DES MOINES – “When we’re clicking, it’s really hard to stop us,” said Eddie Burgess, the 6-4 sophomore post who was ‘the man among men’ under the basket for Montezuma on Monday, March 9.
Burgess and the Braves clicked the “delete” button in the second half, and away went Martensdale-St. Marys, 75-50.
A stifling 2-3 zone morphed into a rotating nightmare in the second half for the Blue Devils, who trailed just 30-27 at halftime.
The Braves sprinted away with a 45-23 second half, during which Montezuma shot 75 percent from the field, and went 18-for-26 from the free throw line – after not shooting a free throw in the first half.
The win sends 24-2 against Montezuma, the tournament’s fourth seed, into Wednesday’s Class 1A semifinals against eighth seed Wapsie Valley, 19-7, which shocked top seed Lake Mills 49-45 in Monday’s second semifinals game. Tip Wednesday at Wells Fargo Arena is at 2 p.m.
The Braves’ shooting got better because of more patience on offense – which included getting the ball into junior point guard Trey Shearer’s hands a bit more – better defense, and better rebounding.
Burgess said a dunk by 6-10 Isaac Gavin of the Blue Devils fired up the Braves to do an even better job of blocking out.
After trailing 16-13 in rebounds at halftime, the Braves out-boarded the Blue Devils 22-13 in the second half.
Burgess was in the middle of everything, scoring 19 points, pulling down 14 rebounds, dishing six assists and blocking two shots.
Trey Shearer motored through or shot over the Blue Devils for 24 points for the game.
Gavin led his team with 12 points, only two of them coming in the second half. And he was his team’s only man in double figures.
Trey Baker, a 6-4 forward who carried the team’s top scoring average at 17 per game, was limited to four and none in the second half.
Montezuma put four players in double figures. Behind Trey Shearer and Burgess came guard Brayden Arendt with 13, and freshman guard Masin Shearer with 10. Arendt hit a couple of threes in the first quarter, which helped to open the driving lanes for the Braves.
But the decisive series of events for Montezuma included a 23-4 run, which started early in the third quarter and carried into the fourth.
It included a two-point basket by Trey Shearer, who created off the dribble, another by Shearer on a short jumper, then a conventional three-point play by Shearer who was fouled on his way to the basket.
A technical foul against a frustrated Blue Devil helped Montezuma on on its 23-4 run as the Braves put up six straight points in just a few seconds of elapsed time.
Montezuma spread its offense after going up 58-38 with 5:30 left to play, and protected and extended its lead with free throws.
The Braves again practiced ‘next man up,’ after Watts, the team’s second-leading scorer, picked up his third personal foul early in the third quarter. He finished with four points, but his teammates had his back.
Martensdale-St. Marys shot .464 from the field for the game, including .257 in the second half. The Blue Devils were five-for-30 from three-point range.
“At this point in the tournament, guys are going to hit tough shots,” Dengler said. “But, we did force some long shots. In the second half, especially, we forced them to go over us and we didn’t give them easy shots.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Martensdale-St. Marys 14 13 9 14 – 50
Montezuma 18 12 25 20 – 75
MARTENSDALE-ST. MARY’S – Jack Franey 2-8, 0-0, 2, 5. Carson Elbert 3-10, 2-2, 4, 9. Hogan Franey 3-10, 0-0, 4, 8. Trey Baker 2-11, 0-0, 1, 4. Isaac Gavin 6-8, 0-2, 3, 12. Troy Holt 1-3, 0-0, 2, 3. Gavin Stott 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Derek Kleve 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0. Brooks Trom 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. JT Archibald 4-7, 1-4, 2, 9. Dylan Higens 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Matt Hughes 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Tyler Baker 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Baize Gibson 0-0, 0-0, 0,0. Cael Reynolds 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 21-63, 3-8, 19, 50.
MONTEZUMA (75) – Brayden Arendt 5-8, 1-3, 1, 13. Masin Shearer 3-7, 2-3, 1, 10. Cole Watts f2-8, 1-2, 3, 5. Trey Shearer 8-13, 6-6, 2, 24. Eddie Burgess 6-7, 7-10, 1, 19. Brydon Henning 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Connor Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Maguire DeJong 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 0-0, 1-2, 0, 1. Brody Chidester 0-0,0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 25-44, 18-26, 8, 75.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: MSM: 9, Montezuma 11.
Rebounds: MSM 29 (Baker 8, Gavin 7, Holt 3, Archibald 3, J. Franey 2, Elbert 2, Trom 1, team 3); Montezuma 35 (Burgess 14, Watts 4, T. Shearer 4, Chidester 3, Arendt 2, Cook 2, M. Shearer 1, Van Zee 1, Kercheval 1, team 3).
Three-point goals: MSM: 5-30 (J. Franey 1-2, Elbert 1-8, H. Franey 2-7, Baker 0-4, Gavin 0-1, Holt 1-2, Kleve 0-2, Higens 0-3, Reynolds 0-1).
Assists: MSM 13 (J. Franey 7, Elbert 4, H. Franey 1, Kleve 1); Montezuma 14 (Burgess 6, T. Shearer 3, M. Shearer 2, Arendt 1, Watts 1, Strong 1).
Technical foul: MSM (Elbert).
Steals: MSM: 7 (J. Franey 4, H. Franey 1, Reynolds 1); Montezuma 4 (Arendt 1, M. Shearer 1, Watts 1, T. Shearer 1).
Blocks: MSM 0; Montezuma 2 (Burgess 2).