DIVISION I BOYS: Switch in defense keys win for Cougars

Carson's boys basketball team made pass after pass to open players in the first quarter Thursday night against Coronado's man-to-man defense.

The Senators couldn't do the same against the Cougars' "amoeba" zone.

Coronado switched to the zone after the first quarter, and Carson went more than seven minutes without a point as the Cougars rallied for a 53-43 victory in the Division I state semifinals at UNR's Lawlor Events Center.

Coronado (22-4) takes on Bishop Gorman (24-7) in the state final at 8:10 p.m. today. The Gaels defeated Reno 70-39.

"We went to the zone, and we work really hard on it," junior forward Kennedy Koehler said. "All the teams that we've played, they have no idea how to break it. It really slowed down their game. It just disrupted their whole offensive flow, and we played really hard."

The Cougars scored seven quick points to start the second quarter, all coming off turnovers. Trey Hurlburt's 3-pointer with 6:38 left in the half gave the Cougars a 14-13 lead, and he added a steal and bucket 18 seconds later to force Carson (24-5) to call timeout.

It didn't help. The Cougars turned the ball over seven times in the quarter, leading to nine points as Coronado took a 21-16 halftime lead.

Carson managed one basket in the quarter, a 3-pointer by Jayden DeJoseph with 2:06 left in the half. That ended a drought of 7:43.

"It's a real aggressive defense, and if you're not familiar with it, you tend to throw the ball where we want you to throw the ball," Coronado coach Jeff Kaufman said. "And fortunately they weren't real familiar with it, and they threw it where we had our hands."

Though the Cougars usually switch between their zone and man-to-man throughout the game, they stayed in the zone for the final three quarters against Carson. It paid off, as they forced seven turnovers in the third quarter to pull ahead.

Nick Davis came up with two consecutive steals to lead to two transition baskets, one by Koehler and one by Hurlburt, to push the lead to 35-20 with 2:04 left in the third quarter.

"There are so many rotations, and we move so quick off it," Koehler said of the zone. "And we have a really good team for it because we're all pretty athletic. If you get to the right spot, it's almost a steal or a bad shot every time."

Koehler, a 6-foot-6-inch forward, scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Cougars. He picked up the slack after leading scorer Jake DesJardins went to the bench with his fourth foul with 2:38 left in the third quarter.

"If Jake goes out, we put a lot of guards in and push it," Kaufman said. "Kennedy likes to run, so that fits in his game really well. He's done that all year long. This isn't the first time he's stepped up and made shots and got rebounds and got to the free-throw line. He's good at that. He did a real nice job tonight."

Carson finally hit some shots in the fourth quarter, with DeJoseph scoring 10 of his 19 points. His 3-pointer from the left corner cut the lead to 48-41 with 1:24 to play.

But Koehler scored on a drive, and the Cougars made three of four free throws in the final 45 seconds.

Now they get a crack at Gorman, which has won the past four large-school state titles.

"We cannot make as many mistakes as we did tonight," Koehler said of his team's 20 turnovers. "And we need to shoot the ball much better. We've just got to come out and play hard. We're the underdog finally for once, and we've just got to come out and play hard and do what we can do."

Kaufman said all his team wanted was the chance at the title, and he hopes the Cougars take advantage.

"Our message is 'Why not us?'" Kaufman said. "Somebody has to do it. We have a chance. All we wanted to do was put ourselves in position to get that chance. Now we have the opportunity. We've reached that goal. Now let's see what happens on the court."

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters