Culver IN. Culver and Merrillville faced off Saturday in a basketball contest that featured the Freshman, JV and Varsity squads all competing against one another. Both teams were coming off a loss, Culver to Tipton and Merrillville to LaPorte.
           
Thomas Collins started with a three to open the contest. Amir Gates followed a Merrillville basket with a drive to the hole for his first two in what would be an exceptional game for the senior guard. Cooper Farrall extended the lead to four off a great pass from Jokubas Skurdenis. Fola Fayemi once again showed off his post offense with a score in the paint after a pair of Merrillville free-throws. Collins got a pull up from inside the arc for his fourth and fifth points of the quarter to extend the lead to seven. Merrillville managed to get a score from inside before the time expired in the first to cut into the lead and the first quarter ended 11-6.
           
Daley Stein and Farrall opened the second by flexing their muscle inside as Stein scored with a solid post move and Farrall flew in for a put back layup. Merrillville got an and-one attempt to fall but Gates responded quickly by knocking in two from the charity stripe. Stein and Gates would each get another bucket inside, Stein from transition thanks to a steal from Collins, and Gates on a steal and score of his own. A pair of Merrillville scores was interrupted by a three from Collins, his second of the game. Farrall would take over in the last minutes of the first-half and went for seven points, with the Pirates only managing to get two points from the free-throw line. Farrall had two trips to the line and a three in between, and Culver ended the quarter up 33-16 with a last second bucket from Stein.
           
Merrillville started the third quarter by going on a 12-3 run to cut the lead to eight. Skurdenis got the three for Culver in this stretch with a score down low and a trip to the line where hit went one for two. Collins ended the run for Merrillville by hitting a three and Gates got a score in transition off a missed shot from Merrillville. The Pirates got a trip to the line to cut the lead to 11, and on the ensuing possession they got a steal with numbers in transition. A big dunk got Merrillville fired up but some issues with taunting got the Pirates a technical foul, and Farrall made both free throws. The quarter would end with a score of 43-32.
           
The fourth-quarter proved to be a shootout from both sides as they both had their best scoring quarters of the game. Farrall and Skurdenis gave Culver a seven-point swing to open the quarter before Merrillville could get their first score. After Merrillville's first score, Gates was given the ball in an isolation play. He drove past the defender and scored with a foul but as tensions flared, Gates received a technical for taunting. Gates hit the free throw and Merrillville hit both of theirs. The Pirates then got an and-one bucket to fall to bring the lead to 13 as they started to gain momentum. Farrall got a bucket inside, but Merrillville quickly hit two threes to bring the lead back to single digits at nine. Gates and Farrall reigned the game back in for Culver though, and the got a layup and an and-one respectively. Farrall got a put back layup on Culver's next possession to bring the lead up to 14 and make it comfortably out of reach for the Pirates. Collins and Skurdenis both went to the line after intentional fouls and Culver made five of six. On the next possession, senior Andrew Macheca jumped a pass for a steal and a clear layup. Rather than take the points though, Macheca saw Farrall following in transition and put up a nice lob to the Junior for a big alley-oop slam in the dying minutes of the game. Scoring would end there with the exception of a late three from Merrillville to give Culver the win, 69-55.
           

	1	2	3	4	Final
Culver	11	22	10	26	69
Merrillville	6	10	16	23	55

Culver's next game will be against South Bend Riley as they take on the south sider's in South Bend.