It wasn’t fancy, but the details work that defines Montezuma boys basketball led to a season-opening 61-45 home win over HLV.
The game was played Tuesday evening, Nov. 30, qt home.
Masin Shearer hit some three-balls and Eddie Burgess hit the boards.
Shearer dropped in 23 points, including seven treys in 15 attempts as Montezuma outscored the Warriors in each quarter.
Burgess had a productive night, scoring 19 points and gathering 14 rebounds. Montezuma had a 35-22 lead in rebounds.
Burgess also blocked five shots and dished four assists.
Gavin Strong scored 10 points and had six assists for the Braves.
“Our defense and rebounding were very solid, which led to a victory,” said Coach Derrick Dengler.
Then there were those details. Although Burgess led in rebounds, five other Montezuma players had three or more.
The Braves assisted 18 of their 25 field goals, with seven different players cracking this column.
It was a similar multi-participants story in the deflections and steals categories.
Montezuma led 12-6 after one quarter and 33-20 at halftime. The Braves had a two-point edge in second half scoring, with defense keeping HLV in check.
The Braves shot .391 from the field, and that included a 9-for-10 effort by Burgess.
“We settled and were a little careless at times with the basketball,” Dengler said. “Even though we didn’t turn it over much, some bad passes put scorers in tough positions. We will have to work on that going forward.”
UP NEXT – The Braves will learn on the fly this week. They’re at PCM in non-league play on Thursday, then resume SICL play at Lynnville-Sully on Friday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
HLV 6 14 14 11 – 45
Montezuma 12 21 15 13 – 61
MONTEZUMA (61) – Jack Erselius 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 4-17, 0-0, 1, 10. Masin Shearer 8-17, 0-0, 0, 23. Max Anderson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Maguire De Jong 1-3, 0-0, 4, 3. Alex Black 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Colton Benson 1-2, 0-0, 2, 2. Owen Cook 2-7, 0-0, 2, 4. Houston VanRoekel 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Eddie Burgess 9-10, 1-2, 4, 19. Sawyer Tindle 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. Cam Michalek 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Ryan Cheney 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 25-64, 1-2, 15, 61.
HLV (45) – Totals: 18-49, 4-9, 5, 45.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers – Montezuma 11, HLV 15.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 10-38 (Shearer 7-15, Strong 2-12, De Jong 1-2, Cook 1-3, Michalek 1-3); HLV 5-14.
Rebounds: Montezuma 35 (Burgess 14, Benson 6, Strong 4, Cook 4, Shearer 3, De Jong 3, Anderson 1); HLV 22.
Assists: Montezuma 18 (Strong 6, Burgess 4, Shearer 3, De Jong 2, Benson 1, Cook 1, Anderson 1).
Steals: Montezuma 14 (Benson 4, Strong 3, Shearer 3, Cook 2, Burgess 2).
Deflections: Montezuma 15 (Strong 4, De Jong 4, Shearer 3, Benson 2, Burgess 2).
Blocks: Montezuma 6 (Burgess 5, Strong 1).
HLV scoring leaders: Landon Hall 11, A.J. Gensley 10.