Things were not going real well for the Montezuma Braves early in their SICL home battle against Belle Plaine on Tuesday evening, Jan. 11.
The Plainsmen, who were sporting at 8-4 record coming in, were getting a lot of shots from inside the lane area, and doing a good job of rebounding when they did miss.
Braves Coach Derrick Dengler caledl time with his team trailing 19-16, and ordered up some full court zone pressure.
The move changed the flow of the game.
Belle Plaine hung tough, but Montezuma initiated key moments the rest of the way in their 54-51 win over the Plainsmen.
Montezuma’s defense helped to force 21 Belle Plaine turnovers, compared to just seven by the Braves.
“We were fortunate to generate enough turnovers and make enough free throws that we were able to hold on to our lead,” Braves Coach Derrick Dengler said.
Five Braves scored, three of them reaching double figures while another had eighth points.
Montezuma built a lead that reached 10 points at 40-30 late in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Plainsmen were picking up fouls, and put the Braves in the bonus at the start of the fourth quarter. Montezuma took advantage of that several times when Belle Plaine was trying to make runs late in the game.
Montezuma also made some big plays, with two Eddie Burgess steals in the fourth quarter playing large roles.
Belle Plaine got a layup with 31 seconds left to cut Montezuma’s lead to 51-49.
Belle Plaine got a steal but missed a shot, then Burgess made a great outlet pass to to Owen Cook for a basket with 16 seconds left.
Masin Shearer then sealed the deal by making one free throw with seven seconds left to make it 54-49.
The Braves helped their cause by dropping in five three-point baskets.
Shearer scored 18 points, Gavin Strong had 16, Burgess scored 10 and Owen Cook had eight for the Braves.
Belle Plaine had a 28-17 lead in rebounds and was hard to score against.
“Belle Plaine played tough D as always and we got just enough,” Dengler said.
Montezuma took its overall record to 8-3, including a 7-2 mark against the league.
Belle Plaine is 8-5 and 6-4.
UP NEXT – Montezuma is at Iowa Valley on Thurssday, Jan. 13.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Belle Plaine 17 8 16 10 – 51
Montezuma 16 13 13 12 – 54
MONTEZUMA (54) – Gavin Strong 5-15, 3-4, 0, 16. Masin Shearer 7-11, 2-4, 1, 18. Colton Benson 0-2, 0-2, 2, 0. Owen Cook 4-8, 0-0, 2, 8. Eddie Burgess 4-7, 2-3, 1, 10. Max Anderson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Maguire De Jong 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2. TOTALS – 21-45, 7-13, 6, 54.
BELLE PLAINE (51) – TOTALS – 21-51, 3-6, 14, 51.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 7, Belle Plaine 21.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 5-19 (Strong 3-9, Shearer 2-5, Benson 0-2, Cook 0-2, Anderson 0-1); Belle Plaine 6-17.
Rebounds: Montezuma 17 (Burgess 9, Benson 2, Cook 2, Strong 1, Shearer 1, Anderson 1, De Jong 1); Belle Plaine 28.
Assists: Montezuma 13 (Shearer 4, Burgess 3, Cook 2, Strong 2, Benson 1, De Jong 1).
Steals: Montezuma 11 (Burgess 4, Cook 3, Strong 1, Shearer 1, Benson 1, Anderson 1).
Blocks: Montezuma 2 (Burgess 2).