How’s that for a strong opening statement?
The Montezuma Braves opened their boys varsity basketball season with a 75-31 run past HLV on Tuesday evening, Nov. 29 at home.
It was the South Iowa Cedar League and season opener for both teams.
Masin Shearer dropped in 22 points for the Braves, Gavin Strong had 17 and freshman guard Brady Boulton scored 14.
Shearer, a senior guard, had a night.
His 22 points came on 8-for-11 shooting, including 6-for-9 from behind the three-point arc. He also led the team with 6 assists and 6 steals, and ran down 3 rebounds.
But Shearer had help.
Strong’s 17 points came on 7-for-15 shooting, as the Braves shot .561 from the field.
Boulton was 5-for-9, and dropped in two treys.
The Braves assisted 18 of 29 made field goals.
Then, there was the Montezuma defense, which allowed the Warriors to shoot just .260 from the field.
Montezuma yielded 12 points in the first quarter, then nine, six and four points over the next three periods.
The Braves led 13-12 after one quarter, then outscored HLV 46-15 over the next two periods to blow open the game.
Rebounding, a big question mark after the graduation of Eddie Burgess, the school’s all-time rebounder, was by committee in this game, with Garrett Watts leading nine board men with 7 caroms.
UP NEXT – The Braves are at an experienced Lynnville-Sully team on Friday, Dec. 2.
NO JV GAME – There was no junior varsity boys game Tuesday night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
HLV 12 9 6 4 – 31
Montezuma 13 22 24 16 – 75
BRAVES (75)
Jack Erselius 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 7-15, 1-2, 2, 17. Masin Shearer 8-11, 0-0, 2, 22. Garrett Watts 3-6, 1-2, 1, 8. David Rose 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Brady Boulton 5-9, 2-2, 0, 14. Alex Black 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 3-4, 0-0, 3, 7. Kohen Holland 2-2, 0-0, 0, 5. Max Anderson 1-4, 0-0, 0, 2. Jayden Ross 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 29-51, 4-6, 10, 75.
HLV (31) – 12-47, 2-5, 8, 31.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 13-27 (Shearer 6-9, Boulton 2-5, Strong 2-6, Cook 1-1, Holland 1-1, Watts 1-2, Anderson 0-3). HLV – 5-26.
Turnovers: Montezuma 9, HLV 19.
Rebounds: Montezuma 22 (Watts 7, Strong 3, Shearer 3, Cook 3, Boulton 2, Erselius 1, Rose 1, Black 1, Anderson 1). HLV – 21.
Assists: Braves 18 (Shearer 6, Benson 3, Strong 2 Watts 2, Boulton 2, Black 1, Cook 1, Holland 1).
Steals: Braves 12 (Shearer 6, Strong 2, Watts 2, Boulton 2).