Carson boys win league opener on the road

RENO - Carson's Zach Weismann, a center midfielder for the Senators soccer team, recently went on a trip to a few colleges in Washington and left entertaining the thoughts of possibly playing for one of the them next season.

But on Tuesday against Damonte Ranch, Weismann, a senior forward on the Senators basketball team, settled for being just plain entertaining.

Weismann had a game-high 24 points for Carson, which opened its Sierra League season with a 64-50 win over the Mustangs at Damonte Ranch High School.

"It was our first league game. We had to come out strong and start the season off right," Weismann said. "Once we got up a few points, we started slowing down and controlling the ball. In our pre-game talk, (Carson) Coach (Bruce Barnes) said the films showed we should be able to trap them pretty easy and to attack the hoop strong. That's what I did."

So did Carson junior guard Will Holbert, who added 11 points and got the lion's-share of the Senators' rebounds.

""Zach got a couple (baskets)," Barnes said. "Their man went to double (another player) and we were able to find him. When you have a lead it's easier to do. I thought he played well.

"" also thought Will played well. He rebounded for us tonight. He's probably our best rebounder. He goes after the ball and he's a very good athlete. He's explosive."

And the Senators, now 1-0 in league play and 8-6 overall, were explosive as a team when they had to be. After starting the game with an aggressive man-to-man defense and a furious up-tempo offense, the Senators couldn't quite shake the Mustangs, who closed Carson's lead to 40-37 on a free throw by David Howard, with 1 minute, 6 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

"We came out with the intent on man (defense), but we got beat on the dribble and got into foul trouble," Barnes said. "They stayed in the game on the free-throw line."

Damonte Ranch was a combined 13-of-23 from the charity stripe, but some strong defense and a trio of Weismann layups among several he had on the night kicked off an 8-0 run that extended the lead to 48-37 at 7:17 of the fourth quarter.

"Our zone defense was very effective in the third quarter," Barnes said. "We got about four or five turnovers in the third because of our pressure defense. We were also able to dictate the tempo a little bit. We got some easy baskets and were able to run our motion offense for about a three-minute spurt."

It was enough of a run that Carson could change tactics against the Mustangs, who responded with several fouls when the Senators switched over to a slower, ball-control offense.

Carson converted 14-of-25 free throws and the Mustangs could get no closer than eight points - which they did four times in the final quarter, the last at 56-48 on a Kelton Hall free throw.

The Senators finished strong and Rob Valerius scored two of his six points on a layup and Matt Rutledge made a pair of free throws to ice the game.

Three players finished in double figures for Damonte Ranch, which fell to 0-3, 2-12. Jake Johnson had a team-high 12 points and Kyle Brush and Mat Moyer each added 10.

The Mustangs held the lead briefly in the first quarter on Johnson's jumper to make it 4-2, but Carson got a free throw by sophomore forward Paul Cagle (he finished with four points, all at the line) and then three more from Weismann, who drew a foul in three-point territory, and Carson took the lead for good at 8-4.

The Senators closed the first quarter with a 16-9 lead, but Damonte was able to get within two points three times in the second period (18-16, 20-18 and 24-22).

Carson took a 28-25 lead into halftime and went toe-to-toe with the Mustangs until it was able to pull away late in the third.

"It's a road win, so I'm happy to get one on the road," said Barnes, whose Senators will play four consecutive three-game weeks. "It's a great way to start out the season."

The Senators will next play on Friday, when they visit the Wooster Colts. The game begins at 7 p.m.