Manogue’s defense leads the way against Carson High boys

Carson High’s playoff hopes took another big hit Tuesday night.

The Senators turned the ball over 27 times leading to 24 points and shot just 38 percent from the floor in a 46-31 loss to Bishop Manogue in a Sierra League boys basketball game at Morse Burley Gym.

The loss dropped Carson to 3-10 with three games left to play. The Senators trail Douglas by two games in the loss column. Carson needs to win out and get some help to overtake the Tigers for the last playoff spot.

Jordan Glover, the Senators’ first-year coach, was dejected after the game. 

“The biggest thing we talked about was taking care of the ball; taking pride on each possession,” Glover said. “If you get a shot up, you have a chance to score two or three points. If you don’t get a shot up you have no chance. Turnovers are the things that have hurt us (all year).

“Things tend to have a snowball effect at times. It’s a ripple effect. It gets bigger and bigger, and we don’t stop the bleeding. The kids play so hard. They are working so hard not to make a mistake. Two turnovers turn into four, and we don’t get a bucket to calm us down.”

Despite the woes, the game was winnable because Carson caught Manogue on a bad shooting night. The Miners shot, unofficially, 36 percent from the floor.

“Not our best effort,” Manogue coach Moe Golshani said after the game. “We got some wide-open looks. Sometimes the shots don’t fall.”

The Miners’ defense didn’t take the night off, and it was some good defense at the end of the first half and at the end of the third quarter that made the difference in the game.

In the first half, Carson had a chance to go ahead with less than two minutes left, but the Miners used two turnovers to go on a 8-1 surge to take a 21-13 lead into the locker room. Kolton Frugoli (18 points) and Cort Ballenger drained 3-pointers to lead the way.

Carson fell behind by double digits three times in the first four minutes of the second half, but used a 7-2 run to cut Manogue’s lead to 30-24 with 1:44 left in the third. Derek Barry had five in that span to lead CHS. Barry finished with eight, five behind team leader Abel Carter.

The game got away from Carson in a hurry, however. Consecutive turnovers sparked a 7-0 run in the final 86 seconds of the quarter, as the Miners built the lead to 37-24, after three periods.

“Those steals (in the third quarter) opened the game up a little bit,” Golshani said. “We’re a team that relies on our defense,  and we relied a lot on it tonight.”

After scoring a basket early in the fourth quarter, the Senators had five straight empty possessions (two turnovers and three missed shots).

Frugoli had seven straight points for the Miners, including a 3-pointer from the corner that gave Manogue a 46-29 lead late in the game.

 Glover said he was pleased with his role players.

“The bench gave us some good minutes,” he said. “That gives us confidence moving forward for next year.”