BOURBON – On a night when fans of Triton and Culver got a varsity girls/boys doubleheader, everyone was treated to a double dip to start the night. The two girls teams needed double overtime to settle matters Friday night at the Trojan Trench, with Culver coming out on top 40-38.

Triton’s Jaela Meister and Culver’s Marisa Howard fight for a loose ball Friday night. (Photos by Mike Deak)

Triton had as much as a five-point lead in the fourth quarter after Lauren Hostrawser took a Kylie Mason pass and converted for two, giving the Lady Trojans a 29-24 edge. Triton’s mechanics, however, soon fell apart. Three turnovers on three consecutive possessions left Triton chasing, and an intention foul call on Jaela Meister had Tatum Schultz give a 31-29 lead from the line, the first Culver held since early in the game.

Meister would make up for the gaffe, taking a Mason pass with two seconds left in regulation and hitting the layup to send the game into overtime.

Both teams scored just three points in the first overtime, but Culver’s Angela Lewallen drilled a three out of the gate in the second overtime. The biggest basket came as Culver looked to be winding the clock down, still up three. Donna Zehner took the ball on a rotation play, but instead of feeding a four corners drill, Zehner drove right to the basket through a stunned Triton defense. The made layup gave Culver a five-point edge, to which Becca Kennedy’s three in the final seconds was a bucket short.

Culver head coach Gina Hierlmeier raises her hands in triumph as the Lady Cavs beat Triton.

“That was one of those situations where I am confident in our players, that if we have a layup, that’s the only shot I want,” said Culver head coach Gina Hierlmeier of Zehner’s decision. Zehner finished with 18 points and five rebounds. “When she went in there, I was a little squeaky and I thought ‘oh no’, but give credit to Donna to power up and get the ball in.”

Culver did a whale of a job holding Mason to just one basket in the second half. Mason had 12 points at the break, but was swarmed from the third quarter on, not scoring in the final three quarters. Mason finished with 14 points.

“They guarded her,” offered Triton head coach Adam Heckaman of Culver’s adjustment to Mason. “There is a lot of pressure on her, and she handles it well. Every team is going to focus on her. They just had one defender after another on her. I thought she handled it well but we needed someone else to step up to help.”

Lauren Hostrawser made fine contributions for Triton, finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds and two big blocks in the fourth quarter. Lewallen ended with 11 points for the Lady Cavs.

Triton’s Lauren Hostrawser shoots over Culver’s Mickella Hardy.

The game was critical as the Northern State Conference season winds down. Culver’s win, which runs its overall record to 12-3, jump to 5-0 in the NSC with a red circle game with John Glenn, also 5-0 in the NSC, the final game of Culver’s regular season. Triton fell out of the NSC race with the loss, dropping to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the NSC.

Triton won’t have any time to dwell on the loss, with a huge rivalry game with Oregon-Davis slated for 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The game, which was postponed from earlier this month to bad weather, is a rematch of last year’s sectional final. Oregon-Davis went on to win the state finals after knocking Triton out of the sectional.

Culver will host Argos and Triton will visit LaVille Tuesday in first-round action in the Bi-County Tournament. John Glenn hosts Bremen and Oregon-Davis welcomes in New Prairie also on Tuesday as bracket play begins for the tournament that culminates Saturday at LaVille. The girls and boys games mirror one-another, the girls starting first ahead of the boys at each site.

Triton’s Becca Kennedy drives on Culver’s Tatum Schultz.