Carson Jolts San Pedro’s Title Hopes

San Pedro High owes most of its 17 victories this season to splendid outside shooting, but the Pirates lost their shooting touch Thursday afternoon.

As a result, Carson was able to knock San Pedro out of first place in the Pacific League.

The Pirates’ perimeter shooters went cold in the third quarter and visiting Carson took advantage. The Colts erased a four-point halftime deficit, then pulled away for a 79-65 victory.

“We came out at the start like we wanted to win a championship,” San Pedro Coach Jack Kordich said. “But then the roof caved in.”

Carson improved to 13-9 overall and 5-3 in league play and dropped San Pedro (17-5, 4-3) a half-game out of first place.

San Pedro made 52% of its shots in the first half. Twelve of San Pedro’s first 14 points came from three-point range.

But the Pirates fizzled after halftime, shooting only 29%.

They made only three of 19 shots in a disastrous third quarter and missed eight three-point attempts.

Carson was able to score 11 consecutive points to surge ahead, 44-39, with 5:32 left in the quarter.

Carson Coach Richard Masson attributed San Pedro’s cold second-half shooting to a defensive change, which matched up a pair of physical Carson players--William Thomas and Tyrone Smith--against San Pedro’s smaller guards, Devon Hamilton and Jerry Wells.

Hamilton led San Pedro with 17 points, but Smith forced him into several ill-advised shots (two for seven) in the third quarter. Center Andre Smith added 14 points for San Pedro.

“We were kind of rushing our shots there for a while,” Kordich said. “They ran their offense much better than we did.”

Carson forward Justin Evans came off the bench and scored a game-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half. Evans (seven for eight from the free-throw line) dominated in the second half with several left-handed jump shots in the key. He also had numerous offensive rebounds.

Carson swingman Rudy Washington scored 17 and Thomas add ed 12.

San Pedro suffered a major blow when starting point guard Gary Herrera injured a knee with 4:09 left in the third quarter after a head-on collision with a Carson player in the backcourt.

The injury caused a 30-minute delay while trainers from both schools and paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department assisted Herrera.

Herrera, who had eight points and four assists, left the gym on a gurney and was taken to San Pedro Peninsula Hospital for X-rays.

Herrera was diagnosed with a contusion to his left knee and was discharged from the hospital later in the evening.