CAREY - Carey didn't shoot well from the outside for much of the game Friday night against Mohawk; it's 4 of 18 shooting line from deep isn't impressive.
But when it mattered, the Blue Devils were perfect from 3-point range, giving them the momentum they needed to win their Midland Athletic League opener, 55-44 over the Warriors.
The game was tight most of the way, and it was tied at 33 after three quarters. Carey used a pair of baskets in the paint by Logan Johnson, sandwiched around one by Hannah Tong, to push an 8-2 run that gave the Blue Devils a 41-35 advantage with 5:08 left.
But a trey from Ashley Parker cut the Blue Devils' lead to three, and appeared to put the Warriors right back in it.
But Carey's Hannah Draper (11 points) answered with a 3 from the right corner, the Blue Devils' first since the first quarter.
Mohawk's Sarah Parker answered with a jumper, but then Carey's Sydney Wentling was left open on the right corner, and hit, making it 47-40. After Parker scored again to make it 47-42 with 3:09 left, Draper was again open, this time on the left wing.
Again, she buried it. Carey went up 50-42.
Three 3's in about 90 seconds.
"It was momentum," Carey coach Phil Vaughn said. "And every time I think of those three shots... it looked like those players wanted the ball.
"So I think the confidence was rolling. We didn't hit a lot of 3's in the first half, but you hope - we do have some good shooters - that the percentage will be on your side if you keep taking those open 3's."
For Mohawk coach Josh Fortney, the events were unacceptable.
"We talk about making adjustments on offense. If someone has the hot hand, we try to go to them," Fortney said. "Kasey Adelsperger ... she had the hot hand. We planned to go to her. (The Blue Devils) made the adjustment, took that away.
"Same thing goes on defense. It's pretty basic. Somebody makes a 3 on their side of the floor, you might wanna get on guards the next time. They make it again, you oughta think a bit harder about [guarding them]... Now three times in a row, I can't live with that," Fortney said. "Our defense shouldn't either. That was just poor execution."
Mohawk was outscored 22-11 in the final quarter.
"It was Carey's effort," said Fortney, who later took the blame for the squad not being ready to go. "Their effort was unbelievable. Coach Vaughn, he's a good coach, he had them ready to go, and their effort on offense, their effort on defense, nothing was easy for us all night."
Kasey Adelsperger had a brilliant game for Mohawk, with 18 points and eight rebounds. But she was the only Warrior to score in double digits. Sarah Parker had 11 rebounds to go with four points, while Sarah Runion hit three 3-pointers for nine points.
Carey was led by Logan Johnson, who paced the offense, especially in the second half. With Sarah Parker defending her much of the evening, Johnson scored 14 points, 12 coming in the second half.
Johnson scored five baskets in the final 24 minutes, most of them in the paint.
"Right here on the left side of the basket, she finished with her left hand," Vaughn said. "Maybe twice with Sarah Parker going up over her, and she was still able to use her left hand, and keep the ball away from her and score off the backboard. That was huge."
Hannah Tong also had a big night, with a double-double of 13 points, 10 boards.
"She played a strong, strong second half for us, and we needed it," Vaughn said.
Carey improved to 3-0, while Mohawk slipped to 2-2.
