DES MOINES – Frustration? Yes.
Despair? No.
The Montezuma Braves didn’t lose their Class 1A semi-final game to Wapsie Valley as much as the Warriors won it.
The final was 57-42, the Warriors pulling away with a 22-11 fourth quarter in a game that had been a “grinder” through three quarters.
The defeat sends the Braves into the consolation game for the second time in as many years.
“It’s tough losing in the semis,” Braves guard Trey Shearer told Chris Varney of KGRN Radio. “But, we lost to two good teams, Grand View Christian last year, and now this.”
Wapsie Valley (20-7) led from start to finish – except for 26 seconds when the game was tied – after guard Kobe Risse scored on a drive and turned it into a conventional three-point play right at the beginning.
The Warriors led for 31:03. The Braves never had the lead.
Montezuma hung around, though. The Braves trailed 17-12 after one quarter, 26-23 at the half and 35-31 after three quarters. “We got some decent looks in the first half, but we didn’t hit,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler.
Faced with the stingiest defense they had played against all season, the Braves were tough on defense, too, their 2-3 zone limiting Wapsie Valley to nine points in each of the second and third quarters.
But a quick, decisive run started just moments into the fourth quarter.
After a Braves turnover to open the period, Wapsie Valley guard Kobe Risse drilled a three-pointer. Then, after the Braves missed, the Warriors passed the ball around until finding 6-7 post man Kiks Rosengarten, who hit a difficult, off-balance shot, to make it 40-31 just 90 seconds into the second half.
“We were trying to crawl back and we’re not used to that,” Trey Shearer said. “They played good defense. They were face-guarding Cole (Watts), Masin (Shearer) and myself.”
Trey led the Braves with 16 points, but it took him 18 shots to make seven baskets. Those aren’t Trey-like numbers, but he was not alone.
Brayden Arendt scored 12, but just five came after a hot first quarter.
Cole Watts, a 17-point average scorer, got three. He was able to put up just four shot attempts. “They were really guarding Cole hard,” Dengler said.
Eddie Burgess, who’s been producing double-doubles along the tournament trail, got 10 rebounds, but was limited to six points. Masin Shearer scored three.
After falling back by nine, the Braves had to extend their 2-3 zone. It left just enough seam room for Wapsie Valley to attack the inside or draw fouls.
The Warriors were 12-for-16 from the line, including nine-for-12 in the second half.
Wapsie Valley shot .463 from the field, including .412 from beyond the arc.
The Braves shot .347 from the field and .217 on threes, very un-Brave-like figures. Wapsie Valley threw in some zone coverage along with man-to-man and Montezuma never got into a consistent rhythm on offense.
“When we did get the ball to where we needed it, we couldn’t get the shots to fall,” Arendt told Varney.
Gunner Meyer, a 6-4 sophomore, led a balanced Wapsie Valley attack with 17 points. Rosengarten, the lone senior on the team, scored 14 and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Risse had 14 and dished five assists. Guard Blayde Bellis scored nine points.
“They covered up our driving lanes well,” Dengler said. “They have good length.”
The Braves actually led 24-20 in points from in the paint. But in points off turnovers, it was 18-7 in favor of Wapsie Valley – and that may have been the decisive stat, if it wasn’t the shooting percentages.
Turnovers actually were close: Eight for the Braves, seven for the Warriors. But the timing of those turnovers was bad for Montezuma.
Montezuma trailed just 35-29 in rebounds on the official stat sheet.
The Braves led 12-9 in second chance points, 8-2 in fast break points, and 2-0 in bench points.
“They kept making shots,” Trey Shearer told Varney. “It happens. Now, we’ve got to capitalize on what we’ve got going.”
WHAT THEY’VE GOT GOING – Is a 10:20 a.m. third-place game on Thursday, against Sheffield West Fork. Both teams are 24-3 on the season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Wapsie Valley 17 9 9 22 – 57
Montezuma 12 11 8 11 – 42
WAPSIE VALLEY (57) – Blayde Bellis 3-11, 1-2, 1, 9. Kobe Risse 3-5, 7-7, 1, 14. Tyler Ott 1-4, 0-1, 3, 3. Kiks Rosengarten 6-11, 2-3, 2, 14. Gunner Meyer 6-7, 2-3, 1, 17. Johnny Kerns 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Dallas Wittenburg 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Brody Stark 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Andrew Westphal 0-3, 0-0, 1, 0. Garrett Barnes 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Casey O’Donnell 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Parker Lansgard 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 19-41, 12-16, 9, 57.
MONTEZUMA (42) – Brayden Arendt 5-14, 0-0, 3, 12. Masin Shearer 1-5, 0-0, 2, 3. Cole Watts 1-4, 0-0, 2, 3. Trey Shearer 7-18, 1-1, 4, 16. Eddie Burgess 2-7, 3-3, 4, 6. Brydon Henning 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2. Brody Chidester 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 17-49, 3-3, 15, 42.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Wapsie Valley 7, Montezuma 8.
Rebounds: Wapsie Valley 29 (Rosengarten 10, Risse 7, Ott 4, Meyer 4, Bellis 3, O’Donnell 1); Montezuma 26 (Burgess 10, T. Shearer 5, Watts 4, Arendt 4, M. Shearer 1, Cook 1, team 1).
Three-point goals: Wapsie Valley 7-17 (Meyer 3-4, Bellis 2-6, Risse 1-2, Ott 1-2, Westphal 0-3); Montezuma 5-23 (Arendt 2-9, M. Shearer 1-4, Watts 1-3, T. Shearer 1-6, Burgess 0-1).
Assists: Wapsie Valley 10 (Risse 5, Bellis 2, Ott 2, Rosengarten 1); Montezuma 7 (Burgess 4, Watts 2, T. Shearer 1).
Steals: Wapsie Valley 4 (Meyer 2, Bellis 1, Ott 1); Montezuma 1 (Burgess 1).
Blocks: Wapsie Valley 4 (Bellis 1, Rosengarten 1, Meyer 1, Landsgard 1); Montezuma 2 (Burgess 2).
