The early part of the Northern 4A girls' basketball schedule this season isn't kind to Carson High School.
The Senators open with the two toughest teams - the Reno Huskies and the Reed Raiders (next Tuesday). Both of those teams have more height and firepower than the young Senators.
Reno came to town Tuesday night, and the Senators hung with the Huskies for about the first 10 minutes but eventually dropped a season-opening 71-49 decision at Morse Burley Gym.
"I was happy with some of the stuff I saw," Carson coach Todd Ackerman said. "The girls played hard, and we will play hard this season. It's a starting point, something to look at and build on.
"We had too many turnovers on our own. They did a good job defensively of taking us out of the lane. We didn't get a lot of good looks from the outside."
Carson - led by Eliza Matley's 6-for-13 effort from the field and 19 points - shot 33 percent from the floor. The Senators turned the ball over 21 times, eight of those coming in the first quarter when the Huskies built a 17-11 lead.
"We came out a little lax, especially on defense," Matley said. "We gave up a couple of early backdoors. I thought it was pretty good for (the first game)."
Matley's drive to the basket and a free throw cut Reno's lead to 15-11. Reno's Shannon Gough closed out the quarter with a bucket.
Gough (13 points), Gigi Hascheff (14) and Sierra Sobrio (29) made life miserable for the Senators the entire night, especially Sobrio who knocked down seven 3-pointers.
Sobrio benefited from the dribble penetration by both Gough and Hascheff. She scored 11 second-quarter points to spark Reno to a 37-22 advantage at halftime. Reno wasn't doing anything fancy - attack and kick the ball out to whoever was on the wing.
"We were trying to help too much," Ackerman said. "They never had to take us all the way to the basket because we would step too far over to help out. You want the defender on the wing to step in and help, but still get back outside and defend. They have some girls that can shoot it well."
"Attack, attack and kick," Reno coach Shane Foster said. "We've got a couple of girls who can shoot the 3-pointer."
Carson also was hurt by early foul trouble to Savannah Smith, who picked up her third foul with 7:22 left in the first half. Reno outscored Carson 17-11 with Smith on the bench.
"That hurt because we don't have a dominant guard coming off the bench," Matley said.
An 11-3 run to open the third quarter gave the Huskies a 48-25 lead. Matley opened the half with a 3-pointer, but two drives by Hascheff and a free throw and 3-pointer by Sobrio keyed the onslaught.
The Huskies put it in cruise control from there.
"I thought we were sloppy," Reno coach Shane Foster said. "I thought it was sloppy at both ends. There were a lot of turnovers that weren't forced turnovers."