ALBIA – It would be accurate to say Montezuma led Albia from start to finish in the Braves’ 76-58 run past the Blue Demons on Thursday evening, Jan. 26.
But that would not quite catch it all.
Albia kept mounting challenges. The Braves answered every time.
Montezuma splashed down three-pointers: Seven in a 27-16 first quarter sprint-out and 14 in all.
The Braves’ quick-handed (and footed) defense consistently made key stops against the taller Albia team and never allowed Blue Demon runs to come closer than four points.
Four Braves reached double figures: Brady Boulton (23), Masin Shearer (18), Gavin Strong (12) and Garrett Watts (12).
“We had another nice night on offense!” said Coach Derrick Dengler. “I think the boys did a nice job of playing relaxed, and overall were pretty balanced.”
“Brady ended up leading us in points, but I thought at any point in the game anyone could step up,” the coach said.
Boulton was nine-for-18 from the field, including five-for-9 on threes. Montezuma shot .435 from behind the arc.
Shearer was seven-for-11 on field goals, including three-for-seven on treys.
The Braves appeared capable of taking the ball to the rim at will after their first quarter out-shooting spread out Albia’s defense. But shots off Montezuma’s short inside drives started falling off the rim.
The Blue Demons outscored the Braves by three points in the second quarter, and by two in the third but the Braves had their offense rolling again by then.
Montezuma splashed down a trio of treys in the third quarter and four more in the fourth as the Braves closed out the game with a 21-9 quarter.
“Defensively, I thought we finished strong,” Dengler said. “Credit to their player, Drew Chance. He’s very skilled,” the coach said about the 6-4 power forward. “He made some shots where we did just about everything we could to stop him.”
Turnovers were a factor: Albia made 15, while the Braves were guilty of just six.
The non-conference over Class 2A Albia lifted the Braves to 14-3 overall. Albia fell to 8-8.
UP NEXT – The Montezuma girls and boys face BGM in a home quad on Friday evening, Jan. 27.
ALBIA’s JV team was a 64-30 winner.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 27 11 17 21 – 76
Albia 16 14 19 9 – 58
MONTEZUMA (76)
Gavin Strong 4-11, 2-2, 2, 12. Masin Shearer 7-11, 3-7, 1, 18. Garrett Watts 5-11, 1-2, 2, 12. Brady Boulton 9-18, 0-0k 2, 23. Colton Benson 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. Owen Cook 1-4, 0-0, 0, 3. Kohen Holland 2-3, 0-0, 0, 5. Max Anderson 1-3, 0-0, 1, 3. TOTALS – 29-62, 4-5, 9, 76.
ALBIA (58)
TOTALS – 23-60, 9-11, 9, 58.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 14-32 (Boulton 5-9, Shearer 3-7, Strong 2-4, Holland 1-1, Anderson 1-3, Cook 1-4, Watts 1-3, Benson 0-1); Albia 3-14.
Turnovers: Montezuma 6, Albia 14.
Rebounds: Montezuma 27 (Watts 5, Strong 4, Cook 4, Anderson 4, Shearer 3, Boulton 3, Benson 2, Holland 2); Albia 35.
Assists: Montezuma 13 (Strong 4, Shearer 3, Watts 3, Boulton 2, Benson 1).
Steals – Montezuma 8, Shearer 6, Boulton 1, Cook 1).
Deflections: Montezuma 6 (Boulton 3, Strong 1, Shearer 1, Anderson 2).