The Montezuma Bravettes are a young varsity team and prior to Friday, Dec. 15, they’ve had some trouble getting away to strong starts in games.
But that wasn’t the case against Sigourney, who came to town with a 6-1 record.
The Savages packed in a zone defense, geared to stop Bravettes pivot Shiressa Wetering.
Time for the Zone Busters – Montezuma’s group of three-point shooters.
The Bravettes started fast – 21-12 in the first quarter. They led from start to finish in a 57-41 conference win on their home hardwood.
Montezuma threw down 16 three-pointers in 33 attempts, a sizzling .485 percentage that should take down just about any team on a given night.
Jadyn Sharer splashed down six of them, to go with seven she sank in her previous game.
“We came out earlier pressing and setting the tone by keeping Sigourney uncomfortable,” said Bravettes Coach Janel Burgess. “We were able to maintain our lead by being selfless the entire game and each player doing their job to the best of their abilities,” she said.
“We are eager to finish up strong before Christmas at Keota before we return for a tremendous schedule in January.”
The Bravettes outscored their opponent in all four quarters, leading 36-26 at halftime and 51-36 through three quarters.
Ellen Cook made four treys, Claire Erselius had three and Vivian Cook made two.
The Bravettes rebounded by committee, too. Eight different Bravettes grabbed caroms, with Izzy Roorda leading with eight.
There’s more: Montezuma assisted 17 of its 19 made field goals! It reverse the zone, or just shoot over the top. They were going down, so there was no need to change.
Montezuma went to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SICL.
The Savages tumbled to 6-2 and 4-2.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Sigourney 12 14 10 5 – 41
Montezuma 21 15 15 6 – 57
MONTEZUMA (57) – Ellen Cook 5-17, 1-2, 1, 15. Vivian Cook 2-7, 0-0, 2, 6. Sydnee Burgess 1-1, 0-0, 2, 3. Claire Erselius 4-11, 0-0, 0, 11. Izzy Roorda 0-0, 00, 3, 0. Jordan Ranfeld 0-0, 0-0, 3, 0. Shiressa Wetering 1-5, 0-0, 3, 2. TOTALS – 19-51, 3-6, 15, 57.
SIGOURNEY (41) – TOTALS – 16-41, 5-9, 4, 41.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers (16-33) – Sharer 6-8, E. Cook 4-10, Erselius 3-9, V. Cook 2-5, Burgess 1-1. Sig – 4-13.
Rebounds: (29) – Roorda 8, V. Cook 4, Burgess 4, Sharer 5, Wetering 3, E. Cook 3, Erselius 2, Ranfeld 2. Sig – 25.
Assists: (17) – E. Cook 5, Burgess 5, V. Cook 3, Erselius 2, Sharer 1, Ranfeld 1.
Steals: (10) – Roorda 4, Burgess 2, E. Cook 1, Erselius 1, Ranfeld 1, Wetering 1.