The Montezuma Braves have one “mountain” to climb before they can make another appearance in the Class 1A state basketball tournament.
That would be Mount Ayr, from the same Pride of Iowa Conference that put Nodaway Valley in the Braves’ path in last year’s sub-state game.
This year, the Pirates (19-4) stand in the way of the Braves (21-2) in Saturday’s 7 p.m. sub-state game at Knoxville.
The Pirates finished second to unbeaten Martensdale-St. Mary’s in the Pride of Iowa race.
Mount Ayr is led by a strong sophomore, 6-2 Jaixen Frost, who is averaging 22.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Frost is a .556 field goal shooter, including .406 on three-pointers. He’s not the guy to foul. He’s a .907 free throw shooter.
The team has modest size, with four players between 6-1 and 6-3.
Payton Weehler, a 6-3 senior, averages 11.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
Erik Trujillo, a 6-2 senior, scores 10.6 points per game and shoots .488 from the field. He dishes 3.3 assists per contest.
Cody Larson, a 6-1 junior, averages 5.7 rebounds.
Mount Ayr averages 63 points on offense and 49 a game on defense.
For Montezuma, those figures are 74 on offense, and 48 on defense.
Stats that stand out for the Pirates: Lots of steals, but also quite a few turnovers.
Mount Ayr has won six in a row since a 66-53 loss to Nodaway Valley.
The Braves have won 15 in a row.
Trey Shearer, a 5-10 senior, averages 26.0 points on .467 field goal shooting, including .467 from behind the arc. He’s a 75 percent free throw shooter.
Trey also averages 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
Cole Watts, 5-10, scores 19.4 points on .598 shooting that includes .522 from three-point range. He’s a 74 percent foul shooter. Watts averages 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists.
The Braves reached new levels after the mid-season return of 6-4 post Eddie Burgess. He averages 13.7 points on .726 shooting from the field. He’s a .733 free throw shooter.
Burgess also pulls down 12.9 rebounds a game and has had 20 or more in two games.
Masin Sheaer, a 5-8 sophomore, averages 2.9 assists.
The Braves were rated fifth in the Feb. 10 Associated Press poll, while Mount Ayr came in 12th.
BCMoore Power Rankings has Montezuma at 11th, and Mount Ayr at 33rd. In terms of strength of schedule, BCMoore has Montezuma at 89th and Mount Ayr at 95th among 145 Class 1A teams.
BCMoore favors the Braves by 15.8 points in this one – about the same margin the service favored Montezuma over Keota in the regional semifinals.
Montezuma, you’ll recall, won 53-51.
Decision-making human beings, not computers, play the games. Sit back and enjoy.