Those of you who listen to veteran broadcaster Gary Rima call University of Northern Iowa athletic contests are used to hearing him say, “I LOVE this TEAM!”
Montezuma Coach Janel Burgess has been saying that about this year’s Bravettes team right from the start. And she’s getting more excited about them all the time.
And why not? The Bravettes have won all 19 games since losing their season opener to Pella Christian.
“We were seriously looking to find our identity then,” Burgess told Chris Varney of KGRN radio.
They found it. Quickly. And now they keep finding more and better versions of it!
“This is the most selfless team I’ve coached in my 20-plus years of doing this,” Burgess said. “They’re truly excited every time they come to the court. This team continues to get better,” the coach said. “So much growth is still possible!”
The Bravettes start post-season play Tuesday evening at home against Iowa Valley. Tip-off is 7 p.m. It will be live streamed on the Montezuma school’s website, thanks to some generous community support.
Iowa Valley has a 13-8 record, which includes a 10-5 mark in South Iowa Cedar League play.
Those are respectable numbers. But the Tigers had a difficult time of it when they played at Montezuma on Jan. 29. The Bravettes pitched a 29-0 shutout at them in the first quarter and rolled to a 70-23 win.
The Tigers probably aren’t that bad. But the sixth-ranked Bravettes could be that good.
Montezuma is taller and does create match-up problems for Iowa Valley.
Leading scorer for the Tigers is 5-8 Cassity Havens, who scores 15.5 points per game and shoots .515 from the field. She also pulls down a whopping 10.8 rebounds per game.
Amelia Frimml, 5-9, scores 11.9 per outing and grabs 4.4 rebounds.
Paige Van Berkum, 5-6, scores 4.5 per outing and snags 3.6 rebounds. And 5-3 Maddison Shade averages 2.7 assists.
The Bravettes have four double figures scorers and can score the ball from near or far.
Elise Boulton, 5-5, averages 16.7 points, shoots .472 from the field, including .421 on three-balls. She’s one of the state’s leaders in assists at 5.9 per game, and pulls down 3.1 rebounds.
Mia Boulton, 5-3, scores 11.6 per game and shoots .444 from the field, including .398 from behind the arc. She averages 2.2 assists.
Shanae Wetering, an athletic 5-11, scores 11.6 per game, shoots .534 from the field and gathers 4.6 rebounds.
Post player Dylan Holland, 5-10, averages 11.1 points and 9.0 rebounds and shoots .627 from the field.
“Dylan has played tremendously for us,” Burgess said. “She has become very versatile.” Like Elise Boulton, she will continue her career at Simpson College. “Dylan will do very well at Simpson,” Burgess said.
Madison Johannes, 5-3, averages 1.7 assists and if you don’t run down a rebound that lands close to you, she’ll surround it.
Burgess said “we’re going to see aggressive play in the tournament. “If threes don’t fall for us, we’ll have to go downhill,” she said. “Our defense has to create offense.”
The girls union put a lot of prestigious programs in the same region. “They had to,” Burgess said. “With COVID, they needed to do that so we all could play. It doesn’t matter who . . we’re thrilled to be able to play,” she said.
Then, Burgess added, “this has been the most exciting, rewarding and fulfilling year of my four here.”
Tuesday’s winner returns to Montezuma to play the North Mahaska vs. Lynnville-Sully winner.
Thursday’s tip-off also is at 7 p.m.
