The month of January has been cruel to the Carson High boys basketball team — four straight losses, three by double digits.
So, the Wooster Colts were just what the doctor ordered for the ailing Senators.
Carson opened the game with a 16-0 run and coasted to a 58-29 Sierra League victory Friday night at Morse Burley Gym.
The Senators improved to 3-7 in league play heading into a Tuesday 7 p.m. showdown against the Douglas Tigers, who are coming off a 30-point loss to Galena.
“Really bad,” Carson coach Jordan Glover said when asked how bad his team needed a victory. “We needed that for our confidence moving forward to the Douglas game. It is a rivalry game and emotions will be running high.”
The fast start was keyed by the scoring of reserve forward Dawson Lamb (7 points) and Trent Robison (5 points) plus an aggressive defense that forced nine first-quarter turnovers.
“I told the team we needed to win the offensive rebound battle because it gives us second-chance points, to push them and force turnovers. I think it (our pressure) definitely bothered them.”
Robison scored Carson’s first five points, and then Lamb contributed seven of Carson’s next 11. Lamb finished with 11.
Wooster’s only first-quarter points came from Jesus De La Puente with 17 seconds left in the quarter.
Lamb has been a spark the entire season, and the senior looks comfortable in his role.
“When I came in, I felt confident,” Lamb said. “I had a good warmup. Mostly I just want to bring energy. I feel I’m a smart player, and I try to give us positive energy.”
“Dawson gives us a ton of energy,” Glover said. “He understands the game. He gets in the right place at the right time. He takes charges on defense, goes in there and catches the ball and makes ball fakes. He has very good instincts. We’ve been working with Dawson finishing. We’ve worked with Dawson on finishing with two feet. Everything off one foot he was getting bumped off balance. He is shooting with confidence.”
The game slowed in the second quarter, as Glover played his reserves liberally. Still, Carson outscored the Colts 11-3 in the final five minutes of the half en route to a 29-6 lead. Abel Carter (10 points) drained back-to-back 3s to end the half.
The defense was solid, holding Wooster to just 2-for-17 from the field and the Colts turned it over 15 times.
Robison spearheaded a third-quarter surge that enabled Carson to expand its 23-point halftime lead to 31 after three, 46-15, thanks to a 12-2 run. Robison had three follow shots to lead the way, and Jordan Torres drained a 3-pointer from the right corner.
Lamb hopes the win catapults Carson to great things down the stretch.
“I think this can be the start to the rest of the season and getting where we want to be,” he said. “Douglas is a good team. They have beaten some teams that we haven’t beat.”