Carson girls basketball coach Todd Ackerman isn't a believer in moral victories. In his book a loss is a loss.
However, the fiery Ackerman was extremely proud of the way his team played in a heartbreaking 44-36 loss to league-leading and undefeated Galena on Friday night at Morse Burley Gym.
Carson, which came within four points of wiping out an 18-point, third-quarter deficit, dropped to 8-4 with two games left, while Galena improved to 12-0.
"The girls did a nice job," Ackerman said. "They played hard. We finally got a couple of shots to go and we were able to slow them down. The girls feel good about themselves. They know they can play with anybody."
The Senators' play certainly earned the respect of Galena coach Karen Friel.
"They played much better (this time) and I knew they would," Friel said. "They made us earn everything we got."
Especially talented front-liner Emily Burns, who was held to eight points, after killing Carson with 15 points and 15 rebounds in the first meeting.
That meant the Grizzlies were forced to bomb away from the outside, and the Grizzlies were up to the task. Taylor Schallert knocked down five 3-pointers in the opening half, while Hayley Jensen had three buckets to help the Grizzlies build a 29-13 halftime lead.
It was probably Carson's worst half offensively. Unofficially, the Senators were 5-for-26 from the floor.
Burns scored on a drive 30 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Galena a 38-22 lead. Nearly five minutes later, Carson had narrowed the gap to 40-36 thanks to a 12-0 run.
Gina Bianchi (10 points) and Whitney Nash (11 points) knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Yvonne Hollett added a bucket. Elayna Shine drained her only 3-pointer of the game to make it 38-34 with 3 minutes, 36 seconds left, but the Grizzlies were able to ride out the storm.