BROOKLYN – The Montezuma Braves beat BGM 57-19 on Friday evening, Jan. 28, picking up another important win in South Iowa Cedar League play.
Now, the Braves can focus on Tuesday’s matchup at North Mahaska.
The Braves were clinicians on defense in this game. They limited BGM to .211 field goal shooting – and 20 fewer shot attempts than they themselves put up.
Seven points was the most BGM put on the scoreboard in any quarter.
The Braves defeated BGM 55-35 when they played Dec. 10 in Montezuma.
The Braves were maybe not as electric on offense as they had been while burning a lot of energy and putting four scorers into double figures against larger-school Albia the night before. And, some of the credit goes to an athletic BGM team that always works hard against Montezuma.
The Braves shot .397 from the field, and had a 35-28 edge in rebounds.
But, Montezuma had just 8 turnovers, to 18 by the Bears. The Braves also were called for just 6 personal fouls.
Eddie Burgess, the Braves’ 6-4 post forward, had yet another big game, with 21 points (10-for-15 shooting) and 13 rebounds. He also had 5 assists and 4 steals.
Gavin Strong was a second Brave in double figures with 11 points, including two three-point baskets. He had five rebounds.
Masin Shearer and Owen Cook were in with 6 points each. Shearer had 3 assists, and Strong had 3 steals.
After opening his Braves career with 15 points against Albia, Nik Kotar scored 4 points in this game, but tied Burgess for team high in assists with 5, accomplished in 15 minutes of playing time.
The Braves shared the basketball, assisting each other on 18 of their 23 field goals.
The Braves went to 14-3 overall and 12-2 in the SICL with Friday’s win.
BGM is at 4-14 and 4-11.
UP NEXT – Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Braves and North Mahaska meet in New Sharon.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BGM 6 4 2 7 – 19
Montezuma 10 20 17 10 – 57
MONTEZUMA (57) – Gavin Strong 3-10, 3-4, 1, 11. Masin Shearer 2-5, 1-2, 0, 6. Colton Benson 2-4, 0-1, 1, 4. Owen Cook 3-8, 0-0, 1, 6. Eddie Burgess 10-15, 1-1, 0, 21. Jack Erselius 0-0 0-0, 1, 0. Garrett Watts 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. Max Anderson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Maguire De Jong 0-1, 2-4, 1, 2. Nik Kotar 2-9, 0-0, 0, 4. Alex Black 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Houston VanRoekel 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Sawyer Tindle 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Cam Michalek 1-2, 0-0, 0, 3. Ryan Cheney 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 23-58, 7-12, 6, 57.
BGM (19) – TOTALS – 8-38, 2-9, 14, 19.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 8, BGM 18.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 4-19 (Strong 2-7, Shearer 1-3, Michalek 1-2, Cook 0-3, VanRokel 0-1, Kotar 0-3); BGM 1-11.
Rebounds: Montezuma 35 (Burgess 13, Strong 5, De Jong 4, Benson 3, Shearer 2, Cook 1, Watts 1, Kotar 3, Black 3); BGM 28.
Assists: Montezuma 18 (Kotar 5, Burgess 5, Shearer 3, Strong 2, Cook 1, Anderson 1, De Jong 1).
Steals: Montezuma 12 (Burgess 4, Strong 3, Shearer 2, Watts 2, De Jong 1).
Blocks: Montezuma none, BGM 3.