By Nick Bowton

Salisbury Post

MOORESVILLE — Charlena Lynn said Carson was so happy just to have a big lead after the first quarter that the Cougars “didn’t know what to do.”

That’s what happens when you haven’t won a game all season, but Carson should have a better idea of how to handle its next big lead.

In their first year of existence, the Cougars won the first varsity girls basketball game in school history Tuesday night, a convincing, 47-33 victory at Mooresville. Carson (1-18, 1-10 NPC) no longer has to hear about its winless record or its poor play or anything else that’s all negative, no positive.

“It’s like we were going into every game thinking if we don’t win this game it’s gonna be another loss and we’re gonna leave high school 0-18,” said point guard Mackenzie White, whose crisp passes into the post had a lot to do with Lynn’s team-high 15 points. “We won one game, and it mattered.”

That much was evident when the final buzzer sounded and a handful of Carson fans joined the Cougars near their bench for a joyful celebration. Those types of things usually follow tournament titles or huge upsets, but the first victory in school history fits in there as well.

“It’s a good feeling,” Carson coach Brooke Misenheimer said. “It is a good feeling. These girls deserve that win. They’ve worked hard. And despite criticism they’ve received from a lot of different people for losing 18 games — that’s been tough, being a young team — tonight we did a lot of good things.”

Like White’s ball distribution. And Lynn’s post presence in the second half. And Natasha Howell’s tone-setting performance in the first quarter.

Howell had six points and six rebounds in the first quarter as Carson established the fact that it would get the ball inside. She finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Lynn took over in the second half, when she scored 13 points. She had six of her 11 boards in the final quarter.

Both of those players, however, couldn’t have scored much without the passing of White.

A senior who’s been relied upon to do everything through 18 losses, White orchestrated the offense quite well in the one win.

“You think of Mackenzie, and she’s our go-to player scoring-wise,” Misenheimer said. “Beginning of the season, we had to rely on her almost exclusively to score. But the good thing is other people have stepped up and proven themselves and wanna be scorers too. That takes some of the pressure off her, and she can do so many things. From the point position she is just such a good creator.

“She wants to get people the ball.”

She wants more results like this, too. Mooresville

(2-19, 1-10) never got closer than 11 points after falling behind 16-5 going into the second quarter. The Blue Devils beat Carson 34-33 earlier this season.

“It was the greatest feeling on Earth,” White said. “It was like an assurance that you had had it won, but you only wanted to make it that much more. Having that win, and not winning by one, was great — to actually beat them.”

Carson (47) — Lynn 15, Howell 9, Brown 8, White 5, Cress 2, Hough 2, Whitley 2, Beaty 2, Curtindale 2, Marshall, Stewart.

Mooresville (33) — Butner 15, Sturdivant 5, Everhart 5, DeLaughter 4, Martin 2, Harris 2, Howard, Powell, Sullivan.

Carson 16 8 12 11 — 47

Mooresville 5 6 13 9 — 33

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Contact Nick Bowton at 704-797-4256 or nbowton@salisburypost.com.