BY JOE SANTORO
Special to the Nevada Appeal
The Carson Senators are finding an identity.
"Regardless of who we play, if we play the kind of defense we played tonight, we'll be OK," Senators coach Bruce Barnes said after a 56-31 victory over Central Valley in the Lions' Club Capital Classic semifinals Friday night.
The Senators' defense suffocated Central Valley's offense, forcing the Falcons into 28 turnovers and 29 percent shooting.
"They created a lot of pressure and forced us into a lot of mistakes," Central Valley coach Kevin Strohmayer said. "We forced a lot of shots and made a lot of poor decisions with the ball."
The Senators, who have allowed a mere 67 points in two Capital Classic games this week, had something to do with the Falcons' struggles.
"We've gotten a lot better on defense since our first game," Carson forward Pat Smith said. "We played real good help defense."
Central Valley, from Shasta Lake, Calif., jumped out to a 12-5 lead five minutes into the game as senior guard West Atwood drained a pair of 3-pointers. Those were the last 3-pointers the Falcons made.
"Playing good defense is all about understanding what you are trying to do," said Barnes, whose Senators are now 7-4 on the year. "It's also about playing solid help defense. This team lives and dies with help defense."
Central Valley, which captured the Capital Classic a year ago, scored just 19 points combined over the final three quarters.
"They (Carson) played real well but we certainly didn't help ourselves," said Strohmayer. "We were a little too careless with the ball. For us to be successful, we have to hit our perimeter shots and execute our offense. And we didn't do that."
The Senators went on a 12-0 run to wipe out that early 12-5 Central Valley lead. Smith scored six points in the final three minutes of the first quarter to give Carson a 13-12 lead after one quarter. Uriel Duran added a couple key buckets inside in the second quarter as the Senators took a 25-16 halftime lead.
Smith and Duran, a pair of 6-foot-3 juniors, combined to score 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting.
"That's the most athletic and active tandem of post players that we've had in a while," said Barnes of Duran and Smith.
Duran, who finished with a team-high 12 points, also hit back-to-back layups midway through the third quarter for a 32-19 Carson lead. Smith dominated the first quarter, scoring seven of his nine points.
"I was just able to seal off my man and get some good shots off the glass," Smith said.
Another junior, 5-foot-11 Ian Gunn, scored six points in the third quarter.
Gunn ran the floor well and scored six consecutive points in a one-minute span to give Carson a 40-23 lead with 2:14 to play in the third quarter. Gunn, who finished with eight points, put back an offensive rebound, had a layup and hit a short jumper to help the Senators take a 42-25 lead heading into the final quarter.
"We got the same shots we had (Thursday night in a 51-36 victory over Sparks) but the difference tonight was we made most of them," Barnes said. "Once we got the lead we were able to spread them out and then we were able to finish inside with some easy baskets."
The Senators will meet Fallon in today's championship game at 2:30 p.m. Fallon rallied from a 40-29 deficit in the final four minutes to stun Hug, 48-42, in Friday's other semifinal. Lowry beat Sparks, 65-57, and Damonte Ranch beat Reed, 77-73, in the consolation bracket.
In today's other games, Sparks will meet Reed at 10:15 a.m. in the seventh-place game, Lowry and Damonte will meet at 11:45 a.m. in the consolation title game and Hug and Central Valley will play for third place at 1:15 p.m.
"Fallon is playing as well as anybody right now," Barnes said. "We're in for a tough game."