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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Shane Shuman scored eight points to lead Culver, but Triton held the Cavaliers to just eight points in the second half and went on to notch a 39-25 win in a Class 1A, Sectional 50 semifinal at Triton Friday.
Ethan Keller and Mason Herbert added six points each for Culver, who finished 7-16.
Shuman made all four of his field goal attempts, but the rest of the Cavaliers made just 4 of 31 shots. Culver went just 2 for 15 from 3-point range.
Bruce Johnson sunk four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 12 for Triton (17-7), who beat Culver for the second time this season and for the sixth consecutive time. Tyson Yates added 11.
Triton also had a 28-17 rebounding advantage.
Culver took a 3-2 lead on a Herbert trey from the right corner with 6:48 left in the first quarter, but Yates answered with a pullup along the right baseline on the ensuing possession, and Culver never led again.
Triton will play Argos in the sectional final at 7 p.m. Saturday. Argos beat LaCrosse 64-28 in the other semifinal.
Triton coach Jason Groves has won eight sectional titles, including last year.
Triton 39, Culver 25
TRITON (39) (17-7)
Cole McKinney 1 0-0 3, Ashton Oviedo 2 0-0 4, Tyson Yates 4 2-2 11, Cole Shively 2 3-6 7, Bruce Johnson 4 0-0 12, Chandler Westafer 0 0-0 0, Caden Graham 1 0-2 2, Evan Briles 0 0-0 0, Javan May 0 0-0 0, Connor Large 0 0-0 0, Jacob Pitney 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 14 5-10 39
CULVER (25) (7-16)
Ethan Keller 2 1-1 6, Emiliano Ortiz 0 3-4 3, Mason Herbert 1 3-4 6, Marquez Anderson 0 0-0 0, Auston Zehner 0 0-0 0, Oliver Morgan 0 0-0 0, Joey Pizur 0 0-0 0, Jalen King 1 0-1 2, Shane Shuman 4 0-0 8
TEAM: 8 7-10 25
Three-point field goals:
Triton 6 (Johnson 4, McKinney, Yates),
Culver 2 (Keller, Herbert)
Total fouls: Triton 13, Culver 16
Turnovers: Triton 19, Culver 15
Score by quarters
Triton 16 6 12 5 – 39
Culver 5 12 4 4 – 25
