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Heroic plays galore in Culver’s victory
CHS wins in double overtime over Western Mennonite
Culver High School girls head basketball coach Scott Fritz said his teams' double overtime Tri-River League victory over visiting Western Mennonite Jan. 20 was a blur.
Needless to say it was a thriller, thanks to several individual plays in the closing seconds of regulation and overtime periods.
"It was a total team effort and it came down to several big plays," Fritz said.
In double overtime, Cassandra Fulton, who scored a team-high 19 points, converted a three-point play the old fashion way with seconds remaining to seal Culver's win.
"It was a big shot and it happened thanks to Sam Donnelly, who jumped on the floor for a lose ball and passed to Cassie from her back," Fritz said.
Culver (11-6, 3-4 TRL) trailed by two points with two seconds remaining in regulation, but Lori Sandy collected a rebound off a missed shot and dumped it in to send the game into overtime.
"Lori ripped the ball out of the hands of three Western Mennonite players," Fritz said.
Perhaps, the Bulldogs could have avoided overtime at the free-throw line. Culver shot 12 of 33 at the charity stripe.
"Let's just say it was not our best effort at the line," Fritz said.
Fritz credited the play of Blaire Anglen, who hit a "huge shot" late in the fourth quarter, and Andrea Retano for her defensive efforts.
"Andrea came up several big rebounds, hit a jumper and converted two free throws," Fritz said of the freshman. "The girls really gave a great effort to get the win.
Sandy finished with nine points and Donnelly scored 13 points.
Kennedy 41, Culver 39
On Monday, Culver led by three points entering the fourth quarter, but was unable to put host Kennedy away during a 41-39 loss.
"We had a five point lead with two minutes to go, but just gave it to them," said Fritz of his team that had 26 turnovers. "Defensively we played well and the intensity was there, but it's tough to win with that many turnovers."
Fulton led Culver with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Anglen added eight points.
The Bulldogs visited East Linn (9-9, 1-6) after press deadline Tuesday. Culver hosts Central Linn (1-15, 0-7) at 5 p.m. Jan. 27.