Morris, Stults help Argos beat Culver, advance to Bi-County semis

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Boys basketball

J.J. Morris

Argos 43, Culver 39 (Tuesday): J.J. Morris scored 17 points, and Luke Stults scored six of his 11 in the fourth quarter as the visiting Dragons topped Culver in a Bi-County Tournament quarterfinal at John R. Nelson Gymnasium Tuesday.

Nate Manikowski had six, Elijah Osborn had five, and Sean Richard had four. Both Osborn and Richard hit two free throws in the fourth quarter with Argos clinging to a one-point lead.

For the game, Argos made more free throws (14) than Culver attempted (10).

Argos trailed 30-27 going into the fourth quarter before outsourcing the Cavaliers 16-9.

Emiliano Ortiz scored 15 points for Culver (5-7), who lost their fifth straight. David Hite added eight, and Ethan Keller had seven.

Argos beat Culver for the 12th consecutive time. They have not lost to Culver since Jan. 20, 2017.

The teams will meet again at Culver on Feb. 9 for the Bell game.

In other Bi-County games Tuesday, Triton beat Bremen 43-42, John Glenn knocked off New Prairie 69-43, and LaVille routed Oregon-Davis 68-28.

Argos will play LaVille in a semifinal at 8 p.m. Friday at the LaVille main gym. Culver will play Oregon-Davis in a consolation game at 8 p.m. Friday at the LaVille auxiliary gym.

ARGOS (43) (9-3)

Nate Manikowski 2 0-0 6, Sean Richard 0 4-4 4, J.J. Morris 6 5-8 17, Elijah Osborn 1 2-2 5, Luke Stults 4 3-6 11, A.J. Mills 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 13 14-20 43

CULVER (39) (5-7)

Ethan Keller 2 2-2 7, Emiliano Ortiz 5 4-4 15, Oliver Morgan 1 0-0 2, Joey Pizur 2 1-2 5, Shane Shuman 1 0-0 2, David Hite 3 1-2 8

TEAM: 14 8-10 39

Three-point field goals:

Argos 3 (Manikowski 2, Osborn),

Culver 3 (Keller, Ortiz, Hite)

Total fouls: Argos 9, Culver 18

Fouled out: Shuman (CUL)

Turnovers: Argos 7, Culver 5

Score by quarters

Argos 8 14 5 16 – 43

Culver 7 12 11 9 – 39