THORNBURG – OK, it was a game to put up some crooked numbers when Montezuma’s boys basketball team played at Tri-County on Tuesday, Jan. 7 – and the Braves did that.
And many of them were quality numbers, which would be hard to achieve if you were sloppy.
The unbeaten Braves beat the winless Trojans 83-31. Montezuma shot well. The Braves defended well. They made free throws.
“Overall it was a nice start coming out of the (holiday) break,” said Montezuma Coach Derrick Dengler, whose team lifted its record to 7-0.
Trey Shearer scored 29 points, Cole Watts dropped in 20, Masin Shearer scored 14 and all three shot out the lights.
Trey Shearer was 11-for-14 from the field, Watts was 7-for-10 and Masin Shearer was 4-for-6. All of Masin’s attempts were three-pointers. Trey was three-for-five from behind the arc and Watts was two-for-two.
Montezuma led 27-6 after one quarter and 53-13 at halftime.
“We were able to get a lot of deflections and steals early, leading to transitions, which we were converting,” Dengler said.
The Braves led 70-19 through three periods.
“We attacked the hoop and got kick-outs for open threes later in the game,” Dengler said.
Montezuma, which shot .608 from the field, was a sizzling 10-for-22 on three-point shots. The Braves also got themselves to line, where they converted 10 of 12 attempts.
The Braves’ defense limited Tri-County (0-8) to .302 field goal shooting.
Masin Shearer added five steals, four assists and a deflection to his scoring totals.
Watts tied with Eddie Burgess for the team lead in rebounds with six. He also had two steals and a deflection.
Brody Chidester was very producitve during his time on the floor, coming up with six deflections and a basket.
In terms of production per minute played, Burgess delivered eight points (on four-for-four shooting), those six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a deflection in 20 minutes of action.
Guard Brayden Arendt scored six points, grabbed four rebounds, and added one assist and a steal.
UP NEXT – The Braves host Albia Monday evening, Jan. 13.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 27 26 17 3 – 83
Tri-County 6 7 6 12 – 31
MONTEZUMA (83) – Brydon Henning 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0. Brayden Arendt 3-6, 0-0, 1, 6. Masin Shearer 4-6, 2-3, 0, 14. Connor Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Cole Watts 7-10, 4-4, 0, 20. Joey Kercheval 1-2, 0-0, 1, 3. Maguire DeJong 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Trey Shearer 11-14, 4-5, 0, 29. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0. Owen Cook 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. Gavin Strong 0-3, 0-0, 0, 0. Eddie Burgess 4-4, 0-0, 2, 8. Brody Chidester 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2. TOTALS – 31-51, 10-12, 7, 83.
TRI-COUNTY (31)
TOTALS – 13-43, 4-11, 10, 31.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 9, Tri-County 23.
Rebounds: Montezuma 28 (leaders: Watts 6, Burgess 6, Arendt 4); Tri-County 22.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 10-22 (M. Shearer 4, T. Shearer 3, Watts 2, Kercheval 1); Tri-County 1-14.
Montezuma assists: M. Shearer 4, Burgess 3, Kercheval 2, T. Shearer 2, Arendt 1, Cook 1.
Montezuma steals: M. Shearer 5, T. Shearer 4, Watts 2, Cook 2, Arendt 1, Kercheval 1, Strong 1, Burgess 1, Chidester 1.
Montezuma deflections: Chidester 6, M. Shearer 1, Watts 1, Kercheval 1, T. Shearer 1, Burgess 1.