Senator defense stymies Galena in Sierra League win

Carson High Guard Lily Bouza drives to the basket during the NIAA Northern Division 4A game between the Galena Grizzlies and Carson Senators at Carson High School.

Carson High Guard Lily Bouza drives to the basket during the NIAA Northern Division 4A game between the Galena Grizzlies and Carson Senators at Carson High School.

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Carson High girls basketball didn’t change its game plan much from its first meeting with the Galena Grizzlies and it didn’t need to Friday night.

Ultimately, it was the Senators’ defense that again proved to be too strong as Carson came out with a 46-19 win.

The Senators held the Grizzlies scoreless for the first 7:50 of the opening quarter, taking a 10-0 lead in the process behind a couple of baskets from Bella Kordonowy in the paint.

Carson had two steals turn into points in the opening quarter, but in the second quarter the Senators swiped away possession for their opening three baskets.

Naycy Alvarez stripped a steal loose midway through the second quarter and drove the length of the floor for a layup that gave Carson a 16-4 lead.

Kordonowy deposited the last basket of the opening half, rebounding a ball rolling off the rim and quickly tossing it back in before the horn sounded, giving Carson a 20-4 lead at the half.

The Senator senior ended her night with a game-high 12 points.

Even with all the defensive success Carson has seen, head coach Doug Whisler continues to push the Senators in practice on the back half of the floor.

“The girls, I worked them hard this week on defense,” Whisler said. “They stepped up and it showed.”

Whisler added that the game plan from the first meeting was similar to the second matchup.

Alvarez ended her night with seven points, as did Carson junior Madison Rabideau after coming in off the bench and hitting a 3-pointer from the wing to close the third quarter.

Reese MacKenzie also drained a triple in the fourth quarter on her way to five points as 10 different Senators found the score sheet.

“Oh yeah, especially those younger ones. They’re starting to figure things out too,” said Whisler.

Offensively, it may not have been the cleanest shooting night for Carson, but because of the volume of forced turnovers the Senators didn’t need a flawless performance underneath the rim.

“They get into dry spells sometimes,” said Whisler. “We do a lot of shooting in practice too. They’ll work through it.”

With a 4-2 Sierra League record, Carson now sits as the No. 2 seed thanks to its 47-33 win over Douglas Tuesday. Even if the Tigers defeated Wooster Friday night, Carson still holds the tiebreaker in the standings as of now.

UP NEXT: Carson (14-5, 4-2) gets the weekend off before hopping back into league play at home against Bishop Manogue (15-3, 6-0).

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