| Carbon junior Parker Parsons goes up for a shot against a Redman player at the BDAC last week during a non-league contest. |
The Carbon boys basketball team entered last week looking forward to one home game and two away, against opponents that they thought were easily beatable.
But when the smoke of battle cleared on Saturday night the team found themselves with only one win as they lost at home to Cedar City on Tuesday 78-66 and to Granite in Salt Lake on Friday 85-60. Their lone win came against Park City in Summit County on Saturday as they slipped by the Miners 66-62.
Carbon entered its Dec. 14 game against Cedar City nearly as unfamiliar with the home court as the visiting Redmen, despite being the host of the game.
Due to a water problem at Carbon High School the night of the game, all of the boys and girls teams, including the varsity squads, were redistributed to Mont Harmon Junior High’s gym and the College of Eastern Utah’s home court in the BDAC.
But, however awkward the change to the CEU facilities were for the team, Carbon High pulled out every stop to try and maintain a home-court atmosphere for the non-conference game.
During the first half, scrambling Dinos were able to shut down most of Cedar City’s perimeter offense with full-court pressure. However, Cedar City was still able to take advantage of the scattered defense and capitalized on several inside dishes to its well-positioned big man.
The Dinos entered the half trailing 39-26.
The Redmen added to the lead in the third quarter, scoring 16 points to Carbon High’s nine. But, in the fourth quarter, Carbon High settled into familiarity with the college court and began to charge back.
With less than three minutes left in the game, the Dinos had cut the lead to six but were unable to completely vanquish the Redmen momentum.
Cedar City went on to take the game 78-66.
Miles Hunsaker led Carbon with 25 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Tyler Nelson added 14 for the Dinos.
Carbon dropped to 2-5 with the loss while Cedar City improved to 1-5.
On Friday night the team went to Salt Lake and tried to compete with the Granite Farmers in a game that will become a mainstay starting next season when the Salt Lake team will begin competing in Region 8. For years Granite has been a doormat for other teams, largely because the school has such a transient population where it is located in Salt Lake County. But this year the Farmers are winning big and came into the game with a 6-1 record.
The home team came out as hot as almost any high school team can by putting through 27 points in the first in the first quarter. The old Farmer gym was rocking as they also held Carbon to only 12 points.
In the second period Carbon started to exert some good defensive pressure and held the farmers scoring down to 17. Again the Dinos were only able to manage another 12 as the teams went into the locker room.
With some adjustments Carbon was able to wind up the game in much better shape than they would have if the pace of the first half had continued. Carbon was able to scored 17 and 19 points in the third and fourth periods respectively. Meanwhile the Farmers were scoring 41 points themselves.
Carbon was led in scoring by Hunsaker with 18 and Nelson with 15.
On Saturday the team took their show to Park City to face the Miners (1-6)
The first quarter showed both teams trading basket for basket with the quarter scored knotted at 15 points a piece.
Carbon began to gain an edge in the second period as they held the Miners to only 14 points while scoring 17 themselves.
After the half Carbon again took ahold of the Farmers offense, limiting them to only 12 points while scoring 18 themselves.
With a 50-41 lead over a team they had dominated most of the game, the Dinos probably felt quite comfortable going into the fourth period. However any feelings of security quickly vanished as Carbon’s scoring hit a short drought and Park City was able to take off. The Miner rally provided 21 points in the quarter, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Dinos.
The high scorer for the Dinos was once again Hunsaker with 18. Parker Parsons contributed 13 and while no one else was in double figures, Carbon’s scoring from the rest of it’s team was very balanced.
The Dinos now travel to Union in Roosevelt to play on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.