BY DARRELL MOODY
Nevada Appeal Sports Writer
Carson High School boys basketball coach Bruce Barnes said he wasn't worried about a letdown following his team's narrow loss to Fallon in the Lions' Club Capital Classic championship game last weekend.
"We left the Fallon game with the attitude that we played well and came up short," Barnes said. "We have been talking about Wooster even when we were in Florida."
The discussions paid off, as the Senators rolled to a 17-point halftime lead and coasted to a 69-45 victory over the Colts in a Sierra League contest Tuesday night at Morse Burley Gym.
Carson improved to 8-5 overall and is 2-0 in league play heading into a tough weekend with road games at Damonte Ranch on Friday and Bishop Manogue on Saturday. Carson has won three of its last four games.
Eleven of Carson's 13 players scored. Brian Barnes led the way with 19 and Paul Cagle III added 10. The reserves picked up valuable playing time, and gave the starters an opportunity to rest. That could be vital with back-to-back games this weekend.
"It feels good (to be 2-0)," Brian Barnes said. "We just have to build off of this and keep it going. We don't want to slip up. We want to build some momentum."
Wooster led just once, 5-4, and Carson dominated the remainder of the contest. Carson scored 19 of the next 23 points to wipe out the one-point deficit and grab a 14-point lead with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Cagle started the surge with two free throws, Brian Barnes followed with a driving lay-up, Kalvin Case followed in a Uriel Duran miss and Barnes drained a 3-pointer to make it 13-5. Wooster's Cody Griffith ended the 9-0 surge with a basket, but Barnes, Steven Fowzer and Matt Rutledge each scored in a 6-0 run to make it 19-7. Wooster's Chris Seeliger scored, but Josh Peacock and Ian Gunn countered for Carson to extend the lead to 14.
Brian Barnes opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 31-13 lead 90 seconds into the second half.
"They were in a 2-3 zone," said Coach Barnes. "We overloaded one side of the floor and it didn't look like they adjusted well. The kids did a good job getting Brian the ball. He's shooting like he's supposed to."
"I shot the ball well," Brian Barnes said. "I had open looks. I haven't been shooting the ball well."
Wooster did close to 42-26 with 5:24 left in the third quarter, but a 12-3 run made it 54-29 with 3:29 to go. Barnes had four free throws and a 3-pointer to lead the way.
A 10-0 run spanning the final 1:35 of the third quarter and the first 1:11 of the fourth quarter increased the lead to a game-high 30 points, 63-33, with 6:49 left in the game.
Despite playing his entire roster, the Senators played solid defense.
"We didn't know much about them," Bruce Barnes said of the Colts.
The Carson coach went on to say that his defensive focus was on Wooster center Anthony Wright, who was held to a single basket, and Griffith, who managed only nine points.
"The second half we did a lot better," said David Hendrix, filling in for Wooster's varsity coach, who was ejected and forced to sit out a game. "We were a lot more competitive."
- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or (775) 881-1281.