Argos tops Culver in 3 OT thriller
CULVER — For the third time but with the season on the line this go around, Argos defeated Culver, 62-58, in a three overtime Class 1A Sectional 50 thriller Wednesday night at John R. Nelson Gymnasium.
“Was it three or four overtimes? I lost track after a while. It was crazy,” said Argos head coach Scott Jennings, whose team narrowly won the Bell Game over its SR10 rivals on Nov. 22, then again in another close one two weeks ago in the Bi-county tournament. “Culver’s game plan was great. They deserved that win as much as we do, but our game plan was pretty good too. Our girls stepped up and somehow we got it done.”
There were plenty of heroics to go around - from both teams - in this one.
Argos was in control throughout the first three quarters, leading by as much as seven in periods one and two, 11 in the third frame, and still by seven early in the fourth quarter before Culver’s Kennedy Jackson, who tied Rose Peterson for team scoring honors with 15 points, surprised the Lady Dragons with a 3 to tie the score for the first time since 0-0 with 2:34 remaining in regulation. In those final two minutes, Culver’s Amiyah Williams and Grace Sieber came up with clutch buckets while Argos’ Baleigh Binkley hit four straight free throws, the last two with just 5.3 seconds showing to send the game to the first overtime.
In the first extra session, it was Ellie Bollenbacher who came through big for the Lady Dragons. Her three-point play erased a one-point deficit and with just 33 seconds left it looked liked Argos would hold on for the win. Culver’s Brynn Berndt sent it to a second OT though, with a clutch baseline 10-footer in the last 15 seconds.
The teams traded one basket each over the next four-minute session, then in the third and final OT Argos scored the first seven points and the Lady Cavaliers could not make it all up with just 33 seconds left on the clock at that juncture.
Baleigh Binkley’s coastto-coast layup ended that 7-0 spree and came shortly after she went down hard chasing after a loose ball and had to leave the game with a chipped tooth that appeared to be worse than that originally.
“She’s relentless,” added Jennings of the senior who finished with a game-high 18 points. “Culver’s her old school and she wanted that win really bad. When she went out, we were going to win it for her no matter what. She was huge tonight.”
As was Bollenbacher, with six of her eight points coming during the overtime sessions.
“She was outstanding,” said Jennings of the ninth-grader. “She stepped up huge - hit some free throws, got some key rebounds. She does not play like a freshman. She plays more like a junior or senior.”
Emma Dunlap (two 3s) and Samantha Redinger (two 3s) also had big games for Argos, finishing with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Redinger was also tasked with guarding Peterson. Bella Stults led the team in rebounds with 12 and steals with four.
“The plan was to faceguard Peterson,” Jennings said of the defensive strategy. “She had six 3s against us the last time. We tried to keep Sam on her as much as we could and I thought she did a good job. Jackson, we had Bella on her with some help behind her, but she has some good spin moves and is hard to stop. If she gets the ball close to the basket, she is going to score. I thought we did a decent job on her down the stretch.”
Only two of Jackson’s points came during the 12 minutes of overtime. She led Culver in rebounding with 12 and assists with four.
Argos will now play the winner of the Trinity-westville game in the second semifinal on Friday. Tip-off will be around 7:30 p.m. The early semi has Triton taking on Marquette Catholic at 6 p.m.
The loss ends the prep careers of Culver’s Kaylee Hamilton, Peterson, Luci Overmyer, Maisy Mccuen, Abbi Kisela and Jackson.
• ARGOS 62, CULVER 58 (3 OTS)
Class 1A Sectional 50
At Culver
ARGOS: Samantha Redinger 4 4-8 14, Baleigh Binkley 7 4-5 18, Bella Stults 2 2-4 6, Emma Dunlap 7 0-0 16, Morgan Barkus 0 0-0 0, Ava Stackhouse 0 0-0 0, Ellie Bollenbacher 3 2-3 8. TOTALS: 23 12-20 62. CULVER: Grace Sieber 4 0-1 8, Brynn Berndt 1 1-3 3, Kaylee Hamilton 2 0-0 5, Rose Peterson 4 5-8 15, Amiyah Williams 5 1-2 11, Maisy Mccuen 0 1-2 1, Kennedy Jackson 6 2-2 15, Luci Overmyer 0 0-0 0, Abbi Kisela 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 10-18 58.
Score by quarters
Argos 14 25 37 47 51 53 62
Culver 9 20 32 47 51 53 58
3-pointers: Argos 4 (Redinger 2, Dunlap 2), Culver 4 (Peterson 2, Hamilton, Jackson). Fouls (fouled out): Argos 18 (Binkley), Culver 12 (none). Technical fouls: Argos 1 (Stults)
Records: Argos 11-12, Culver 10-13 (final)