The finish for Montezuma was more promising than the start.
The Braves got a head-on shot for a game-winning three-pointer from Masin Shearer. The shot hit the front of the rim and bounced away and only then was a 53-51 overtime win secured for English Valleys.
A loss is promising? No, of course not.
The story line coming into this one was how well would the Braves fare without four-year starter Eddie Burgess, their scoring and rebounding leader?
Teams named Montezuma have done reasonably well without him for brief stretches in the past.
But not this year’s team. This was a new experience for them. Burgess was serving a one-game suspension because of two technical fouls picked up Tuesday night.
Start to finish, it wound up being pretty positive for the Braves.
People stepped up. Like junior Owen Cook, who bombed in five three-pointers, most from the left corner, and scored 17 points. Of those, 14 came during the second half, during a spirited Montezuma rally.
Gavin Strong knocked down 14 points, 10 of those in the second half.
Shearer scored 13 – with 10 of his coming in the second half.
In the end, the Bears won probably because they got off – and made – more inside shots, particularly in the first half. They led 30-17 at halftime.
“Obviously, the start of the game really hurt us,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “It took too long (for us) to adjust without Eddie out there.”
Another factor was rebounding, where English Valleys had a 36-21 advantage.
The Bears have a 6-3, 21-points-a-game scorer in Kaden Hall, but otherwise they didn’t have a huge height advantage. But Hall was a load. He scored 24 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots.
English Valleys entered the game at 6-4 overall and 4-4 against the league. The Braves were 7-2 and 6-1.
The Braves played defense like their hair was on fire during the third quarter. Montezuma opened the second half on a 17-6 run over the first five minutes, closing the gap to six points.
It was a chess match after that.
“I’m very proud of how the boys responded in the second half to give themselves a chance,” Dengler said.
With the score tied at 47-47, the Braves had the ball with 1:41 left. Coach Derrick Dengler called time again at 1:06 and with 14.3 seconds left.
The Bears had a foul to give and took it before Shearer could rise for a three. After the inbounds, there was deflection and Shearer had to throw one up at the buzzer. So into overtime they went.
The Bears made the first two baskets in overtime, and had to sweat it out when Shearer’s head-on trey missed at the end.
Maguire De Jong added four points to Montezuma’s effort and freshman Max Anderson canned a meaningful three-pointer.
“Credit English Valleys and Kaden Hall for closing the game,” Dengler said. “I look forward to learning from the game and improving next week.”
UP NEXT – Montezuma hosts Belle Plaine on Tuesday, Jan. 11.
WHY DID the Bears and their fans celebrate the win the way they did? Their team had just knocked off the defending state champions, but they knew Montezuma was playing without Eddie Burgess. Consider this: Quick Stats shows 23 straight Montezuma wins over EV, dating back to 2006. And, that list may be longer; that’s what they had room for. None of today’s Bears would remember seeing an English Valleys varsity boys basketball win over Montezuma.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
English Valleys 13 17 13 4 6 – 53
Montezuma 6 11 24 6 4 – 51
MONTEZUMA (51) – Gavin Strong 6-17, 1-2, 2, 14. Masin Shearer 4-13, 2-4, 1, 11. Max Anderson 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3. Colton Benson 1-3, 0-0, 2, 2. Owen Cook 6-11, 0-0, 2, 17. Maguire De Jong 2-2, 0-0, 3, 4. Houston VanRoekel 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 20-48, 3-6, 10, 51.
ENGLISH VALLEYS (53) – 25-56, 1-4, 7, 53.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 14, English Valleys 14.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 8-23 (Cook 5-7, Strong 1-6, Shearer 1-8, Anderson 1-1, VanRoekel 0-1); English valleys 2-7.
Rebounds: Montezuma 21 (Cook 7, Benson 4, Shearer 3, De Jong 3, Strong 2, Anderson 2); English Valleys 36.
Assists: Montezuma 12 (Shearer 7, Strong 3, Anderson 1, Benson 1); English Valleys 13.
Steals: Montezuma 12 (Shearer 5, Cook 2, De Jong 2, Strong 1, Anderson 1, Benson1); English Valleys 6.
Blocks: Montezuma 6 (Strong 5, Cook 1); English Valleys 6.
English Valleys leaders: Points: Kaden Hall 24. Rebounds: Hall 14. Blocks: Hall 6.