Coleman scores 11 off the bench, helps Rochester beat Culver in Smith’s debut

Carr leads Cavaliers with 9

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Carson Paulik John Carr

CULVER — Brady Coleman scored 11 points off the bench, and Jonas Kiser scored all nine of his points in the second half as the Rochester boys basketball team won Luke Smith’s coaching debut with a 48-30 triumph over Culver at John R. Nelson Gymnasium Nov. 26.

Carson Paulik scored five of his seven points in the fourth quarter, and he also had a team-high 12 rebounds.

John Carr hit three 3-pointers and scored nine points for Culver. Jonas McCuen added seven.

The game also marked the return to the sidelines for Culver coach Kyle Evans, who coached the Cavs from 2020-24 before spending the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach at Marian University Ancilla.

Rochester beat Culver for the ninth straight year in the teams’ annual night-before-Thanksgiving season opener. It’s a streak that dates back to Alex Ahnafield’s buzzer-beating layup in 2017.

Culver trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter and trailed 33-23 after three quarters. But Jonas McCuen hit a turnaround jumper off the dribble to start the fourth quarter, and Carr got a friendly roll on a trey after a Kolton Howard offensive rebound and kickout pass.

That cut the lead to five with 7:05 left, but Rochester responded with a 15-0 run to put the game away.

Coleman scored on a transition layup on a touch-pass assist from Liam Spence. Then Paulik scored in transition, finishing a baby-lob from Spence after a long outlet from Kiser.

Paulik drove baseline for a 3-point play to push the lead to 12. Then Kiser hit two free throws. Then Jack Reffett hit two free throws. Then Spence hit two free throws. A Kiser steal and coast-to-coast layup capped the run.

“It feels good to get that one behind me, I tell you,” Smith said. “It was a little ugly in nature, but I thought my guys competed really hard all night. We made some mental errors, but that’s OK. We had to adjust to the officiating a little bit tonight. We were a little bit handsy on defense, so some more adjustments than I was planning on to start that game out, but that’s OK. Our guys played really hard, and I’m proud of them.”

Evans was pleased with the defensive effort. Evans relies on a frenzied zone trap. His predecessor Drew Mosson was a man-to-man coach.

“Really I thought they made a good adjustment in the second half offensively screening our middle man and getting some looks that way,” Evans said. “We still did a decent job defending and making it hard for them to score.”

Sophomore point guard Mitchell Clark made his first career start for the Zebras alongside older brother Grant and three other seniors – Paulik, Kiser and Reffett.

Mitchell Clark scored the first points of the season on a 3, but Culver responded with a 10-0 run on two Carr 3-pointers, a Caleb McCuen 3-point play and a Braylon Jackson free throw.

Rochester answered with a 12-1 run that bled into the second quarter. Coleman scored the first six points of the run on a triple, a free throw and a layup in which Culver was called for goaltending. A Paulik steal and layin tied it at 11 going into the second quarter.

Grant Clark hit a top-of-the-key 3 to give Rochester a 14-11 lead at the outset of the second quarter, and they never trailed again.

Spence, a move-in from Mishawaka Marian playing his first game as a Zebra, hit a 3 to push the lead to five later in the quarter, and Conner Dunfee, another reserve, hit a runner in the lane that extended the lead to six.

Rochester led 20-15 at halftime with the bench (11) scoring more points than the starters (9) while Kiser sat the last 13 minutes of the half with two fouls.

Culver hung within 21-17 on a Jackson half-hook banker in the third quarter, but Grant Clark scored on a putback, and Reffett and Coleman hit treys as the lead reached double figures for the first time at 29-18.

“I’m like a sixth man because I’m behind Carson and Jack,” Coleman said. “They’re two really good shooters, but I come off the bench, most likely when they need a break or a blow, and then I execute plays really well.”

Smith’s first game marked the Zebras playing a switching man-to-man defense.

“We really settled down in our defense,” Smith said. “We tried to tighten it up a little bit. We were overextended. … The first-game jitters, whatever they were to get this game started, really put us on our heels, and we had to claw back and play the Zebra basketball that we’ve been working on every day in practice.”

Evans said the Cavaliers “struggled to put the ball in the hole” but liked his team’s persistence nonetheless.

“Really that’s what it came down to,” Evans said. “They hit a couple shots, and we had to get in the foul game, and we weren’t knocking them down. But overall, we were down five early (in the) fourth, the progress our guys have made, I mean, I’m pleased. But we still have work to do.”

Coleman called Paulik and Kiser “two really good role models.” He also praised his new coach.

“He’s a great guy,” Coleman said of Smith. “New coach, it’s very nerve-wracking for him. He loves this team, and we love him. He’s a great coach, and we appreciate him a lot.”

Rochester also took the JV game 68-13. Parker Casper led Rochester with 15 points, Aiden Wilson had 14, Taylor Howard had 10, Linden Wilburn had nine, Owen Lett had eight, Grayson Miller had five, Van Kiser had four, and Alex Chapman had three.

Donavan Carr scored eight to lead Culver. Andrew Summey and Josh Tomblin had two each, and Zac Zehner had one.

Rochester 48, Culver 30

ROCHESTER (48) (1-0)

Carson Paulik 3 1-1 7, Mitchell Clark 1 0-0 3, Jonas Kiser 3 3-4 9, Jack Reffett 1 3-6 6, Grant Clark 2 0-0 5, Liam Spence 1 2-2 5, Alex Chapman 0 0-0 0, Brady Coleman 4 1-2 11, Conner Dunfee 1 0-0 2

TEAM: 16 10-15 48

CULVER (30) (0-1)

Braylon Jackson 1 3-6 5, John Carr 3 0-0 9, Jonas McCuen 3 0-2 7, Caleb McCuen 1 2-3 4, Drake Zorich 0 0-0 0, Kolton Howard 2 1-2 5, Jordan Green 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 10 7-15 30

Three-point field goals:

Rochester 6 (Coleman 2, Reffett, Spence, G. Clark, M. Clark),

Culver 3 (Carr 3)

Total fouls: Rochester 17, Culver 18

Technical foul: G. Clark (RHS), 5:12, third

Turnovers: Rochester 22, Culver 17

Score by quarters

Rochester 11 9 13 15 – 48

Culver 11 4 8 7 – 30

JV: Rochester 68, Culver 13