Every game, it’s a brand new challenge.
And, the Montezuma Braves were a little more than equal to the latest one, beating an emerging North Mahaska team 67-55 in a District 9 Class 1A semifinal game Tuesday evening, Feb. 25.
The Warhawks brought a young and lanky team into a noisy, packed house in Montezuma.
North Mahaska’s length had clogged Montezuma’s passing lanes for a half the previous time they played.
Would that work again? For a while, it did.
The Warhawks jumped out to a 10-5 lead, hitting over and from the middle of a Braves’ zone defense.
But the Braves adjusted, contested more shots, and went on an 11-0 run starting midway through the first quarter.
“We defended well enough, although they did hit some shots in the first half from behind the arc,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler.
The Braves also put the ball into junior guard Trey Shearer’s hands a little more often.
Shearer started scoring and the Braves established some control of tempo.
Shearer scored 10 points in the first quarter – 10 of his 45!
“We relied on a big game from Trey,” said Dengler. “He had some moments where he was almost un-guardable.”
“And credit to our other guys for playing hard and letting him create when he needed to,” the coach said.
Montezuma led 22-17 after a quarter and 38-28 at the half, by which time Shearer had thrown down 26.
The Braves lost control of tempo for a while in the second half. Montezuma post player Eddie Burgess got into foul trouble and wound up playing just 14 of the game’s 32 minutes.
Addy Bollman hit a three-pointer late to cut Montezuma’s lead to 38-37. But Trey Shearer hit a three pointer and the Warhawks, down 41-37, got no closer.
Up by eight points, the Braves killed clock starting with 1:40 left to play. Masin Shearer and Trey Shearer hit single free throws, then Cole Watts grabbed a rebound and passed ahead to Trey for a layup. That score put Montezuma up 66-55, and out of danger, with 1:07 left.
A key for the Braves was their rebounding against a taller team, even with the 6-4 Burgess out. Owen Cook, 6-1, played 20 minutes, but he and others blocked out, allowing Montezuma’s quick guards to chase down the ball.
Trey Shearer ran down eight rebounds, Masin Shearer had six, and Cole Watts also had six. Montezuma led 28-21 in rebounds and allowed the Warhawks few put-back opportunities.
“We did do a good job rebounding, even with Eddie sitting for a significant portion of the game with a little bit of foul trouble,” Dengler said.
Trey Shearer’s 45 points came on six-for-nine shooting from three-point range, 11-for-15 from two-point land, and five-for-seven from the line.
Watts scored 11 points, dished four assists and grabbed six rebounds.
Burgess scored six points, had two rebounds, an assist and two steals.
Montezuma shot .533 from the field, to .435 by the Warhawks.
Nash Smith, a 6-5 freshman, scored 14 points for the Warhawks and Bollman, a 6-4 junior, had 11. Braden Steel, a 6-3 freshman, scored 10 and Dylan Klinker, a 5-8 junior, had nine.
North Mahaska closed at 12-10
UP NEXT – The Braves, 21-2, take on Keota, 20-3, at 7 Thursday evening, Feb. 27, in Williamsburg. J.D. Stout dropped in 45 as the Eagles beat BGM 85-66 in the other district semifinal.
Thursday’s winner will advance to Saturday’s sub-state game in Knoxville vs. the district 10 winner (Central Decatur vs. Nodaway Valley).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
North Mahaska 17 11 17 10 – 55
Montezuma 22 16 16 13 – 67
MONTEZUMA (67) – Brayden Arendt 0-1, 2-2, 1, 2. Masin Shearer 1-5, 1-3, 0, 3. Cole Watts 4-11, 0-0, 1, 11. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Trey Shearer 17-24, 5-7, 1, 45. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Eddie Burgess 2-4, 2-2, 3, 6. TOTALS – 24-45, 10-14, 6, 67.
NORTH MAHASKA (55)
TOTALS – 20-4, 6-6, 12, 55.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 10, North Mahaska 11.
Rebounds: Montezuma 28 (T. Shearer 8, M. Shearer 6, Watts 6, Arendt 4, Cook 2, Burgess 2); North Mahaska 21.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 9-21 (T. Shearer 6-9, Watts 3-9, M. Shearer 2-2, Arendt 0-1); North Mahaska 9-24.
Montezuma assists: M. Shearer 4, Watts 4, T. Shearer 3, Strong 1, Burgess 1).
Montezuma steals: Watts 2, Burgess 2, Arendt 1, T. Shearer 1.
Montezuma deflections: M. Shearer 2, Arendt 1.
Montezuma blocks: Arendt 1.