Dorsey Beats Carson at Basketball, Too, 67-53

Unable to exact revenge for a loss in the Los Angeles City Section 4-A football championship game, Carson High lost to visiting Dorsey, 67-53, in the basketball quarterfinals Wednesday night as guards Kareem Sconiers and Tim Cage each scored 16 points for the Dons.

The Colts, who finished the season at 19-9, trailed by two points at the end of each of the first three quarters but made just three of 10 fourth-quarter field-goal attempts as Dorsey (20-6) pulled away. An 11-0 run by the Dons--including six points by forward Tony Booten--enabled them to put the game out of reach at 64-50 with 1:58 left.

“They’re a great team,” Carson Coach Richard Masson said of Dorsey. “I think they have the best talent in the City.

“I thought we played a heck of a game. It wasn’t so much what we didn’t do, it was what they did.”

Swingman Bobby Kelly led the Colts with 17 points but made just eight of 22 shots. Teammate Michael Ross had an even tougher time, finishing with six points on three-of-15 shooting.

Carson led three times, but never by more than three points. Ross and Nkosi Littleton (10 points) had the first two baskets of the second half to give the Colts their last lead of the game, 32-30.

Despite playing without injured starting center Chris Aaron, Carson was effective at controlling the Dons’ inside game, Masson said. “But their guards took over with their penetration.”

The 5-foot-9 Sconiers, who attacked the basket with aggressive drives all night, said team play was a key.

“We came together as a team, as a family, tonight,” Sconiers said. “Earlier this year, we did have some problems in the fourth quarter, but tonight we got it done when it counted.”

In a regular-season meeting in Carson, the Colts beat the Dons, 61-56.

“We were losing, but we knew we would win that game when got a comeback going,” Sconiers recalled. “But we waited too long to get it going. This time we were more focused as a team.”

Masson said Dorsey’s late explosion made the final score misleading. “This game just came down to a couple of key baskets,” he said. “It could have gone either way, so I’m not displeased.”

Booten had all eight of his points in the decisive fourth quarter, while teammate Lamont Warren (the City 4-A football Player of the Year) added seven, including a dunk that capped the Dons’ big late run.