Montezuma controlled the first half and PCM’s girls controlled the second – almost.
The Bravettes, up 36-26 at halftime, yielded the lead to the Mustangs in the fourth quarter, then grabbed it back to win, 57-56, on Thursday, Jan. 5.
“We showed tremendous grit when we needed it the most – down by two points with 37 seconds to go,” Bravettes Coach Janel Burgess said.
“They went to a zone, we ran a sideline play, Mia Boulton missed a shot, but Jadyn Shearer had a HUGE offensive rebound. Then Mia took and made a trey to take us up with 33.1 seconds to go.”
That turned out to be the winner, as Boulton led the way for the Bravettes with 20 points.
This is the kind of game the coach of a strong team loves – a close one, but a win.
“We really had to fight through adversity,” Burgess said.
“PCM was very well-prepared and didn’t allow our shots to come easy,” the coach said.
The Bravettes had balance below Boulton’s 20 points. Shiressa Wetering scored nine points, Shearer got eight, and Madison Johannes scored six.
The Bravettes were 24-18 winners of the board battle and had three fewer turnovers.
PCM shot .500 from the field, to Montezuma’s .429 on five more attempts.
The Bravettes got themselves to the line inthis one, for 15 free throws, of which they made eight, three more than the Mustangs.
Eight Bravettes scored and Montezuma needed every point in this one.
“I was proud of our composure and stick-with-it-ness as the game unfolded,” Burgess said. “We had some huge rebounds on both ends of the court to give ourselves the opportunity to find success.”
The victory lifted Montezuma to 9-1 overall for the season.
PCM fell to 5-6.
UP NEXT – The Bravettes and Braves travel to English Valleys for conference games on Friday, Jan. 6.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
PCM 6 10 17 13 – 56
Montezuma 18 18 8 13 – 57
MONTEZUMA (57)
Madison Johannes 2-5, 0-0, 0, 6. Ellen Cook 2-7, 0-0, 1, 4. Izzy Roorda 1-1, 0-0, 1, 3. Claire Erselius 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2. Mia Boulton 7-15, 3-5, 2, 20. Jadyn Sharer 3-6, 1-4, 2, 8. Jordan Ranfeld 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Kallie Robison 1-4, 3-4, 1, 5. Shiressa Wetering 4-9, 1-2, 2, 9. TOTALS – 21-49, 8-15, 10, 57.
PCM (56)
TOTALS – 22-44, 5-5, 14, 56.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 7-25 (Boulton 3-9, Johannes 2-5, Roorda 1-1, Sharer 1-4, Erselius 0-1, Robison 0-1, Cook 0-4); Pcm 7-18.
Turnovers: Montezuma 8, PCM 11.
Rebounds: Montezuma 24 (Johannes 7, Cook 4, Sharer 4, Wetering 3, Roorda 2, Ranfeld 2, Boulton 1, Robison 1); PCM 18.
Assists: Montezuma 7 (Cook 3, Johannes 1, Roorda 1, Sharer 1, Ranfeld 1); PCM – not available.
Steals: Montezuma 4 (Boulton 3, Johannes 1); PCM 1.