Brianna Alvarado drives to the basket against a Douglas defender on Tuesday night.
A surge before halftime turned out to be the difference Tuesday night when the Douglas High girls basketball team picked up a 60-52 victory at Carson.
Freshman post player Hailey Hughes scored 19 points, three of which came in the final 3:41, and Maddy Lowe added 18 points to help Douglas hold off Carson in the rivalry contest at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
Douglas (5-6 league, 8-11 overall) moved into sole possession of third-place in the Sierra League standings, even on a night when the Tigers turned the ball over 27 times and only shot 21-for-43 from the free throw line.
Carson (4-7 league, 7-11 overall) received strong performances from senior guard Melissa Glanzmann and freshman Haley Garver, who scored 14 points each, while Brianna Alvarado had 13. The Senators also had 27 turnovers and committed 29 fouls.
“Typical rivalry game,” Douglas coach Werner Christen said. “I thought we won the game late in the second quarter when we went on that run. That really was the only run of the game and that was the difference.”
The score was tied on four occasions before Douglas took the lead with a 9-1 run late over a span of two minutes late in the second quarter.
First, Hailey Hughes sank a pair of free throws to break a 19-all tie. Maddy Lowe scored on a drive, Janae Blue Horse took a pass from Madison Rodgers and knocked down a 3-pointer and then Rodgers scored on a follow shot as the Tigers extended their lead to 28-20 with 2:51 left in the second quarter.
Likewise, Carson coach Melissa Larsen felt that was the game’s pivotal point.
“We stopped playing defense and let them get away from us,” Larsen said. “I thought in the second half we came out and played with fire. We were attacking and we never gave up.”
Hughes, who had missed the previous game due to a bout with flu, had 12 points in the first half as the Tigers took a 32-22 lead at the intermission.
Douglas led by as many as 13 points, however, Alvarado scored eight points in the third quarter to help the Senators stay within striking distance. Garver knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and later banked in a shot off the glass to cut the Douglas lead to 53-47.
“Hailey had a great game,” Larsen said.
“She’s been dealing with shin splints so we’ve had to limit her minutes. But she kept attacking the basket and had some key plays for us.”
Mallory Otto scored on a bank shot and then Glanzmann put in a layup to make it 57-51 with 1:17 left to play, however, the Senators were never able to get any closer than six points.
“We had our opportunities, we just weren’t able to take advantage of them,” Larsen said. “We had too many turnovers and fouls. And that’s something we’re working on. We need to be mindful of fouls and boxing out.”
Terra Williams and Blue Horse converted two free throws each in the final minute to help the Tigers close out their win.
“I thought both teams were tight early in the game … like I said, a typical rivalry game,” Christen said. “Give them credit, they played hard. She (Larsen) had a good game play and they played hard.”