SULLY – The Montezuma Braves always ‘hang their hat’ on their defense, as Coach Derrick Dengler likes to say.
But they are becoming more and more effective counter-punching with a deepening offense.
That was evident in their 77-56 win over Lynnville-Sully Friday evening, Feb. 7. The victory completed an unbeaten run by the champion Braves through the South Iowa Cedar League.
The Braves hunkered down on defense and jumped out to a 20-7 first quarter lead. That script has become familiar in a now-17-2 season.
But Lynnville-Sully started hitting shots – and kept doing it. The Hawks sank 10 three-pointers on the night, yet couldn’t make up any ground.
Why? The Braves were passing the basketball. They assisted 21 of their 30 made field goals. And 10 of their baskets were threes as well.
Montezuma led 39-25 at halftime and 57-44 through three quarters.
Four Braves scored in double figures.
Trey Shearer led with 27 points, Eddie Burgess had 16, Masin Shearer dropped in 12 and Cole Watts had 11.
The Braves shot. .520 from the field, and that included a sizzling 10-for-22 (.455) from three-point range.
The Hawks were at .380 and were 10-for-28 (.357) from behind the arc.
The Braves had a 21-9 lead in two-point baskets and a 9-4 lead in made free throws.
Burgess had a big double-double, grabbing 16 rebounds to go with his 16 points. The 6-4 post forward also had five assists and blocked two shots.
Montezuma had eight turnovers to 14 by the Hawks. The Braves led 33-27 in rebounds.
Trey Shearer’s 27 came on 10-for-18 shooting from the field. He also led the team with six assists.
Watts had a double-double. He got his 11 points on five-for-10 shooting, and continued to expand his role as a rebounder, grabbing 12.
Masin Shearer scored 12 points, hitting and four three-point baskets and dishing three assists.
Senior guard Brayden Arendt had a seven-point game that included two assists and three steals.
Lynnville-Sully fell to 5-13 overall.
UP NEXT – The Braves go out of conference when they host Grundy Center on Tuesday, Feb. 11. You’ll recall Grundy Center was the team Montezuma defeated in the regional championship game in Marshalltown last season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 20 19 18 20 – 77
Lynnville-Sully 7 18 16 15 – 56
MONTEZUMA (77) Brydon Henning 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Brayden Arendt 3-5, 1-1, 2, 7. Masin Shearer 4-10, 0-0, 0, 12. Cole Watts 5-10, 0-1, 1, 11. Trey Shearer 10-18, 4-6, 1, 27. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 2-3, 0-0, 0, 4. Eddie Burgess 6-11, 4-6, 3, 16. TOTALS – 30-58, 9-14, 7, 77.
LYNNVILLE-SULLY (56)
TOTALS – 19-53, 5-6, 14, 56.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 8, Lynnville-Sully 14.
Rebounds: Montezuma 33 (Burgess 16, Watts 12, Arendt 3, M. Shearer 1, Kercheval 1); Lynnville-Sully 27.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 10-22 (M. Shearer 4, T. Shearer 3, Watts 1, Cook 1, Burgess 1); Lynnville-Sully 10-28.
Assists: T. Shearer 6, Burgess 5, Watts 4, M. Shearer 3, Arendt 2, Kercheval 1.
Steals: Arendt 3, Henning 1, M. Shearer 1, T. Shearer 1, Burgess 1.
Deflections: Watts 1, Burgess 1.
Blocks: Burgess 2.
