The Montezuma Bravettes are versatile, which helps them to adjust on the fly.
They showed it again in Tuesday’s 66-42 Class 1A regional quarterfinals win at home over WACO.
WACO threw a tight 2-3 zone defense at the Bravettes, which cut down the angles for entry passes into 5-11 post player Shiressa Wetering.
The Bravettes have seen this before. So, they filled the air with three-balls. Eleven of them connected, including seven in the first half, when Montezuma really put this game out of reach.
The Bravettes led 18-7 after one quarter, and 35-13 at halftime.
All the while, Montezuma defenders kept WACO’s offense jammed.
The win sends the now 18-4 Bravettes into Friday night’s regional semifinals – again at home – against Holy Trinity Catholic of Fort Madison.
Sophomore guard Claire Erselius scored 22 points, including five three-point baskets. She averages six points a game.
Consider that at halftime, Wetering had four points, but Erselius already had nine, Vivian Cook had 8, Ellen Cook had 7, and Jadyn Sharer had 5.
So pick your poison. Who do you stop?
After the 22 by Erselius, Ellen Cook finished with 16 points, Wetering scored 10 and Vivian Cook had 8.
The Bravettes pounded the boards, too, getting a season-high 40 rebounds. Four players had five or more each.
Ellen Cook added 7 rebounds to her 16 points. In addition, she had 7 assists, five steals and two deflections.
Leading 10-7 late in the first quarter, Montezuma closed out the half with a 25-6 scoring run.
WACO closed its season at 13-10.
UP NEXT – The Bravettes host Holy Trinity Catholic, 20-2, which took a 49-13 win over English Valleys, 14-9, on Tuesday. Montezuma beat English Valleys 57-21 during regular season play.
COME BACK later for more stats and detail.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WACO 7 6 17 12 – 42
Montezuma 18 17 18 13 – 66
MONTEZUMA (66) – Rylee Wolford 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Ellen Cook 6-16, 2-6, 1, 16. Vivian Cook 3-12, 0-0, 1, 8. Sydnee Burgess 2-3, 0-2, 3, 5. Claire Erselius 7-13, 3-3, 1, 22. Izzy Roorda 0-1, 0-0, 3, 0. Jadyn Sharer 2-6, 0-0, 1, 5. Jordan Ranfeld 0-0, 0-0, 3, 0. Laila Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Letisia Wilson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Lindsey Henry 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Mya Smothers 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Shiressa Wetering 4-10, 2-2, 0, 10. AJ Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 24-62, 7-13, 13, 66.
WACO (42) – TOTALS – 17-47, 4-9, 14, 42.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 14, WACO 21.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 11-31 (Erselius 5-7, E. Cook 2-8, V. Cook 2-9, Burgess 1-2, Sharer 1-5). WACO 4-18.
Rebounds: Montezuma 40 (Wetering 7, E. Cook 7, Erselius 6, Burgess 5, Sharer 5, team 4, Roorda 3, V. Cook 2, L. Kercheval 1); WACO 28.
Assists: Montezuma 16 (E. Cook 7, Wetering 3, Burgess 2, V. Cook 1, Roorda 1, Sharer 1, Ranfeld 1).
Steals: Montezuma 11 (E. Cook 5, Erselius 3, Burgess 1, Roorda 1, Ranfeld 1).
Deflections: Montezuma 8 (V. Cook 2, Erselius 2, Sharer 2, E. Cook 1, Roorda 1).
Blocks: Montezuma none.