Warrior girls drop two basketball games against Carlsbad

The Fallbrook High School girls basketball team opened 2020-21 play March 26 at home against Carlsbad, and the Warriors then played Carlsbad on the Lancers' court March 27. The results gave Carlsbad a 2-0 season record and Fallbrook a season mark of 0-2.

"It was rough. We haven't played in quite some time," said Fallbrook coach Trae Harrison.

Harrison wasn't disappointed that the Warriors lost both games. Carlsbad is in Division I for playoff purposes and the Lancers are often among the top eight Division I teams who compete in the Open Division during the post-season. Fallbrook is a Division III team.

"I think we held our own," Harrison said.

Harrison noted that higher-level opponents in pre-league play will prepare the team for league and CIF playoff competition. "I always make our schedule fairly tough," he said.

On March 26, the Lancers leveraged a 42-22 halftime lead into an 89-37 victory. Because many Fallbrook girls play multiple sports, only six basketball players were available for that game.

Using players who normally would not start provides experience for those girls. The reserves in the scenario of a full team may or may not be able to sustain on-court action for 32 minutes of play, especially when only one substitute is available to give the players brief rest. Those who are normally not the starters are also less likely to avoid foul trouble, although that was not a problem for Fallbrook in the season opener.

"We played well without fouling," Harrison said.

"We put them into more foul trouble," Harrison said. "We were in the bonus both halves."

Fallbrook had nine girls March 27, when the Lancers won a 68-40 game. "We had a much better game plan," Harrison said. "We did better."

The Warriors held a 14-13 lead after the first period March 27 before being outscored by a 21-9 margin in the second quarter.

"They definitely stepped it up in the second game," Harrison said.

Fallbrook juniors Elley Ahrend and Naiya Kurnik were the Warriors' leading scorers for both games, and they were also the team's leading rebounders in each game. Kurnik is a point guard and led Fallbrook in assists (Ahrend is a forward).

The 2020-21 Fallbrook program has a total of 17 girls consisting of one senior, four juniors, and 12 freshmen and sophomores. The decision to utilize a girl in a varsity or a junior varsity game will be based on the specific opponent. "We didn't have a normal off-season, so there was no time for us to really separate them," Harrison said.

A player who participates in a junior varsity game may play in a varsity game later that week, although a player who sees action in varsity competition cannot drop down to the junior varsity level for the remainder of the week. That will allow junior varsity girls to have some varsity court time. "Some of the younger girls need more experience, so they'll be playing both," Harrison said.

Fallbrook's junior varsity had March 23 and March 24 games against Carlsbad. The Warriors won both of those contests.

Harrison often confers with Tony Morrow, who was Fallbrook's coach for the 2016-17 season when the Warriors shared the Valley League championship. That was Morrow's only season as the Warriors' head coach, as his duties with the high school's career center expanded the following school year and he had to step down from the coaching position. The league title was the first for the Fallbrook girls basketball program since the Warriors were the 2006-07 Avocado League champions.

"My goal is to get it back to where they were," Harrison said. "We're going to rebuild what Fallbrook used to be."