COLFAX – When you shoot the basketball in the proficient way the Montezuma Braves did Friday night, Dec. 6, it makes achieving victory a less difficult task.
The Braves shot .588 from the field – including an 11-for-21 .524 from behind the arc – in an 81-46 tear past Colfax-Mingo.
“We shot really, really well,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler, whose team is away to a 2-0 start overall and in league play. “That was the biggest key in being able to extend our lead. Again, we were effective in transition.”
“At times, though, we were sloppy with the basketball,” the coach said. Montezuma made 16 turnovers, to 13 by the host team.
Montezuma put four players in double figures.
Trey Shearer scored 25 points, on nine-for-12 from the field. He dropped in a trio of treys. Trey also had four assists, three steals and three deflections.
Eddie Burgess scored 16 points and pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds as the Braves out-boarded what is overall a slightly taller team by a 27-17 margin.
Burgess, the Braves’ 6-4 sophomore, splashed down three three-pointers, dished four assists, and had four steals.
Masin Shearer scored 15 points and led the team with four treys.
Cole Watts scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Braves led 18-8 after one quarter, 36-22 at halftime, and 63-39 after exploding for 27 points in the third period.
Colfax-Mingo guard Brady Berkey, a 19-point scorer last season, got 16 in this game. Teammate Cole Bracewell was the only other Tigerhawk in double figures with 11.
“Defensively, we did a nice job getting deflections and steal that led to easy points,” Dengler said.
Colfax-Mingo is 1-1. The Tigerhawks had opened their season with a 13-point win over Lynnville-Sully.
The Braves were the ninth-ranked team in this past week’s BCMoore power rankings and had the highest scoring average in the state, but after just two games.
“We hope we continue to improve our help side defense and team rebounding going forward,” Dengler said.
UP NEXT – Montezuma hosts HLV on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 18 18 27 18 – 81
Colfax-Mingo 8 13 17 8 – 46
MONTEZUMA (81): Brydon Henning 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. Brayden Arendt 2-6, 2-5, 3, 6. Masin Shearer 5-6, 4-5, 1, 15. Connor Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Cole Watts 6-13, 2-2, 4, 14. Maguire DeJong 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3. Trey Shearer 9-12, 5-5, 2, 25. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Gavin Strong 1-4, 0-0, 2, 2. Eddie Burgess 6-8, 1-1, 3, 16. Brody Chidester 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 30-51, 11-14, 19, 81.
COLFAX-MINGO (46)
TOTALS – 13-42, 13-23, 12, 46.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 16, Colfax-Mingo 13.
Rebounds: Montezuma 27 (Burgess 12, Watts 7, T. Shearer 6). Colfax-Mingo 17.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 11-21 (M. Shearer 4, T. Shearer 3, Burgess 3, DeJong 1). Colfax-Mingo 7.
Braves assists leaders: Burgess 4, T. Shearer 4, M. Shearer 3, Arendt 2, Watts 2.
Braves steals leaders: Burgess 4, T. Shearer 3.
Braves delections leaders: T. Shearer 3, Cook 2.