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A. Berndt scores 13, Williams adds 9
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Ashlynn Berndt Amiyah Williams
BOURBON — Culver girls basketball coach Adam Neace made a halftime offensive adjustment against host Triton at the Trojan Trench in the quarterfinals of the Bi-County Tournament Wednesday, and the success of the stingy Culver defense followed.
Freshman Ashlynn Berndt scored 10 of her game-high 13 points in the second half, and senior post player Amiyah Williams had nine points and seven rebounds as the Lady Cavaliers pulled away to beat the Lady Trojans 38-17.
Culver will face off with John Glenn in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the LaVille main gym. John Glenn took down Argos 42-23 in their quarterfinal.
Triton will play Argos at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the LaVille auxiliary gym in a consolation game.
Culver was clinging to a 13-12 halftime lead, and freshman point guard Ava McCune sat the final 3:12 of the half after picking up her third foul.
Neace responded by putting senior Brynn Berndt in the high post against Triton’s 1-2-2 zone. Neace said Triton extended the top player in the 1-2-2, which created a “window” for Culver to get the ball. Brynn Berndt’s job was to catch it and turn quickly to the hoop to either look to score or pass to an open teammate.
“We talk about offensive production with our players and putting our players in spots that they can make plays that best fit their skill set,” Neace said. “And again, we thought we could put Brynn Berndt there in the high post. She had a great second half for us there. And again, she really exploited what we thought was a mismatch for us there.”
Meanwhile, the goal was to look to push in transition more on defense.
The first two buckets of the second half – one from Ashlynn Berndt and one from McCune – came in transition.
Culver allowed only one point in the third quarter and closed the quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 26-13. They went on another 10-0 run in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 23.
“We go out and run our passing lanes,” Ashlynn Berndt said. “We try to go as wide as we can, and that creates offense, I guess.”
Said Neace: “Our number two key to the game tonight was offensive transition. Can we take it from the defensive end and score it in the offensive end? Tonight, I thought there especially in that third quarter, we were able to run away with it and get going in transition.”
Culver improved to 12-7. Avery Viers had six points for Triton, who dropped to 2-18.
Culver also beat Triton 42-38 in their Hoosier North meeting on Friday. The teams could meet for a third time at Class 1A, Sectional 51, which Oregon-Davis will host from Feb. 4-8.
The start of the game portended another close battle. Williams scored all five Culver points in the first quarter, but Sierra Hawley scored on a cutting layup on an inbounds play to give Triton a 6-5 lead after one quarter.
A Hawley free throw and a Sydney King 3-pointer after an offensive rebound made it 10-5.
Triton would score one field goal in the next 15 ½ minutes against Culver’s 2-3 zone.
Brynn Berndt found Williams for a layup. Ashlynn Berndt drilled a 3 from the right wing.
Then Brynn Berndt drilled a 3 from between the left corner and left wing after a kickout pass from Williams to make it 13-10. Culver was ahead for good.
Viers sealed off her defender and scored in the post with nine seconds left to cut the halftime deficit to one.
As much scoring and rebounding as Culver gets from Williams, Neace also praised her for defense.
“She’s huge for us,” Neace said. “Again, she’s our big talker at the back end of everything. Another nine-point, seven-rebound night … we talk to her about being double digits in points and rebounds every night, and that really helps everybody else’s success. She’s reaching that goal. These last five or six games, these numbers have been really good for her. I’m so excited with what we’ve got going on with her.”
With Culver leading 17-13 in the third quarter, Brooke Davis got loose on an inbounds play for a short jumper. Another Ashlynn Berndt 3-pointer made it 22-13, and a Brynn Berndt one-legged banker from the high post and a steal and layup from McCune in the final 20 seconds got the lead to 13.
Neither team scored the first 2:40 of the fourth quarter, but Davis got another bucket off an inbounds play to increase the lead to 15.
Ashlynn Berndt’s driving layup, a Brynn Berndt reception and layup on a go route on an inbounds play and an Ashlynn Berndt’s 3-point play in transition on an early release after a Triton miss highlighted the fourth quarter.
Culver has tripled their win total from last season with their two freshman guards and their sophomore forward in Davis.
“This season for me at least has gone good,” Ashlynn Berndt said. “I like playing with my sister and her friends. And we’ve done a lot better than last year, I’ve heard.”
Culver 38, Triton 17
CULVER (38) (12-7)
Ava McCune 2 1-2 5, Ashlynn Berndt 5 1-2 13, Brynn Berndt 3 0-0 7, Brooke Davis 2 0-0 4, Amiyah Williams 4 1-3 9, Maddy Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Brianna Schlemmer 0 0-0 0, Ivon Torres-Escobar 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 16 3-7 38
TRITON (17) (2-18)
Sierra Hawley 1 2-4 4, Mylie Groves 0 0-2 0, Chloe McKinney 1 0-0 2, Sydney King 2 0-0 5, Avery Viers 3 0-0 6, Gracie Riffle 0 0-0 0, Nadia Stetler 0 0-0 0
TEAM: 7 2-6 17
Three-point field goals:
Culver 3 (A. Berndt 2, B. Berndt),
Triton 1 (King)
Total fouls: Culver 13, Triton 10
Turnovers: Culver 10, Triton 14
Score by quarters
Culver 5 8 13 12 – 38
Triton 6 6 1 4 – 17
