SULLY – Eddie Burgess scored from in close off a set play a bit before the buzzer, giving Montezuma its first and only lead of the game.
It was a 50-48 victory at Lynnville-Sully for the Braves in a heart-pounder of an early-season game on Friday evening, Dec. 3.
Montezuma overcame an eight-point deficit with an 11-1 run over the final 4:30 of play.
The victory lifted the Braves to 3-0 on the young season and 2-0 in South Iowa Cedar League play. The Hawks fell to 1-1 and 1-1.
Lynnville-Sully came out with a swarming defense aimed at limiting the times Braves guard Masin Shearer touched the ball. For quite a while, it worked. Burgess and Gavin Strong, Montezuma’s other two scoring leaders, didn’t get their hands on the ball much either.
The three of them put up five points in the first half, and Lynnville-Sully’s halftime lead was 27-15.
Montezuma Coach Derrick Dengler said after Thursday night’s PCM game that he thought other Braves would step up. He didn’t put a timeline on it.
Braves Owen Cook and freshman Max Anderson made Dengler look like a prophet. Each player splashed down a trio of treys in this game.
In addition to defense, the Hawks played deliberately against Montezuma’s own tough defense, not speeding up their attack until nearing the three-point arc.
The Braves started swinging momentum their way during the third quarter by pressing full court. Something – maybe it was the increased movement generated by the defense – produced better ball movement on offense, too.
Shearer’s two-pointer with 5:25 left in the game knotted the score at 39-39.
But then came a glitch. A Montezuma player called for a foul on a Lynnville-Sully drive wound up with a technical called against him.
Free throws generated by the foul on the floor plus the technical started the Hawks on an eight-point run in 55 seconds, giving the home team a 47-39 lead with 4:30 left.
Montezuma revved it up again. A Burgess basket tied it at 48-48 with 1:33 left.
Lynnville-Sully’s Conner Maston missed a shot in heavy traffic near the rim, and the Braves rebounded with 30 seconds left.
After a timeout with 19 seconds left, Montezuma moved the ball around until it found its way into Burgess’ hands for the game-winner.
“To respond how we did after that Lynnville-Sully run was huge,” Braves Coach Derrick Dengler said.
“In addition to playing a physical game the night before, I was proud of the boys’ toughness,” he said.
Burgess finished with 13 points and Shearer scored 11.
Burgess had a monster game, adding 18 rebounds – 14 of them defensive. To that he added four assists, three blocks and three deflections.
“Our offense is going to be a work in progress as we adjust to losing guys from last year,” Dengler said. “But the boys figured out some things toward the end of this game.”
“Our effort on the defensive side of the ball and rebounding has been encouraging early in the season,” Dengler said.
UP NEXT – Montezuma is at Colfax-Mingo on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 5 10 14 21 – 50
Lynnville-Sully 13 14 7 14 – 48
MONTEZUMA (50) – Gavin Strong 0-3, 0-0, 4, 0. Masin Shearer 4-15, 2-2, 3, 11. Maguire De Jong 1-5, 1-2, 3, 4. Owen Cook 3-7, 0-0, 3, 9. Eddie Burgess 4-8, 5-6, 3, 13. Max Anderson 3-10, 0-0, 0, 9. Colton Benson 2-4, 0-0, 0, 4. TOTALS – 17-52, 8-10, 16, 50.
LYNNVILLE-SULLY (48) – TOTALS – 17-46, 8-14, 16, 48.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers – Montezuma 13, L-S 12.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 8-31 (Anderson 3-10, Cook 3-6, Shearer 1-8, De Jong 1-5, Strong 0-2); L-S 6-19.
Rebounds: Montezuma 36 (Burgess 18, Strong 5, Shearer 3, De Jong 3, Cook 3, Benson 3, Anderson 1); L-S 24.
Assists: Montezuma 11 (Shearer 5, Burgess 4, Strong 2).
Steals: Montezuma 3 (Strong 1, Shearer 1, De Jong 1).
Blocks: Montezuma 5 (Burgess 3, Stron 2); L-S 1.
Deflections: Montezuma 8 (Burgess 3, De Jong 2, Strong 1, Benson 1, Cook 1); L-S 2.