Hot-shooting Schlemmer, Davis score 15 each, help Culver stay in first in Hoosier North

Douglass leads Lady Comets with 11, Craig adds 8

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Brooke Davis Brianna Schlemmer

CULVER — Culver girls basketball coach A.J. Neace called timeout with 3:52 left after Brianna Schlemmer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give his team an 18-point lead over Caston Thursday.

Why did he call timeout?

He said he just wanted to celebrate how well his players were playing.

The iron women of Culver – Neace did not make a substitution until there were 45 seconds left in the game – had reason to celebrate after topping the Lady Comets 48-31 at John R. Nelson Gymnasium.

Schlemmer hit five 3-pointers and scored 15 points, and Brooke Davis provided inside balance while also scoring 15.

Culver won despite sophomore point guard Ava McCune being held to two points. McCune picked up her fourth foul with 7:33 left but never fouled out.

Madi Douglass led Caston with 11 points and nine rebounds. Allison Craig added eight.

Culver improved to 12-4 overall and 5-1 in the Hoosier North. Caston lost their sixth straight game and fell to 7-10, 4-3.

There are no undefeated teams left in the Hoosier North. Culver, North Judson (3-1), North Miami (3-1) and Winamac (2-1) all have one loss. Winamac travels to North Miami tonight. A Culver trip to North Miami Jan. 28 looms potentially large.

Caston was coming off a 40-37 loss at Western Tuesday. This was their fifth game in 11 days; meanwhile, Culver was playing their first game in 16 days.

Both coaches acknowledged Caston’s fatigue afterwards.

“I thought they were fresh,” Douglass said. “They were aggressive in it. They were fresh. They move really well. Obviously, they only have seven girls, so they’re in great shape. We need a break. We’re tired. We were tired. It’s been busy since Christmas. Since the beginning of our season, there’s been no time to take a break. And I thought you saw a team that came off a good break and a team that’s tired.”

Caston will not play again until facing sectional rival Tri-County next Thursday. Coach Douglass added that he will give the team “some days off” to rest.

“I thought we played extremely well,” Neace said. “You could see there in that third quarter that them playing all Christmas break got to them. They started getting a little tired, and we had a little bit of gas left in the tank. Holding (Madi Douglass) to 11 – and she’s averaging 16 – and then Colvin I think is averaging 11, and we hold her to seven.”

Schlemmer’s first 3-pointer came after a kickout assist from Ashlynn Berndt and put Culver ahead for good at 18-15 with 2:03 left in the half.

The lead was 20-17 at halftime, and Andrzejewski then scored as many points as the entire Caston team (five) in the third quarter.

She hit two free throws with 6:45 left in the quarter to make it 22-17. And with Culver ahead 25-20, Andrzejewski canned a rare 3-pointer to get the lead to eight.

Two Grace Colvin free throws for Caston trimmed the lead to 28-22, but Berndt made the extra pass and found an open Schlemmer on the left wing. She hit a 3 with two seconds left, and Culver was up by nine heading into the fourth quarter.

McCune found Schlemmer for a drive-and-kick trey. A six-point double possession had doubled the lead to 12.

“Mostly you have to work on not just your shot, but it goes from running into a shot, so you have to work on shooting while you’re tired,” Schlemmer said.

Two Davis free throws got the lead back to double figures, and then came two more Schlemmer 3-pointers, and it was time for Neace and the Lady Cavaliers to celebrate.

“We were practicing, so I had a lot of confidence coming in here,” Schlemmer said when asked if she was worried that the team might be rusty after the layoff. “We all had the mindset to win for conference.”

Culver’s defensive scoring average of 32.9 puts them in the top 20 in the state. Caston came in averaging 42 points per game. Culver’s 2-3 zone defense starts with McCune and Berndt trapping the ball on top. Schlemmer plays the back line but must be mindful of the high post. Andrzejewski and Davis play the wings.

“The guards are the ones that cause the havoc,” Neace said. “Brooke, Brianna Schlemmer and Eliana Andrzejewski hold down the fort for us. So when the guards get out and try to get nasty, they’re the ones that anchor it down for us.”

Culver 48, Caston 31

CASTON (31) (7-10, 4-3)

Hadlie Coffing 1 1-2 3, Camila Hernandez-Rios 0 0-0 0, Grace Colvin 2 2-2 7, Madi Douglass 4 2-4 11, Allison Craig 3 2-2 8, Trinity Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Ellie Zartman 1 0-0 2, Lexie Field 0 0-0 0, Natalie Warner 0 0-0 0, Adyson Steininger 0 0-0 0, Gigi Berry 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 11 7-10 31

CULVER (48) (12-4, 5-1)

Ava McCune 1 0-0 2, Ashlynn Berndt 3 2-4 9, Eliana Andrzejewski 3 0-0 7, Brianna Schlemmer 5 0-0 15, Brooke Davis 5 5-8 15, Savanna Harrington 0 0-0 0, Alyviah Williams 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 17 7-12 48

Three-point field goals:

Caston 2 (Douglass, Colvin),

Culver 7 (Schlemmer 5, Andrzejewski, Berndt)

Total fouls: Caston 17, Culver 9

Turnovers: Caston 9, Culver 8

Score by quarters

Caston 9 8 5 9 – 31

Culver 12 8 11 17 – 48