COLFAX – Winless Colfax-Mingo hung in there for a quarter against potent Montezuma Tuesday night, Jan. 24, trailing just 16-11 through one period.
But the Braves warmed to their task on both ends of the floor, and for about 12 minutes, showed some of what they’re capable of.
Montezuma outscored the Tigerhawks 40-13 during the two middle quarters, and beat Colfax-Mingo 74-34 in SICL play.
The Braves mixed half-court defenses with a zone press to speed things up, then threw some creative passes on offense.
The Braves dished 18 assists on 31 made baskets. Combined with just seven turnovers, Montezuma had an assist-to-turnover ration that was about to go off the charts.
Some of those passes led to scores at the rim, and 10 of them led to baskets from beyond the three-point arc.
“We had some nice stretches there in between some sluggish time,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “Hopefully, we built enough good habits that we can keep growing and have a good game Thursday against Albia.”
Colfax-Mingo made five baskets in the first quarter, and didn’t connect again until halfway though the third. By then, a five-point Braves lead had expanded to 27 points and complete control.
Garrett Watts scored 18 points and went eight-for-11 from the field, including two-for-two on three-pointers.
Owen Cook scored 11 on five-for-eight shooting.
Colton Benson had a three-for-four shooting game and splashed down a trey on his way to seven points.
Gavin Strong and Masin Shearer each scored nine, and Brady Boulton had eight.
Kohen Holland was three-for-three and scored six points
The win lifted the Braves to 13-3 overall and 11-3 against the league.
Colfax-Mingo is 0-16 and 0-12.
UP NEXT – The Braves travel to Albia on Thursday evening, Jan. 26.
JV TEAM WINS – Montezuma’s junior varsity boys were 49-15 winners in their game.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 16 16 24 16 – 74
Colfax-Mingo 11 3 10 12 – 34