Sailors, Donaldson carry NM to first conference title since 1996

McCune scores 13, Andrzejewski adds 11 for Culver in loss

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The North Miami girls basketball team recalled the era of Ruth Riley when it beat Culver to win the Hoosier North title Wednesday.

Grace Sailors scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kayden Donaldson added 11 as the Lady Warriors prevailed 52-41.

Ava McCune scored 13 to lead Culver. Eliana Andrzejewski added 11.

The 11-point final margin represented North Miami’s largest lead.

North Miami improved to 13-8 overall and 7-1 in the Hoosier North. Culver fell to 14-6, 6-2.

The conference title is North Miami’s first since 1996 when the Lady Warriors won the Three Rivers Conference. Riley, a Macy native who later starred on Notre Dame’s 2001 national championship team and then had a 13-year career in the WNBA, was the star player.

Meanwhile, Culver remains without a girls basketball conference title since they won the final Northern State Conference title in 2015.

North Miami overcame 18 turnovers, but they wound up forcing six Culver turnovers themselves in the fourth quarter in a game-deciding 12-2 run.

“We got to the paint at will,” Culver coach A.J. Neace said. “But finishing with their size and athleticism was hard.”

Culver trailed by as many as 10 in the third quarter but went on a 13-2 run and took their first lead at 35-34 on a corner 3 from Andrzejewski with 58 seconds left in the quarter.

Sailors split a pair of free throws with 1.7 seconds left to send the game to the fourth tied.

Brooke Davis hit a free throw with 7:18 left to give Culver the lead again at 36-35. Donaldson, who outscored the entire Culver team 7-6 in the fourth quarter, hit two free throws at the 6:34 mark, and Sailors split a pair 10 seconds later.

A McCune runner against the press break tied it at 38 with 6:10 left, but that turned out to be the Lady Cavs’ final field goal.

Donaldson gave North Miami the lead on a third-chance putback after Laney Musall missed a 3 from the left corner and Sailors’ first putback hit the underside of the backboard.

Two Sailors free throws made it 42-38 with 4:51 left on what was Brianna Schlemmer’s fifth foul.

McCune split a pair of free throws, but Donaldson found Sailors for a layup.

A steal and layup from junior reserve Laina Kling – North Miami coach Nathan Curtis later compared Kling to scrappy Indiana Pacers backup point guard T.J. McConnell – made it 46-39, and North Miami went 6 for 8 from the line over the final 2:43 to close it out.

Donaldson is listed at 5-10, and Sailors, a Franklin College volleyball and track recruit who made the state finals in the high jump, is listed at 5-11.

North Miami coach Nathan Curtis called Sailors “a stud of an athlete.”

“It’s awesome,” Curtis said. “We felt like we let one get away from us last year in the conference. It felt like we should have won it. It’s been a goal all season long. We’ve only won one here at North Miami. … It was back in ‘96 when Ruth Riley was here. She had a pretty successful career. But yeah, it’s nice to get a win here.”

Culver came in 12th in the state in defensive scoring average at 31.9, but North Miami scored 19 in the first quarter. (That is more than three Culver opponents scored in a game against them this season.) That included eight points from Sailors, and one trey each from Musall and Porscha Pickett.

But two 3s from Ashlynn Berndt and a McCune 3-point play when she drove into the chest of Layla Hampton and put in an off-balance bank as she was fouled kept Culver within six.

Donaldson picked up her third foul with 7:27 left in the half and headed to the bench. Berndt split a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 19-14, but North Miami outscored Culver 8-6 the rest of the half with Donaldson on the bench.

Pickett hit a rainbow corner triple, and reserve Audi Medina also put in a layup.

McCune opened the second half with a transition basket, but Musall hit a 3 from the left corner, and Kling had a layup as the lead reached 10.

As both teams began to press each other fullcourt, Culver turned the tide.

McCune drove the right baseline and muscled in a tough runner. Schlemmer hit a 3 from the wing. McCune had a steal and layup. Donaldson hit a runner in the lane, but Andrzejewski hit a 3 from the left corner to make it 34-32. And when she hit another from the opposite corner, Culver had the lead.

Neace complimented his team, saying they showed off a “dog mentality” in making their comeback.

“I thought we played well,” Neace said. “We gave up too many points for what I wanted, but they shot the ball, they got to where they wanted, and they hit them. But our defense flew around like I wanted to, and we created a lot of turnovers.”

Curtis said his players were dribbling into danger, which helped Culver make their run.

“They were playing good defense,” Curtis said. “We were getting sped up, dribbling the ball one time and picking the ball up. That puts you in a bad situation. I called a timeout at one point and said, ‘Hey, stop, especially in the corner. You’ve got to keep your dribble alive. Don’t dribble to those corners.’ And we did a better job towards the end of the fourth quarter taking care of the basketball.”

North Miami 52, Culver 41

CULVER (41) (14-6, 6-2)

Ava McCune 5 3-7 13, Ashlynn Berndt 3 1-2 9, Eliana Andrzejewski 2 5-8 11, Brianna Schlemmer 1 0-0 3, Brooke Davis 1 3-4 5, Haylie Parker 0 0-0 0, Savanna Harrington 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 12 12-21 41

NORTH MIAMI (52) (13-8, 7-1)

Laney Musall 2 3-4 9, Porscha Pickett 2 0-0 6, Layla Hampton 0 2-2 2, Kayden Donaldson 3 5-6 11, Grace Sailors 5 8-12 18, Audi Medina 1 0-0 2, Laina Kling 2 0-0 4, Brealyn Correll 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 16 18-24 52

Three-point field goals:

Culver 5 (Andrzejewski 2, Berndt 2, Schlemmer),

North Miami 4 (Musall 2, Pickett 2)

Total fouls: Culver 20, North Miami 15

Fouled out: Schlemmer (CUL), 4:51, fourth; McCune (CUL), :23.7, fourth

Turnovers: Culver 16, North Miami 18

Score by quarters

Culver 13 7 15 6 – 41

North Miami198817–52