REINBECK – Montezuma’s boys basketball team, trailing Gladbrook-Reinbeck by six points heading into the fourth quarter, hit the Rebels with something different.
The “big change for us was our defense,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “We switched to man-to-man and were able to force them into a lot of tough shots.”
Did the Rebels, who had been hot from three-point range, start missing? And did the Braves start making big plays?
Yes . . .and yes!
Montezuma pulled it out, 71-65, after outscoring the home team 21-9 in the fourth quarter on Friday, Feb. 14.
“They had hit the ball well against our zone, so that was the biggest key,” Dengler said.
“We had several kids make big plays down the stretch and we iced the game with free throws,” said the coach.
Gladbrook-Reinbeck started its season with nine straight wins.
But, the Rebels had won just three of their 10 games entering into this match against state-rated Montezuma. And they had lost four in a row.
But the Rebels had a strong game left in them.
The Rebels (13-8) threw down a dozen three-pointers on the night (in just 25 attempts) and had Montezuma (now 19-2) down by five points after one quarter and by those six, 56-50, after three.
Defense was one key for Montezuma. Another was a quickly-moving and passing offense that assisted 19 of the Braves’ 28 made field goals.
Another key: Balance behind leading scorer Trey Shearer. Trey dropped in 26 points. But Cole Watts had 17, Eddie Burgess scored 16 and Masin Shearer came in with 10 points.
Burgess continued to play well, getting yet another double-double by adding 16 rebounds (and five assists, and three steals, and two blocked shots) to his 16 points.
Trey Shearer’s 26 came on 11-for-23 shooting. He also led Montezuma with seven assists. He fouled out, but not until the game’s final minute.
Watts went four-for-four from the free throw line as the Braves were an important eight-for-10 from the stripe as a team. Cole also nailed a trio of three-pointers.
Masin Shearer and Trey Shearer each made two three-pointers as the Braves dialed seven-for-25 (.280) from long distance.
The Rebels went 12-for-25 (.480) from the three-point line and had a 36-21 advantage on scoring from there.
But the Braves carved up the Rebels on the inside. Montezuma was a stunning 21-for-32 (.660) on two-point shots, giving the Braves a 42-20 scoring edge there.
The Braves outscored Gladbrook-Reinbeck 21-9 in the decisive fourth quarter.
“We have grown offensively lately and have been trusting our teammates more to make plays,” Dengler said. “This was a good week of non-conference games.”
Dylan Riffey, a six-foot junior with a nine point average, led Gladbrook-Reinbeck with 21 points. William Kiburis, a freshman guard with a 14-point average, got 15, and Tyler Tscherter, a sophomore averaging 15, scored 14 in this one.
UP NEXT – The Braves move into post-season play at home. They will meet HLV (7-16) on Thursday, Feb. 20 about 8 p.m., after North Mahaska plays Moravia at 6:30.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 14 22 14 21 – 71
Gladbrook-Reinbeck 19 17 20 9 – 65
MONTEZUMA (71) – Brayden Arendt 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2. Masin Shearer 3-8, 2-2, 2, 10. Cole Watts 5-13, 4-4, 3, 17. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Trey Shearer 11-23, 2-4, 5, 26. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Eddie Burgess 8-11, 0-0, 3, 16. TOTALS – 28-57, 8-10, 14, 71.
GLADBROOK-REINBECK (65)
TOTALS – 22-51, 10-16, 13, 65.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 7, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 10.
Rebounds: Montezuma 31 (Burgess 16, Arendt 5, T. Shearer 4, Watts 2, M. Shearer 1, Cook 1, Strong 1, team 1); Gladbrook-Reinbeck 30.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 7-25 (Watts 3, M. Shearer 2, T. Shearer 2); Gladbrook-Reinbeck 12-25.
Assists: T. Shearer 7, Burgess 5, Watts 3, Arendt 2, M. Shearer 2.
Steals: Burgess 3, Arendt, Watts 1.
Deflections: M. Shearer 1, Watts 1, T. Shearer 1, Burgess 1.
Blocks: Burgess 2.
