Prior to the Tuesday, Dec. 22 home game against Tri-County, players, coaches, cheerleaders, band members and fans from Montezuma were invited to wear something holiday-festive to the game.
Did they? Yes! Even Santa and a couple elves sat on the Montezuma bench helping Mrs. Claus coach the Bravettes.
Season’s Greetings from Montezuma?
Yes, although at times it may have felt like Season’s Beatings to Tri-County, which was on the short end of a 76-14 final score.
But, points are just numbers on an electronic scoreboard, which is erased and turned off as soon as the game is over.
Girls on both teams had opportunities to gain from this game.
Montezuma had a chance to work on and improve its game, which it appears the Bravettes did.
A winless, very young Tri-County squad (all sophomores except for one junior), got a chance to work against and measure up to one of the area’s best Class 1A girls teams.
It’s not always easy to play well against an over-matched opponent. A reason: You have to bring your own energy.
But Tri-County brought some energy of its own and it didn’t take long for the Bravettes to get rolling.
Montezuma started out pressing – that’s what the Bravettes do – forced 11 first quarter turnovers and jumped out to a 24-2 lead.
The lead grew to 38-4 by halftime. But it wasn’t just Montezuma stealing the ball and scoring easy transition baskets. The Bravettes pulled the press after the first quarter, and started shooting treys.
They knocked down 13 of them in the game.
Six of those came during a 28-point third quarter, after which the score was 66-6.
Guard Elise Boulton scored 23 points for the Bravettes on eight-for-13 field goal shooting, including six-for-nine from behind the arc.
Kierstyn Price and Jadyn Sharer each scored nine for Montezuma.
The Bravettes had a 28-12 lead in rebounds. Dylan Holland had seven of those, and Shanae Wetering had six.
Montezuma’s man-to-man half-court defense kept Tri-County from getting good looks at the basket. They made five field goals on just 18 attempts.
The Bravettes were 27-for-53 (.509) from the field.
Mia Boulton led the Bravettes in steals and assists with five of each, to which she added seven points.
Delanie Little scored six points for Tri-County and Chloe Staley had four.
Montezuma moved its records to 9-1 overall and 8-0 in South Iowa Cedar League play.
Tri-County is 0-9 and 0-6.
Now, Montezuma gets five days to practice for the 2021 portion of the season. “Our biggest accomplishment so far is identifying our roles and playing them very well,” Coach Janel Burgess told KGRN’s Chris Varney. “It’s a selfless team.”
Varney noted that Shanae Wetering has come to the forefront as a scorer and rebounder. “The Boultons (Elise and Mia) will draw a lot of attention,” Burgess said. “Shanae has done a tremendous job of letting herself develop. She’s very athletic. And she’s her own athlete and person,” the coach said. “She is growing – she’s a full 5-11 now – and she is a tremendous teammate. She is finding her three-point shot, taking it and making it.”
Burgess said Dylan Holland has been, “awesome. She played tremendous defense in our win over Williamsburg. And she is shooting 60 percent from the field.”
“Our full-court defense is very effective right now,” Burgess said. “Our focus going forward is to score in the half-court, because that’s the kind of defenses we will face,” Burgess said. “Our defense is creating opportunities for us and we need to clean up some things”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tri-County 2 2 2 8 – 14
Montezuma 24 14 28 10 – 76
MONTEZUMA (76)
Shanae Wetering 3-6, 0-3, 2, 6. Kierstyn Price 3-4, 1-2, 0, 9. Mia Boulton 3-10, 1-2, 2, 7. Elise Boulton 8-13, 1-2, 1, 23. Dylan Holland 3-5, 1-1, 1, 7. Madison Johannes 2-6, 0-0, 1, 6. Jadyn Sharer 2-4, 3-3, 1, 9. Alyssa Cline 1-3, 0-0, 0, 3. Alivia Cline 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Korrinn Kehoe 2-2, 2-2, 3, 6. TOTALS – 27-53, 9-15, 11, 76.
TRI-COUNTY (14)
TOTALS – 5-18, 3-6, 12, 14.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Tri-County 29, Montezuma 6.
Three-point goals: Tri-County 1-3. Montezuma 13-30 (E. Boulton 6-9, Price 2-3, Johannes 2-4, Sharer 2-4, Alys. Cline 1-3, M. Boulton 0-7).
Rebounds: Tri-County 12, Montezuma 28 (Holland 7, Wetering 6, Price 3, M. Boulton 3, Johannes 3, E. Boulton 2, Sharer 1, Alys. Cline 1, Kehoe 1, Aliv. Cline 1).
Assists: Tri-County 1. Montezuma 15 (M. Boulton 5, Holland 3, Wetering 2, Johannes 2, Price 1, Sharer 1, Alys. Cline 1).
Steals: Tri-County 6, Montezuma 18 (M. Boulton 5, Wetering 4, Price 3, E. Boulton 2, Holland 2, Johannes 2.
Blocks: none.