PREPS: Carson goes cold in 4th quarter, loses to Sparks

The momentum that Carson High generated in the last five minutes of the third quarter disappeared in the final eight minutes of Friday's semifinal game against Sparks.

The Senators had taken a 42-40 lead after three thanks to a 14-4 quarter-ending run, but they went scoreless for more than five minutes to start the fourth quarter and dropped a 57-48 decision at the 34th annual Capital City/Lions Club Classic.

Carson will play Lowry in the third-place game at 1:15 p.m. today, while Sparks battles Damonte Ranch at 2:30 p.m. for the championship.

It was a disappointing night for the Senators, who didn't come close to matching their defensive intensity of the Friday night nor did they shoot the ball very well. They also spent most of the night playing without Brian Barnes, who got into first-quarter foul trouble and played less than a half.

"It was an ugly game," said Carson coach Bruce Barnes. "The shots from the perimeter guys weren't falling. We weren't aggressive at the offensive end and we got beat bad on the glass.

"Obviously it's big when one of your top scorers is on the bench most of the game. It makes it tough."

Barnes still was steamed at his team's execution, especially coming out of a timeout with less than six minutes to go and ahead by two, 42-40.

"All I wanted was a layup or a backdoor play," Barnes said. "I told the team if we don't get a shot off in the last 5:50 we win the game by two points. We went out and shot a 3-pointer."

Carson missed its first three shots from the floor and the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the line. Sparks immediately tied the game at 44 on buckets by Martin Jordan and Henry Banks. Two more buckets by Jordan and a 3-pointer by Xavier Rodriguez gave the Railroaders a 51-42 lead with less than three minutes left.

Tyler Collins scored Carson's first points in the period with 2:17 left, and Carson did nothing more than trade baskets the rest of the way.

"We didn't get frustrated by their pressure tonight," Sparks co-head coach Mike Jones said. "We also didn't give them second shots. We did a good job on the boards."

Carson's frustration was certainly showing after Brian Barnes picked up his second foul and then made a gesture advertising his opinion about the call and whistled for a technical, giving him three fouls. He didn't play again the rest of the half.

Sparks ran off 13 straight points spanning the end of the first quarter and the first 2:30 of the second quarter en route to a 24-13 lead with 5:36 left.

Xavier Rodriguez had five points in that span, while Erik Garcia knocked down four free throws.

Carson stormed back with a half-ending 12-4 run to narrow its deficit to three, 28-25, at the intermission. Collins had two buckets in that stretch and Carlos Carrillo, who finished with nine points, knocked down a 3-pointer.

Sparks increased its lead to 36-28 in the first two minutes of the third quarter, but Carson went on an 11-0 run for a 39-36 lead. Chris Steele, who led Carson with 16 points, had six in the surge and Carrillo had a 3-pointer. Henry Banks put Sparks ahead, 40-39, with two straight baskets. Steele drained a 3 to give Carson the aforementioned 42-40 lead after three.

That set the stage for a wild fourth quarter which Carson would as soon forget.

Damonte 62, Lowry 45

The Mustangs outscored Lowry 16-5 in the third quarter to take control of the game, and then coasted the rest of the way into today's title contest with Sparks.

Matt Nuthall, who finished the game with 23 points, had eight of those in the third quarter, while Lane Armstrong added two buckets.

Sterling Snow led Lowry with nine points.

LOSER'S BRACKET

South Tahoe 56, Wooster 39

The Vikings went on a 10-3 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to build a double digit and then finished off the game with an 11-2 run to advance to the consolation championship game against Central Valley.

Seniors Peter Pielaet-Strayer and Kory DiGrande were instrumental in determining the outcome. Pielaet-Strayer had 19 points and 16 rebounds, while DiGrande scored eight points.

South Tahoe against Central Valley is at 11:45 a.m. today. Wooster will be in the seventh-place game at 10:15 a.m. today against Reed.

Central Valley 54, Reed 49

Central Valley snapped a 49-all tie with five straight points in the final 37 seconds to send Reed to its third straight defeat of the season.

A.J. Silva keyed a 7-3 run that got Reed the tie with 56.2 left. Johnny Seaphon snapped the tie 19 seconds later and then Christian Spaschak's layup made it 53-49. Kody Corbell closed out the game with a free throw in the waning seconds.

Spaschak and Carlos Mancasola led Central with 15 points apiece, while Dylan Raatz led the Raiders with 11 points.