to feel-screen and got good movement on the point. Ric and I go way back to when we were freshman guys coaches (coaching against each other)."
It was a combination of missed shots, turnovers, Douglas' defense and too much Knight - who went 8-of-13 from the foul line - that evtually proved too much for the Senators, who fell to 7-11, 3-1 with the loss.
"Numerous times we came down and didn't get our shot off and then went to the other end of the floor and fouled," Garcia said. "In the second half we played as good as we are capable of. We held them down because our defense created offensive opportunities."
Next up for Carson is a road trip to play North Valleys, Friday at 5:15.
"We'll be fine," Garcia said. "We'll bounce back. It's early and we're resilient. We've never come close to where we'll be. It's part of a process."
Albeit a painful one for now.