One in a row in post-season for the Bravettes!
And the next game is at home, too!
Montezuma made some important adjustments at halftime, and sprinted ahead of Highland on its way to a 50-39 win over the Huskies on Tuesday evening, Feb. 15, at home.
It was a second-round Class 1A regional game. The Bravettes had a bye through the first round.
“We played a very solid game, but we were definitely out of sync in the first half, and for much of the third quarter,” said Bravettes Coach Janel Burgess.
“We relied on our defense as we always do, and success came,” she said.
The Bravettes led the Huskies 20-18 at halftime, but were having trouble hitting shots against a Highland zone defense.
They hit some, to be sure – five first half three-pointers included – but scoring leader Shanae Wetering, a post forward was hard to find in Highland’s 1-3-1 zone.
There was a solution to that: Wetering was moved to a high post spot in the third quarter. She started getting touches and things began sparking on multiple fronts for Montezuma’s offense.
Meanwhile, the Bravettes’ defense got tighter, contesting shots which sometimes were thrown up off-balance.
A Mia Boulton steal and feed to Shanae Wetering resulted in a conventional three-point play, and a 27-20 Bravettes lead just three minutes into the third quarter.
Forward Korrinn Kehoe’s putback basket made it 32-22 with 50 seconds left in the quarter. Then, Boulton picked off a pass and threw in a buzzer-beating trey from the tip of the arrow near mid-court on the north side of the mid-court line.
It had been a 15-4 third quarter, giving Montezuma at 35-22 lead.
The Bravettes passed the ball more in the second half and made the Highland defense work overtime.
The Bravettes traded scores with the Huskies after that, with Boulton going 5-for-7 from the line in the fourth quarter as Montezuma protected its lead.
Montezuma took its record out to 18-4, while Highland passed in the songbooks on a 12-11 season.
Montezuma had balanced scoring, with 7 Bravettes putting up points.
Boulton scored 17 points to lead. Shanae Wetering had 9. Kehoe had 6, to go with some critical work on the boards.
Jadyn Shearer scored 7 points and Ellen Cook dropped in 6.
Johannes had 3, and Kallie Robison scored 2.
In all, the Bravettes sank 8 three-point baskets.
“We are eager to play another game and a very good English Valleys team,” Burgess said.
UP NEXT – The Bravettes will host a regional semi-finals game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18. The opponent: SICL rival English Valleys, which beat Sigourney 52-45 on Monday. The Bravettes beat English Valleys 49-27 in their only meeting Jan. 7 in North English.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Highland 6 12 4 17 – 39
Montezuma 10 10 15 15 – 50
MONTEZUMA (50) – Madison Johannes 1-4, 0-0, 1, 3. Shanae Wetering 4-12, 1-1, 2, 9. Mia Boulton 4-15, 5-7, 1, 17. Jadyn Sharer 3-6, 0-0, 2, 7. Korrinn Kehoe 3-5, 0-0, 1, 6. Ellen Cook 2-9, 0-0, 1, 6. Izzy Roorda 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2. Kallie Robison 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2. Shiressa Wetering 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS – 18-53, 6-8, 11, 50.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made, attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: 13.
Three-pointers: 8-30 (Boulton 4-14, Cook 2-6, Sharer 1-2, Johannes 1-4, Shan. Wetering 0-4).
Rebounds: 27 (Kehoe 7, Shan. Wetering 4, Boulton 4, Sharer 4, Robison 4, Shir. Wetering 2, Roorda 1, Johannes 1).
Assists: 8 (Boulton 3, Cook 3, Shan. Wetering 2).
Steals: 10 (Boulton 5, Shan. Wetering 2, Roorda 2, Johannes 1).
Blocks: none.