Coaches love it when a plan comes together.
Much to Bruins Coach Scott Kasenga's delight, Columbia High's A-Team had its "A Game" in full force Friday night.
The Bruins used a 16-4 fourth-quarter surge to pull away from the Woodland Beavers in Miller Memorial Gym and win their first Trico Division game, 62-55, in front of a larger- and louder-than-usual home crowd.
"It was a much-needed and well-deserved win for those guys," Kasenga said. "That was a game where we saw their real potential."
The Bruins didn't do anything fancy. They just played tough defense, fought for every rebound and showed great patience on offense when it counted most.
Senior Andrew Culp's three-point play with 3:03 remaining put the Bruins on top to stay, 53-52. Three more CHS baskets--two by Culp, one by junior Thomas Jeter--and three free throws by sophomore Kent Shelley slammed the door shut on Woodland (4-4, 8-8), which lost its eighth straight road game.
Culp, who had 11 of CHS's 22 fourth-quarter points, finished with a season- and game-high 21 points, helping Columbia end an eight-game Trico losing streak and improve to 5-10 overall.
Woodland took its only lead of the night (the game was deadlocked at 10 after one quarter) with 5:23 left in the contest, when Sean Vetter sank his second of two fourth-quarter 3-pointers for a 48-46 edge.
Three free throws by Jack Whitmire over the next two minutes of play increased the Beavers lead to 51-46.
It looked to be the end of another "close but no cigar" effort for the Bruins, who were hoping to rebound from a tough-luck, 45-38 homecourt loss to La Center three nights earlier.
But this time the Bruins weren't to be denied.
Culp led the fast break and fed junior Greg Tellez for a layin that pulled CHS within 51-48.
After Woodland's Justin Leonard missed the second of two free throws, CHS got the rebound and Culp took the ball to the basket hard.
He scored to make it 51-50 with 3:27 showing on the clock and got fouled in the act. But he wasn't able to convert the three-point play. (His miss at the line was CHS's first of the night.)
A free throw by Vetter made it 52-50 but Woodland couldn't stop Culp from getting to the basket on CHS's next possession.
Culp scored again and, for added measure, drew the fifth foul on Woodland's Justin Brown, who went to the bench with a team- and career-best 19 points.
Culp's ensuing free throw was good and the Bruins led again after playing catch-up for 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
Leonard had a chance to tie and retake the lead for Woodland, but he missed both foul shots and was whistled for a violation when he entered the lane to soon after the second miss.
Columbia didn't give Woodland a chance to recover. Jeter scored to make it 55-52, and Culp hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers for a 59-53 advantage.
Woodland's only basket in the final 5:23 of play came from Whitmire, who scored the last of his 17 points with under 10 seconds to go.
Through the first three quarters, junior Austin Krentz shouldered a large share of CHS's scoring load. He had six points in both the second and third quarters and finished with 14.
His last shot of the night at the buzzer sent the Bruins into the fourth quarter with a 40-36 lead.
Kasenga also cited the play of his seniors, "for stepping up to help keep the game close."
"Scott (Lampe) and Whitney (Butler) did a terrific job on the boards, and David (Giron) did a great job handling the ball; he didn't have any turnovers," Kasenga said. "And Andrew (Culp) was just awesome. He played storng in that fourth quarter. He wasn't going to let this one get away."
La Center 45, at Columbia High 38:
The Bruins outplayed the Wildcats in just about every aspect Jan. 31 but they couldn't overcome 16 misses at the free-throw line.
"We had more rebounds, more steals, more assists and fewer turnovers," Bruins Coach Scott Kasenga said. "We played pretty good basketball but we didn't win because we couldn't make our free throws."
On the night, CHS went 6 for 22 from the foul line. It was just 3 for 11 in the fourth quarter, while La Center (10 for 16 overall) converted 9 of 14.
The Bruins' only lead in the game came at 33-32, on a fastbreak layin by sophomore Jared McDonald with 20 seconds to go in the third quarter.
It was still just a three-point game (41-38) with a minute to play, but La Center--which scored just one field goal in the final frame--was able to pull away by sinking four of its last six free throws.
Andrew Culp led CHS with nine points and McDonald added seven. Kash Kelly's 17 paced LC, which earned a sweep of the season series.
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