The Pilot News - Cavs win first regional semi in 64 years

“Going into sectionals, we were on a three-game losing streak, and not knowing where we were going to go,” said Culver Community basketball head coach Brett Berndt. “Somehow they found a way in sectionals just to jell together, play every game, just roll with it and they did a fantastic job in sectionals, and we did a great job versus Garrett in the first game... I can’t be any prouder of these boys. They brought pride back to Culver — the first time a Culver Community team has gotten to the regional finals, and we’re just extremely proud of them.”
The Cavaliers led 29-24 going into the break as Culver defenders sagged off Railroaders shooters to keep Garrett out of the paint. The strategy worked as Garrett went 0 of 4 from behind the arc before the break — and just 1 of 13 for the entire game — while the Cavs, by contrast, hit from deep at a 4-for-7 clip in the opening two quarters and 3 for 6 in the second half for a 53 percent 3-point shooting percentage.
Three players recorded double figures for the Cavs, led by Hanselman with 16 points , as well as seven rebounds and eight assists. The senior point guard also led his team on defense with four of the team’s five steals against Garrett.
In addition to Hanselman’s offensive production, Bauer went 67 percent from the perimeter against Garrett on his way to 14 total points, and Marrs went 50 percent from the field with two triples en route to 15 points. Bauer and Marrs combined for three treys to maintain a Culver advantage during a second-quarter stretch in which senior post-man Davis rode the pine with two fouls.
“We talked about, coming into the game, that we’ve got to shut down dribble penetration,” said Berndt. “They look to attack at all angles with their guards, and in the first quarter, really in the first half, I thought we didn’t do a good job shutting out the paint. We talked about at halftime, they haven’t even made one 3-pointer in the first half. So let’s give up the outside shot and sag off and I thought we did a good job, we just didn’t respond to the post play, and a lot of that was we didn’t have Jon Davis on the floor.”
Three and a half minutes into the second half Davis was whistled for his third and fourth infractions, and Garrett capitalized, working the ball inside for 14 points. Defensively, it freed the Railroaders up to spread out, and Culver finished the frame on the wrong side of a seven-point swing to trail 39-36 heading into the fourth quarter. Culver’s big man was held to four points and three rebounds as he logged just 14 minutes of play .
“In the second quarter and third quarter, they just pounded the ball inside, and there was not really a lot we could do without Jon (Davis) on the floor,” said Berndt. “As far as Jon, today was one of the games where he actually played smart, he just didn’t get the calls. Sometimes against Winamac and Boone, he was out of control and he deserved the calls. Today I thought he was actually under control, he just didn’t get the calls going his way. The nice thing is he got to play the fourth quarter and get some experience in on this floor, and did a nice job rebounding and doing the little things for us.”
The Cavs were down but not out as Marrs assisted Hanselman on his lone 3 of the game, then Marrs deflected a pass to Hanselman, who assisted Adam Neace all alone on the baseline as Culver grabbed some momentum in the final minute of the third quarter. Hanselman started the fourth with the first of two assists to Bauer for 3, and Davis drew a foul for a pair of free throws. Hanselman finished the quarter 7 of 8 in free throws as Garrett began fouling to buy time, but Culver never let up. The Cavaliers outscored the Railroaders 22-11 in the final quarter, largely on the strength of 10-for-12 foul shooting in seven trips to the line.
“We’ve been fighting a lot of adversity through sectionals and now through regionals, playing without Jon Davis,” said Berndt. “For our kids’ character and playing through adversity they’ve done a great job. Zoe Bauer and Matt Marrs hit huge shots for us to keep that run going, Lucas Hanselman started driving and taking over and started to be more on the attack since Jon was on the bench. Our kids have been there before in sectional, and they responded, and tonight’s no different — they responded again.”
• CULVER COMMUNITY 58,
GARRETT 50
At Class 2A North Judson Regional
CULVER (58): Adam Neace 1 1-3 3, Lucas Hanselman 4 7-8 16, Brock Elliott 0 0-0 0, Zoe Bauer 5 0-0 14, Matt Marrs 5 3-3 15, Patrick Mulvihill 0 0-0 0, Justin Master 1 4-7 6, Jon Davis 1 2-3 4. Totals: 17 17-24 58.
GARRETT (50): Josh Putt 0 0-0 0, Luke Cooper 2 0-0 4, Orie Foster 3 1-2 7, Tim Kidder 9 2-2 21, Jak Shultz 1 0-0 2, Shane Branscum 1 0-0 2, Keith Hahn 5 0-0 10, Brandon Scherer 2 0-0 4. Totals: 23 3-4 50.
Score by quarters
C - 14 29 36 58
G - 13 25 39 50
3-point goals: C - 7 (Bauer 4, Marrs 2, Hanselman),G -1 (Kidder); Rebounds: C 19 (Hanselman 7), G 25 (Foster 5); Assists: C 13 (Hanselman 8), G 11 (Putt 7); Steals: C 5 (Hanselman 4), G 8 (Kidder 5); Turnovers: C 12, G 14; Total fouls (fouled out): C - 13 (None), G 19 (Kidder).
Records: Culver 13-11, Garrett 10-13.