Culver girls basketball preview: ‘We’re not changing our style of play:’ Neace replaces brother, will rely on sophomore guards to stifle opponents

Val T.
Nov 6
5 min read

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

New coach, same last name for the Culver girls basketball team.

A.J. Neace is the new girls basketball coach at Culver. Hired at a school board meeting in August, he replaces his brother Adam, who left to take the coaching job at LaPorte in June.

Adam Neace lives in Walkerton, and A.J. lives just outside of Bass Lake. So Adam pursued the LaPorte job since it will be a shorter commute, and A.J. stayed behind.

The brothers were co-head coaches in the 2023-24 season. Adam was the head coach and A.J. the varsity assistant last year. Adam and A.J. also worked together as assistants on the boys basketball staff prior to the 2023-24 season.

Hiring a coach in August is not often ideal, but A.J. said they were prepared for the possibility during the summer.

“We went through the summer before Adam was hired,” A.J. said. “I guess I was the only one that really knew he was looking at LaPorte just because it was closer to home. So we went all summer and still did shootouts and everything, and he ran the scoreboard and let me run the team, so I’ve been running it since June just in case I did get the job.”

A.J. is already the girls soccer coach at Culver. The team went 16-1 this fall, losing only to LaVille in penalty kicks in the sectional final. He was asked if familiarity with the girls was a reason why he wanted the job.

“Definitely,” A.J. Neace said. “I’ve always wanted to be the head coach of basketball at Culver. I graduated here. If it was boys or girls, it didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to help the kids as much as possible, and me coaching girls soccer definitely had a big role in it because I know all these kids.”

A.J. Neace inherits a team that leaped from four wins in 2023-24 to 15 wins last year. The team increased their scoring average from 30 to 37 while cutting its defensive scoring average from 45 to 32. Ten times last year, they held their opponent under 30 points. Culver finished 11th in the state in defensive scoring average.

An all-freshman backcourt of Ava McCune and Ashlynn Berndt had much to do with it. They disrupted opponents with their length and quickness, and that led to turnovers that triggered Culver’s fast break.

However, forward Brynn Berndt and post player Amiyah Williams graduated, and their rebounding ability hindered second-chance opportunities for opponents. Still, defense will be this team’s forte, according to A.J. Neace.

Look for a step forward from juniors Brooke Davis and Eliana Andrzejewski. Davis, a forward, is known for her quickness, and Andrzejewski is so versatile that A.J. Neace called her a “Swiss army knife.”

“We’re not changing our style of play,” A.J. Neace said. “We’re still going to do the same thing that we’ve done. We’re going to be nasty on defense. But I still think we have a little bit of size in Brooke Davis, and then we’ll bring in Eliana. She’s not as big, but she’s stronger than most think. But losing Amiyah and Brynn definitely hurts on the rebounds, but I think we have kids stepping up that are stronger kids than people think that can box out and still go get a rebound.”

McCune already stars for A.J. Neace in soccer: She has scored 70 goals in two years. Now he wants her to improve her outside shot in basketball.

“I got to experience it on the bench as an assistant coach and as a head coach of soccer,” A.J. Neace said. “She’s a dawg. When you can get her turned loose, she’s a phenomenal player, no matter what sport it is – track, soccer, basketball – she’s probably one of the few freak athletes that I’ve had.”

A.J. Neace views sophomore shooting guard Ashlynn Berndt as having the opposite issue. While McCune needs to work on her shot, Berndt needs to work on being able to drive to the basket to counter any defense that tries to take away her perimeter shot.

The graduation of Brynn, now playing volleyball at IU Kokomo, leaves just one Berndt sister left at Culver.

“Ashlynn came on last year as kind of the quiet sister, as you can tell with Brynn being there,” A.J. Neace said. “But as the season went on, she probably turned into our most consistent shooter, and talking about Ava and Ash, they’re about opposites. So Ava’s got to work on a jump shot, and Ash has got to work on getting to the basket. She kind of had it easy with Ava and Brynn last year. They could get to the basket at will, and then she got kick-out jump shots. Now I’m asking her to get to the basket and create her own shot.”

Brianna Schlemmer will provide added shooting proficiency.

“If you have to stick to those two (Schlemmer and Berndt), that leaves the lane open for Ava to get to wherever she wants to get to,” A.J. Neace said. “And if you help on Ava, then you’re leaving one of those girls open for a shot.”

Ivon Torres-Escobar and Lena Sagal are other seniors in the program. Sagal is a foreign exchange student from Germany who is new to basketball.

Davis is in her third year on the varsity. She is a captain of the girls soccer team, which speaks to her leadership skills. A.J. Neace wants her more aggressive on the offensive end.

“And she’s been probably one of the biggest leaders on the basketball floor, helping the younger girls figure out what they have to do and where to go,” A.J. Neace said. “Being that vocal leader that we need for this team since we lost Amiyah and Brynn. She’s done a great job so far.”

Haylie Parker is another junior who is a “prototypical point guard,” according to A.J. Neace. Alyviah Williams, Autumn Neace and Savanna Harrington round out the junior class.

McCune, Berndt and Holly Horner are the sophomores in the program. Horner is a guard who will give McCune or Berndt a breather when necessary. Neace described her as a “firecracker.”

Despite the change at head coach, the coaching staff will remain stable. Brett Berndt, Auston Zehner, Jessica McCuen and J.B. Overmyer are back as assistants, and Alison (Zehner) Neace, wife of the head coach and a member of Culver’s 2011 regional championship team, will also help out.

“I thought it would be the best thing for the transition is to keep the same group, if possible, and just add to it,” A.J. Neace said.

Culver girls basketball schedule

Nov. 6 – vs. South Central (Union Mills), 8 p.m.

Nov. 8 – at Trinity Greenlawn, 2 p.m.

Nov. 11 – vs. Tri-Township, 8 p.m.

Nov. 14 – at North Miami, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 15 – vs. Westville, 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 18 – at Winamac, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 20 – at Elkhart Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 22 – vs. Pioneer, 6 p.m.

Nov. 25 – at Argos, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 3 – vs. Rochester, 6:30 p.m.