Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
One thing about Carson High basketball coach Bruce Barnes is he doesn'tpull any punches.
"This was a game we were supposed to win," Barnes said after the Senators' 51-31 win over Fernley on Thursday night in the opening round of the 33rd annual Capital Classic. "We get to pick the team we're going to play.
"Overall we played hard. The reason we won is that we played hard and we're a little deeper than they are on the bench."
The win moves the Senators into the semifinals against Lowry, a 48-42 winner over Central Valley of Redding, tonight at 7:30 p.m.
"They are one of the favorites in the 3A," Barnes said of Lowry. "If we don't show up, they could easily beat us. They have good inside players. A couple of times it looked like Central Valley was going to come back and their senior guards calmed things down."
The Senators showed up early against Fernley. They forced 10 turnovers in the first six-plus minutes of the game en route to an 18-6 lead. Pat Smith had six of his team-high 12 points in that span and Brian Barnes had five of his 10 in that span.
"They (Carson) came out and played hard," said Fernley coach Dave Burns. "They really played defense. They dictated everything we did the entire game on offense."
Cade Knutson, Fernley's top scorer had 13 points, but six of those came in the fourth quarter when Carson had the game well in hand and played some zone defense.
"I knew about him and (Bryce) Baker," Barnes said. "We didn't give him much room out there."
Burns agreed.
'They shaded his way all night," Burns said. "We have to do a better job of setting screens."
Things didn't get any better for Fernley in hte econd quarter. The Vaqueros missed their first nine shots from the floor. The only saving
grace is that Carson also was struggling. Two Brian Barnes free htrows
and a putback by Smith gave Carson a 22-10 lead. Ryan Stokes trimmed
the lead to 22-12 with 2;29 left on two free throws.
carson finally woke up, going on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to
take a 31-12 lead into the locker room. Chris Steele started the surge
with a putback, Ean Witter drained two free throws, Kevin Kurek scored
on a layup and Ian Gunn dropped in a 3-pointer.
"I was able to get a lot of guys in the mix," said Barnes, who subbed
liberally throughout. "I don't mind playing a lot of guys. I feel we're
two deep at every position.
"I was able to play a lot of guys at certain points in the game. We
were able to run some sets and work on being patient. We're still not
close to where we need to be (in terms of patience)."
An 8-2 run by Carson in the first portion of the third quarter enabled
Carson to increase its lead to 39-17. dakota Silk's basket made it
39-19 after three.
Carson went on an 8-0 run in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter
to achieve its biggest lead of the game, 47-19. Trey Jensen, Brennan
Shaffer and Josh Peacock had a basket apiece while Smith drained two
free throws.
LOWRY 48, CENTRAL VALLEY 42
The Buckaroos earned the right to face the Senators with a narrow win.
Lowry enjoyed a double-digit lead for a big portion of the second half.
central Valley cout the lead to 40-34 with a 5-0 run in a span of 71
seconds. Central was unable to get any closer.
Will Thacker led Lowry with 14 points and Carlos Mancasola led Central
Valley with 15.
"We made too many mistakes," said Lowry coach Lee Bosch. "We did play
with intensity and that made up for it. We never had a letdown.
"I know nothing about Carson except what I saw last year. His kid
(Brian Barnes)has a lot of talent. We'll have to give it everything we
have to have a chance."
REED 63, FALLON 53
The Raiders, thanks to a 13-1 run in the fourth quarter, won their
first game of the season after seven losses.
The Greenwave, 3-6, had cut an eight-point deficit down to one, 45-44,
with 7:12 remaining in the game on a basket by Brent Perazzo.
Fallon didn't score again for four minutes, and by then Reed had built
up a big enough lead to take control of the game.
Yuriy Ikovlev, the younger brother of former Pack star Dennis Ikovlev,
started the Reed barrage with a free throw to make it 46-44 with 7:02
left. After each team turned the ball over twice, Mike Powell (22
points) drained two free throws and a 3-pointer to make it 51-44. Irvin
ma made it a nine-poiint lead on a nice drive to the basket,
After Miles Adam (13 points) scored on a free throw, Reed scored five
straight, four on two baskets by Aaron Greenblat (16 points) to make it
58-45.
Fallon got as close as six, 59-53, on a 3-pointer by Adam, but Reed
scored the last four points of the game.
DAMONTE RANCH 58, HUG 48
The Mustangs built a 22-point lead at halftime, and then had to hold
off the Hawks for the first-round win.
Hug, thanks to 17 second-half points by Tre Johnson cut deep into the
Mustangs' lead. He finished with 19 points.
Diminutive Matt Nuthall scored 30 points to lead Damonte, 20 of those
coming in the opening 16 minutes. C.J. Santos added 11 and Jack Denzler
10.