For the second straight day, the Carson High boys basketball team couldn't overcome its struggles in the first half.
Carson lost to View Prep Park, one of Southern California's better teams, 54-49 on Thursday at the Sea Hawk Classic in Redondo Beach, Calif. On Wednesday, the Senators fell behind by 24 points at halftime before losing to Southern California's North.
On Thursday, CHS could only muster seven points in the first and second quarters in falling behind 26-14 against View Park. Carson was able to come back to make a game of it in the second half, but could never overcome the deficit.
"We just absolutely were ice cold in the first half," Carson coach Bruce Barnes said. "We were just flat. We shot the ball a little bit better in the third quarter.
"I thought in the second half we played with a lot of energy. I'm pretty happy with the second half. We've got to learn to do it for four quarters."
Caleb Carter scored 12 points, Brian Barnes had 10 points and Matt Rutledge added eight points for Carson, which continues play in the tournament at 10 a.m. today.
PLANT 59, GALENA 50
The Grizzlies continued its gauntlet through the Tampa Hoops Classic, losing to one of Florida's top teams.
Plant improved to 10-1, with its only loss coming against Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn, N.Y., the tournament's No. 2 seed, on Wednesday.
"There's too many studs out here," said Galena coach Tom Maurer, whose team fell to 0-2 in the event. "I didn't mind losing to these guys. They're traditionally the best team out of Tampa so this was a good game for us."
Galena outscored Plant 18-12 in the second quarter to tie the game 30-30 at halftime. Luke Babbitt scored 22 points and Jake Mansfield added 11 for Galena. "He's been really solid," Maurer said about Mansfield.
Maurer was also pleased with the play of his bench as he used 12 players. Among those he singled out were John Metzger and Garrett Womack.
Maurer said he hoped his club would "come back a different team" as a result of the tournament and he said that's happening. "We're going to have good practices," he said.
"I can't complain. You get frustrated because you lose. We just got beat by a very good team."
CHS FROSH GIRLS 51, SPANISH SPRINGS 33
Every player on the roster scored for Carson (7-0) at the State Farm Holiday Classic. Lindsay Burroughs and Elizabeth Cagle each had five rebounds and Alex Fallon and Breann Perry each added three assists. Carson will play Manogue at 10:45 a.m. today at Damonte Ranch.
SPANISH SPRINGS 43, CHS JV GIRLS 40
Hannah Dudley and Hannah Shaw each scored seven points and Janet Butler added six points for Carson, which suffered its first loss of the year at the State Farm Classic. Carson will play at 1:30 p.m. today at Damonte.
CHS FROSH BOYS 54, SPANISH SPRINGS 35
Danny Gall scored 15 points, Tim Dotson and Matt Cooper added eight points, Chris Steele had five points and 10 rebounds, Carlos Carrillo and Trey Jensen had four points and Johnny Lanuza, Logan Philippi and Adam Whitt all had two points for Carson (7-0) in the State Farm Classic. Carson will play at 5:30 p.m. today at Damonte.
CHS JV BOYS 63, SPANISH SPRINGS 47
Ian Gunn scored 16 points, Jeff Davies had 12 points, Matt Nuthall had 10 points, Patrick Smith had eight points, David McMasters had seven points, Michael Lowes had five points, Kevin Kurek had three points and Brennan Shaffer added two points for Carson (7-1) in the State Farm Classic. Carson will play at 7 p.m. today at Damonte.