Keota’ s boys basketball team was unbeaten the last time the Eagles met Montezuma, back on Jan. 15 on the Braves’ court.
The Braves hit Keota with an early blitz and rolled to an 80-46 win.
They meet again at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening, Feb. 23 in Williamsburg. It’s a Class 1A sub-state semifinal game, with the winner moving on to the sub-state championship Saturday, Feb. 27, in Knoxville.
Despite ample seating at Williamsburg, the schools have been limited to 200 tickets each. Details are on Montezuma’s school website. Braves Activities Director Tim Burgess said Keota and Montezuma are planning to provide a live stream.
One mission for Keota will be to avoid being victimized by another Montezuma fast start. Obviously, the opposite is true for the Braves, who have used defense and rebounding to get off to great starts in recent games.
In that first game, Montezuma enjoyed quarter leads of 20-7, 42-13 and 62-26.
Keota has been a good shooting and rebounding team most of the season.
But they were beaten on the boards in both of their defeats. An 11-10 Cardinal of Eldon team beat them 37-26 on the boards and won the game, 60-57.
Montezuma enjoyed a 27-14 lead in rebounds over Keota, with the Braves’ Eddie Burgess grabbing 15 of them.
Keota shot .429 from the field in that game, but the Braves fired at a .633 clip.
Keota has no one on the roster listed as taller than 6-2. Other than the 6-4, 220-pound Burgess, Montezuma’s regulars aren’t tall either, but there’s probably no stat than can be taken during a game that defines how quick the Braves are.
The quickness goes beyond their feet and hands. Out in space, they make decisions that you can’t really diagram on a chart.
Montezuma’s 75-points-a-game offense ranks 2nd among 145 teams in Class 1A. The defense is up to 39th, after starting out the season in the 60s.
Montezuma outscores opponents 74-48. For Keota, the numbers are 62-42.
Keota gets 16.8 points per game from 6-0 senior Luke Hammen, who shoots .495 from the field and averages five rebounds a game.
Carson Sprouse, a 6-0 senior, scores 15.9 per game and shoots .458 from the field.
Brady Duwa, 6-2, scores 8.8 per contest, gets 5.5 rebounds and averages 2.7 assists.
Montezuma came is as the number eight team in the Class 1A poll. Keota wasn’t ranked, but had the 12th highest total of votes.
For the Braves, 5-10 senior Trey Shearer scores 26.8 points per game, second highest among all classes in Iowa. He shoots .582 from the field and .483 from behind the three-point arc.
The senior also grabs 5.4 rebounds and dishes 4.9 assists.
Senior Cole Watts, 5-10, scores 19.4 points per game and shoots .605 from the field and .528 on three-pointers. He gets 6.5 rebounds and dishes 3.6 assists.
Burgess is a 6-4 junior, scoring 13.7 points per game on a .722 field goal shooting average. He averages 12.5 rebounds and recently had two games with 20 or more.
Masin Shearer, a 5-8 sophomore, averages 7.2 points and 2.9 assists. Just when you think he won’t, he’ll drive or shoot a step-back three.
Three other Braves, forwards Cam Johnson, Owen Cook and Gavin Strong, fill roles, which include pressing and tight half court defense. Strong also averages 5.3 points and is yet another three-point shooter for the Braves who also can drive.
Montezuma’s versatility and virtuoso abilities on offense spread out defenses and make the Braves a challenge to defend.
RECENT HISTORY – Montezuma has won the last six meetings against Keota and 11 of the last 12. Before that Keota owned a 14-game winning streak against the Braves between 2007 and 2014.
SUB-STATE IS SATURDAY, Feb. 27, at Knoxville. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The opponent will either be Mt. Ayr, 18-4 at the moment, or 19-4 Moravia.