Damonte wins Capital Classic; Carson finishes 3rd

If Carson High could play Reed all the time it could very well go undefeated.

Thanks to 3-point field goals by Andrew Johnson and Brian Barnes in a 23-second span in the fourth quarter, Carson scored 11 of the game's final 17 points to knock off Reed 50-45 in the third-place game at the 33rd annual Capital Classic on Saturday at Morse Burley Gym.

Damonte Ranch won the championship, knocking off Lowry 56-41. Hug won the consolation title with an easy 55-40 win over Central Valley and Fallon claimed seventh place with a 46-32 win over Fernley.

It was Carson's second win in 12 days over Reed, Carson knocked off the Raiders 59-54 in Sparks on Dec. 8. Amazingly enough, Carson failed to put a single player in double figures. Pat Smith led the way with nine, Matt Cooper added seven as did Barnes and Josh Peacock. Johnson finished with six.

"The key was that we were able to score inside," Carson coach Bruce Barnes said. "They had to worry about that and that opened things up (outside) on the perimeter for Brian and Andrew and they were able to hit those shots."

Smith tied the game at 39 with a pair free throws with 4 minutes, 48 seconds left. Johnson flicked the ball away from Reed's Mike Powell on the next possession, and then came down and hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 42-39.

"He's like a little gnat on defense," Barnes said. "He tips a lot of balls. He does that on his own, he has a sense on when to go (and do it)."

Powell re-tied the game at 42 with a 3-pointer of his own with 4:02 left. After the teams exchanged turnovers, Barnes drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Carson a 45-42 lead. After Powell missed an off-balanced shot, Carson came down and got a basket from Trey Jensen to make it 47-42 with 2:06 left.

Powell, who scored 16 points, came back with another 3-pointer to make it 47-45 with 1:47 left. Peacock had a chance to extend the lead, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. On the next possession, Barnes knocked down two free throws for a 49-45 lead, and after Powell missed a 3-pointer, Smith was fouled and made a single free throw to complete the scoring.

Johnson has been a bright spot, and was rewarded with a spot on the all-tournament team despite the fact that he didn't play in the first game.

"He hasn't played organized basketball since eighth grade," Barnes said. "There is a learning curve. He understands how to play."

"It's easy to feel confident with this group," said Johnson, a sophomore. "When I come in, I just try to get everybody calm and settle things down. I try to make sure everybody is involved.

"We knew we had to redeem ourselves (after Friday). We didn't want to go out with another loss."

Reed coach Dustin Hall was obviously disappointed with the outcome. His team dropped to 2-8.

"The effort was there, but our execution is not where it needs to be" Hall said. "Our chemistry is off. Defensively we're doing some good things. We're just not getting the ball into the hoop."

Damonte Ranch used an 11-4 run in the fourth quarter to get its lead in double digits and subdue Lowry, which was hampered by the foul woes of David Eastham and Danny Westfall.

"We knew Lowry was a tough team," said Damonte coach Torrey Sheets. "We just tried to play possession by possession."

The Mustangs used a 9-4 run to grab a 23-17 halftime lead. However a 3-pointer by Sterling Snow and a basket by Eastman trimmed the deficit to 24-22. An 11-4 run led by Lane Armstrong's two inside hoops and a 3-pointer by C.J. Santos gave the Mustangs a 34-26 lead with 3:13 left in the third.

Santos and tourney MVP Matt Nuthall led the Mustangs with 13 points apiece.

Central Valley had no answer for Hug's athleticism and quickness in the battle for fifth place.

The Hawks outscored CV 16-6 in the last 6 1/2 minutes to take a 31-19 lead at the intermission. Six of those points came from Tre Johnson, who finished with 24 points.

Thanks to Dakota Bearquiver and Christian Spaschak, Central Valley sliced the lead to 37-32 with 7:07 left, but Hug went on a 10-0 run to get the lead back up to 15 points. Jaevis Johnson had six points in that surge.

Fallon, thanks to five points by Aaron Evett, outscored Fernley 11-4 in the third quarter to take control in the seventh-place game.

Jake Johnston led the way with 12 points, while Derrick Stanford and Miles Adams added eight points apiece. Dakota Silk led Fernley with 10 points.

All-Tournament Team

Matt Nuthall, Damonte Ranch, MVP

C.J. Santos, Damonte Ranch

Jack Denzler, Damonte Ranch

David Eastman, Lowry

Will Thacker, Lowry

Andrew Johnson, Carson

Patrick Smith, Carson

Tre Johnson, Hug

Dakota Bearquiver, Central Valley

Jake Johnston, Fallon