The ‘Hite’ of his powers: Culver sharpshooter nails 5 treys in win over Pioneer

McKaig scores 14, Sweet adds 11 for Panthers

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Boys basketball

Culver 53, Pioneer 37 (Friday): David Hite hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 19 points to lead three Culver boys basketball players in double figures in a Hoosier North road win over Pioneer Friday.

Ethan Keller added 12 points, and Shane Shuman scored 11 for the Cavaliers, who bounced back after a home loss to Argos one day earlier and improved to 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the Hoosier North.

Culver played without senior guard Emiliano Ortiz, who suffered an ankle injury in the Argos game.

Drew McKaig scored 14 points to lead Pioneer, and Caleb Sweet added 11. McKaig scored both Pioneer field goals in the second quarter.

Culver led 27-22 at halftime and extended the lead to 40-27 after three quarters.

Culver won at Pioneer for the first time since February 2015. They are 2-6 against Pioneer since becoming conference rivals in the 2015-16 season.

CULVER (53) (9-8, 4-2)

Ethan Keller 4 4-5 12, David Hite 7 0-0 19, Oliver Morgan 1 1-2 3, Joey Pizur 2 1-2 5, Shane Shuman 4 3-6 11, Jonas McCuen 1 0-0 3, Ethan Binion 0 0-0 0

TEAM: 19 9-15 53

PIONEER (37) (3-16, 0-5)

Drew McKaig 4 4-6 14, Andrew Helton 0 0-0 0, Rylahn Toloza 0 0-0 0, Gage Harper 0 1-2 1, Caleb Sweet 5 1-2 11, Micah Rans 1 1-1 3, Brayden Erickson 2 0-0 5, Noah Miller 1 0-0 3

TEAM: 13 7-11 37

Three-point field goals:

Culver 6 (Hite 5, McCuen),

Pioneer 4 (McKaig 2, Erickson, Miller)

Total fouls: Culver 16, Pioneer 17

Fouled out: Morgan (CUL)

Turnovers: Culver 8, Pioneer 15

Score by quarters

Culver 15 12 13 13 – 53

Pioneer 14 8 5 10 – 37