Culver overcomes 10-point deficit in 4th, breaks 15-game skid vs. Argos

Hellums scores 27, Austin adds 10 for Dragons

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Culver players and students celebrate at midcourt with the Bell at Phil Weybright Gymnasium at Argos High School following the Cavaliers 55-50 win over the Dragons Thursday. The win broke Culver’s 15-game losing streak to Argos.

ARGOS — The Culver boys basketball team overcame nine years of frustration in approximately four minutes against host Argos at Phil Weybright Gymnasium Thursday.

Because of that, whenever they face adversity in the future, they can look at a Bell to remind them what is possible.

Down 47-37 with 4:08 left, Culver closed with an 18-3 run to stun the Dragons 55-50. The win broke a 15-game losing streak to Argos and gave them their first win over the Dragons since beating them in a Bi-County consolation game on Jan. 20, 2017. It also marked their first win in a Bell game in almost exactly a decade – Feb. 11, 2016.

Jonas McCuen and Kolton Howard scored 13 points each for Culver, Caleb McCuen added 12, and Braylon Jackson added 10. Jordan Green scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter, including the rally-starting 3-pointer.

After it was over, Culver players and fans ran over to the opposite side of the court to grab the Bell and drag it to center court. Players, coaches and fans gave the clapper a workout, repeatedly ringing it to celebrate the end of their nine-year drought.

“I remember leaving here two years ago just feeling absolutely defeated and sick,” Culver coach Kyle Evans said. “And about midway through the fourth, I think Doug said we were down 10 with about four minutes to go. I don't even remember that. I just remember being down big. Man, I’m elated. I couldn’t breathe for a second there after the final horn went off. Man, it just feels like a huge monkey lifted off our back. It’s so big for our players, students and community.”

Zhayne Hellums hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 27 for Argos, and Mekhi Austin had 10. Mack Calhoun grabbed 13 rebounds to go with his eight points before he fouled out with 22.4 seconds left.

But Argos committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter and 26 for the game.

“We spent a whole week talking about the pressure Culver was going to bring,” Argos coach Nick Kindig said. “You’ve got to see it to believe it. Our guys, they experienced two years ago, quite a bit of them. I think probably in the first quarter, we had seven turnovers. Second and third quarter, we handled it a little bit better, but in the fourth quarter, then we just started resorting back to how we started the game. Just making some bad decisions trying to do a little too much.”

Culver improved to 6-12 overall and 2-4 in the Hoosier North. Argos dropped to 3-15, 2-5.

Aiden Samuels had gone four consecutive games without a 3-pointer, but he broke the drought when he took a kickout pass from Calhoun in the post and drilled a trey with 4:08 left.

That capped an 8-0 Argos run and gave them their biggest lead.

But Green answered with a 3-pointer, which turned out to be Culver’s only 3 of the game. The madcap press did the rest.

A Jonas McCuen steal and layup cut the lead to five. Austin split a pair of free throws, but Caleb McCuen hit a turnaround jumper in the post. The lead was down to 48-44.

Then came the night’s nuttiest play.

Austin navigated his way through Culver’s press. He kicked to Ayden VanDerWeele to the corner. VanDerWeele passed to Samuels, but Jackson deflected his pass intended for Angelo McMillen in the high post.

Jonas McCuen, Jackson, Samuels and McMillen all lurched for the ball, and Jackson and Samuels both fell chasing it in the backcourt, and McMillen nearly tripped over the prone Jackson as the ball rolled approximately 55 feet in the direction of Culver’s basket.

Hellums ran the ball down in the deep corner of the backcourt. Culver trapped Hellums, who passed to VanDerWeele. VanDerWeele tried to pass back to Hellums across the lane, but Jonas McCuen deflected that pass and stole it and then pump-faked and hit an up-and-under hook from five feet away over VanDerWeele.

The Argos lead was down to 48-46.

“In our halfcourt offense, our execution wasn’t great,” Evans said. “When it was, we weren’t knocking down shots – layups, those sorts of things. But our defensive pressure was what allowed us to get back in the game and score. Truly, I don’t think we really scored in the halfcourt. It was just from our defense.”

Jackson stripped Hellums and drove to the other end, but Aiden Samuels drew an offensive foul, denying Jackson a game-tying layup with 2:17 left.

Austin broke the press but missed a one-legged floater. Zorich rebounded and split a pair of free throws.

McMillen traveled, and Caleb McCuen flashed in the post and hit another 12-footer. Culver had their first lead of the fourth quarter with 1:30 left.

“I just asked everybody on my team,” Caleb McCuen said. “I was like give it all you got. This is my last Bell game, and Jonas was doing the same.”

Austin then slipped as he tried to get by Jackson on the press breaker. Jonas McCuen got the steal and hit ahead to Jackson, who laid it in as McMillen fouled him.

After an Argos timeout, Jackson missed his free throw to try and complete a 3-point play. Hellums rebounded and was fouled and hit two free throws to make it 51-50. 

After working 39 seconds off the clock, Caleb McCuen missed a 12-footer in the lane, but Howard rebounded and split two free throws. 

Calhoun attracted multiple Culver defenders in the post and kicked out to Austin, who missed a 3-pointer that would have given Argos the lead. The 6-0 Green got to the rebound a split second before the 6-4 Calhoun and drew Calhoun’s fifth foul.

Green split two free throws to make it 53-50.

Austin traveled trying to spin his way into the lane, and Jonas McCuen split a pair of free throws with 9.8 seconds left. A Caleb McCuen free throw with 3.6 seconds left completed the scoring.

“Amazing,” Caleb McCuen said. “We’re just trying to change the culture here at Culver. We’re tired of losing.”

Culver scored the first six points, and a John Carr steal and layup preserved a 14-8 lead after one quarter. Hellums scored seven points in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer that got the lead down to 21-17 at halftime.

With Argos switching from a man-to-man in the first half to a 2-3 zone and a 2-2-1 halfcourt trap in the second half, Hellums hit two triples, and Calhoun powered home a putback and hit two free throws as part of a 15-3 run to start the second half.

Argos had a 32-24 lead.

A Jackson putback helped Culver to creep within 34-28 after three quarters.

Hellums was fouled while shooting a 3 and then hit all three free throws to get the lead to 37-28, but Culver trimmed the lead back down to 39-37 on two Howard baskets, the last on a hook over Calhoun in the paint.

A smooth 3 from Hellums – Evans said trying to stop Hellums was “impossible” and he called him a “three-level scorer,” capable of hitting 3-pointer, scoring in the midrange and on the drive – and a high-low feed from McMillen to Calhoun got the lead back to seven, and after Caleb McCuen missed a leaner in the lane, Argos got the ball to Calhoun in the post.

He spotted Samuels open in front of the Argos bench.

Kindig spoke of Hellums’ development as a player through personal tragedy. Hellums’ father Matthew died Jan. 19 at the age of 38.

“He’s grown a ton,” Kindig said. “He’s been through a lot the last month. He’s grown a lot as a leader and as a player. He’s hit shots. He can score. Last year, I would say he was more just a shooter. This year, he’s able to score off the dribble a little bit more. He handles the ball a lot against the press, so he’s come a long way even since the preseason.”

Culver also took the JV game 34-20.

Culver 55, Argos 50

CULVER (55) (6-12, 2-4)

Braylon Jackson 5 0-1 10, John Carr 1 0-0 2, Jonas McCuen 4 5-10 13, Caleb McCuen 5 2-4 12, Drake Zorich 0 1-2 1, Kolton Howard 4 5-7 13, Jordan Green 1 1-2 4

TEAM: 20 14-26 55

ARGOS (50) (3-15, 2-5)

Mekhi Austin 2 5-8 10, Aiden Samuels 2 0-2 5, Zhayne Hellums 7 9-13 27, Angelo McMillen 0 0-0 0, Mack Calhoun 3 2-2 8, Ethan Samuels 0 0-0 0, Ayden VanDerWeele 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 14 16-25 50

Three-point field goals:

Culver 1 (Green),

Argos 6 (Hellums 4, Austin, A. Samuels)

Total fouls: Culver 21, Argos 20

Fouled out: Calhoun (ARG), :22.4, fourth

Bench warning: Culver, 1:20, fourth

Turnovers: Culver 10, Argos 26

Score by quarters

Culver 14 7 7 27 – 55

Argos 8 9 17 16 – 50

JV: Culver 34, Argos 20