On to the district semifinals go the Braves, and it could be a good one Tuesday night, Feb. 21, when they take on Baxter at Pleasantville High School.
Tip-off for the game beween Montezuma (17-6) and Baxter (19-1-1) is at 7 p.m. and you need to own an online ticket in order to be allowed in. Tuesday’s winner goes to the sub-state game Saturday at 7 p.m.
(What’s that? Baxter has a tie on its record? Yes, it’s official, but more on that later).
The Bolts and Montezuma play at the junior high level and the teams have met in varsity play three times in recent years (all Braves wins).
Statistically, they’re clones in several areas, including a couple that are really important to the Braves.
Baxter has a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 front line – taller than Moravia’s, but shorter that those that the Braves faced at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Grundy Center.
But the Bolts and Montezuma are roughly the same in number of rebounds taken. They’re pretty close in shooting percentage: Baxter better on twos, the Braves 6 percent better on treys.
Turnovers and steals? Pretty close to a wash.
In-person match-ups are everything. Senior Carson Scroggins, 6-4, leads the Bolts with 20.4 points per game and a .549 shooting average.
Treylon Travis, a 6-1 junior, scores 12.3 per game.
Cody Damman, a 5-10 senior, scores 12.7 points and dishes 5.4 assists. Yes, you remember him from football!
Perrin Sulzle, a 6-4 sophomore, averages 4.7 rebounds, and Trice Clapper, a 6-3 senior, gets 7.7 rebounds per game.
Baxter has outscored its opponents by an average of 31 points a game; Montezuma has a 19-points per game lead on its foes.
(OK, about the tie. Baxter had two scheduled games against Meskwaki Settlement School. The Bolts won the first, 101-6 and Meskwaki forfeited the second. The forfeited game was ruled a tie. So, Baxter is 19-1-1. Meskwaki, by the way, is 0-16-1.
Baxter’s loss was to Dunkerton, a rated Class 1A team. Common opponents? BCLUW and Lynnville-Sully.
In the more recent meetings, the Braves were 60-35 winners over BCLUW; the Bolts beat them 65-54.
And, Montezuma beat Lynnville-Sully 84-74; Baxter was a 58-47 winner.
In the other distrcit semifinal, Madrid (20-2), plays Mount Ayr (21-2) at Nodaway Valley.
Tuesday’s two winners are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Saturday, at a site to be announced, for the right to advance to the state tournament.
