Breeding, Smothers play big roles as Carson boys hoops takes care of Wooster

A 22-4 third quarter run was all the Carson boys basketball team needed Friday night to solidify a 64-33 win over Wooster on the Senators’ home floor.

In the first half, Carson stuck to its game plan and steadily worked its way out to a 15-point lead, 35-20, when the buzzer for the halftime intermission sounded.

In the third, it was that same gameplay that allowed the Senators to put the Colts away.

There were several influential buckets that sent the home crowd into a tizzy, but two possessions by Nathan Smothers sealed the contest for Carson.

Leading 53-24, Smothers dribbled coast-to-coast, splitting two defenders and euro stepping around a third for a layup.

After hustling back on defense, Smothers drew a charge, setting up another possession in which the senior used a strong take to the rim for another bucket.

“Nathan at the end of the third quarter was a big piece for us,” said Carson head coach Jordan Glover. “He had three people in front of him, he did it with traffic and with contact. … The whole gym was all about it.”

Smothers ended the night with 12 points, including four points in the opening quarter.

The senior may have had the biggest buckets of the second half, but it was a junior big man who got the confidence rolling for Carson.

Will Breeding couldn’t have asked for a much better opening quarter as he scored eight of his 10 points on the night in the game’s first eight minutes.

Breeding put up the first points of the contest Friday night off an assist from Joey Summers, who had 17 points of his own.

The 6-5 forward pounded his way inside for Carson’s second basket after receiving another assist from Brandon Graunke.

Carson led 10-9 before Graunke found Breeding again inside the paint off an out of bounds play for an easy layup.

Breeding capped the quarter with a putback basket, finishing the quarter with eight points, several rebounds and a steal.

“Just coming out with energy. When you crash hard, there’s not much they can do when you play hard,” said Breeding. “Just go up strong and really fight through contact in the post.”

The junior wasn’t done as he started the second quarter by returning a Wooster shot to sender.

“Where Will finished off last game (Damonte Ranch), it was like he just continued that into today,” said Glover. “He’s a workhorse right now and I love it.”

Summers sank two 3-pointers to help extend Carson’s lead in the second quarter, including a triple from the wing off a pass from Parsa Hadjighasemi.

“I think we surprised a lot of team of how we can come out and play,” said Breeding of Carson’s first four league contests.

Hadjighasemi had eight points in the win for the Senators as nine different Carson teammates penciled their names on the stat sheet.

Glover added that he thought Renald Malasaga had a solid night when he was asked to step up on the floor.

“I told him ‘Let it come to you, see what good things happen,’” said Glover. “Literally 10 seconds later he got a steal, wide open layup and made a bucket.”

Camdyn Meikrantz also drilled a corner 3-pointer in front of the student section after coming off the bench in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT: Carson (9-10, 2-2) heads south to Douglas (5-12, 1-3) Tuesday night and Glover knows the Senators will have to toss the record books out the window.

“We know it’s going to be a battle. That whole town shows up, which is a great atmosphere,” said Glover. “We need to keep understanding and buying in on defensive pressure. Our defense is what’s winning us games.”