MINDEN - Whenever a team builds a big first half lead, many times there's the tendency to let up somewhat in the second half.
And when a team falls behind by a huge margin in the first half, there's the tendency for that club to come out and play much better in the second.
So was the case for both the Carson and Dayton High boys basketball teams in the third place game of the Carson Valley Classic on Saturday. Carson built a 26-4 halftime lead and held on for a 41-28 win.
Dayton, a Northern 3A squad, can at least say it outscored two Northern 4A teams for a half in this tournament. The Dust Devils led Douglas 27-24 at halftime on Friday before the Tigers took charge on the second half and Dayton outscored Carson 24-15 in the second half on Saturday.
But that really wasn't much consolation to Dayton coach T.W. Cunningham, who was clearly unhappy with his team's play in the first half.
"Better effor and cut down on the mistales and do what we teach them to do," said Cunningham about what he told his team at halftime. "It couldn't get much worse in the first half."
And it couldn't have been much better defensively for the Senators after allowing just four points in the first half.
"I thought we came out in the first half and played very well defensively," Carson coach Bruce Barnes said.
Caleb Carter opened the game by hitting three three-pointers to give Carson a 9-0 lead, then spent the rest of the game in foul trouble. Matt Rutledge and Markus Adams hit threes to give Carson a 17-0 lead. Dayton didn't score until Hans Meyer grabbed a loose ball and scored on a layup at the buzzer to make it 17-2 after one quarter.
Meyer opened the second quarter by scoring on a give and go from Ryan Ransdell to make it 17-4. But then Carson held Dayton scoreless for the rest of the half.
The Senators scored two straight times off of its press with Rob Valerius following his own miss and Paul Cagle scoring off of his own steal to make it 24-4. Rutledge scored on a drive to give Carson a 26-4 halftime lead. "You don't show up for a half you won't beat anybody," Cunningham said.
Rob Valerius' jumper gave Carson its biggest lead at 28-4 to begin the second half. Dayton responded by going on a 9-0 run to pull within 30-15. Ransdell hit a baseline jumper and followed that with a three-pointer, Jared Foster hit a baseline jumper and David Gomez scored on a putback to account for the run.
Calvin Case's jumper gave the Senators what appeared to be a safe 38-20 lead, but Byron Trigueros and Ransdell hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull Dayton (4-2) within 38-26. Carson (2-1) finally put the game away when Carter scored his first basket since early in the game on a layup to make it 41-26.
"Sometimes you get a big lead like that and you become a little complacent," Barnes said.
Overall, Barnes is pleased with his team's start. "I thought some guys came in and gave us some good minutes and took a step forward," he said.
Carter scored 11 points, Cagle had nine points and Valerius added eight points for Carson. Ransdell scored eight points, Meyer had seven points and Tanner Wood added six points for Dayton.
DAYTON GIRLS 64, FALLON 39
Chanelle Brennan scored 24 points, Ariella Ruybal hit three threes on her way to scoring 19 points, Brittany Hill had six points, Nicole Iratcabal, Matia Spencer and Aundria Pluch all had four points, Katy Arias had two points and Erika Garcia added a point for Dayton.
FALLON 34, DAYTON JV GIRLS 27.
Rachel Monzello scored nine points, Danae Detwieler had seven points, Crystal McGirvin had four points, Marcy Kendell had three points and April Fuller added two points for Dayton.
FALLON 28, DAYTON FROSH GIRLS 19
Amanda Arana scored seven points, Susan Melgarejo had six points, Danara Keating had four points and Alexis Guardado added two points for Dayton.