RENO — Carson High’s girls basketball team struck early and often Tuesday night against last-place Wooster.
Madison Preston scored 19 points and Michelle Perry added 11 to lead the Senators to an easy 62-28 Sierra League win.
The win gave Carson an 8-7 record entering Friday’s finale against Douglas, which lost to Damonte Ranch. With one game left in the regular season, both CHS and Damonte are tied at 8-7. If both teams remain tied after Friday’s game, Carson coach Nate Tolbert said Carson would be the No. 3 seed based on its second-round win over the Mustangs, which would give Carson a first-round playoff game at Reed. If Carson finishes fourth it will have to go to Reno.
“It’s Carson-Douglas,” Tolbert said. “It comes down to whoever wants it most. We have to control our emotion better. We didn’t do that the last time. Douglas is a tough place to play. Finishing third puts us on the softer side of the bracket I think. We have to come to play on Friday.”
This one was over early, as Carson scored 21 of the game’s first 23 points. The closest Wooster ever got was 12 points, 26-14, with 3:13 left in the first half. In the second half, Carson’s lead never got below 17 points and climbed as high as 35 points midway through the final period.
“It was a good start,” Tolbert said. “We’ve been working a lot on our roles and staying within those roles. We moved the ball around well and took good shots.
“It was nice to see Michelle Perry get her stroke back, and Madison hit a lot of 3s, but she took a lot of shots, too.”
Another thing that made Carson’s job easier was Wooster’s inability to handle pressure. The Colts turned the ball over 41 times, leading to 34 Carson points. Simply put, Carson’s defense was its best offense against Wooster.
Carson opened the game with 10 straight points, as Preston had a free throw and 3-pointer, Perry had a hoop and free throw and Carly Bachmann drained a 3-pointer. After Wooster scored, Carson went on 11-0 run to open up a 23-2 lead. Bachmann started the surge with a layup and Ivy Pembrook came off the bench for a three-point play and free throw. After two straight Wooster turnovers, Perry knocked down an outside shot followed by a Pembrook free throw. Perry closed out the surge with another hoop to make it 21-2. Wooster made two free trows to make it 21-4 after one.
Wooster cut the lead to 26-14 with a nice 8-0 run as Tiffany Lewis had a basket and two free throws to lead the surge. Preston took over, scoring eight of Carson’s next 10 points as the Senators built the lead to 36-14 with 1:13 left in the half.
Carson’s lead remained around 20 points until the final 3:10 of the third period when Carson went on a 12-3 run. Natali Salas scored all eight of her points in that span, while Kayla Aikins and Abigail Greene added a basket apiece.
Two fourth-quarter baskets by Preston helped Carson get the lead to 60-25 midway through the final period.
Eleven players scored for Carson.