When the Braves played at North Mahaska on Dec. 1, Montezuma got away to a fast start and didn’t look back in an 80-60 victory.
The Warhawks reversed the fast start when they played on Friday, Jan. 19, leading 19-8 after the first quarter.
Then, North Mahaska maintained, and came away with a 66-58 win over the Braves.
Statistically this was a close game, although in some cases, how many wasn’t as important as when.
But if you’re looking at numbers, try free throws.
The Braves made five-of-six. The Warhawks were 13-for-21. That’s eight more “mades” for North Mahaska, and that was how many the Warhawks won by.
North Mahaska was called for three fewer personal fouls. Another stat: A modest 9 assists for the Braves, on 23 made field goals. The Warhawk defense disrupted flow.
“We were hurt early with some turnovers and North Mahaska beat us on the boards,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler.
The Braves actually wound up with a 36-33 lead in rebounds, but again, the “when” was crucial, “We couldn’t catch up,” Dengler said.
The Warhawks led 34-22 at halftime, and 51-36 through three quarters.
Montezuma outscored its opponent by seven in the fourth period, but like the coach said, the Braves couldn’t catch up.
Brady Boulton scored 28 points for the Braves on 11-for-22 shooting.
The Braves got 12 points from Garrett Watts and 9 from Max Anderson.
But the Warhawks were conscious of Montezuma’s three-point shooters. They went 7-for-27, and potted just one more trey than the Warhawks.
Boulton added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals to his 28 points.
The game was like a “position” night in your bowling league, with the teams trying go get closer to league-leading Lynnville-Sully. The Warhawks are 8-3 in the league and Montezuma is 7-5.
Overall, The Braves are 8-5. North Mahaska is 9-4.
UP NEXT: Montezuma’s boys and girls are at BGM on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
North Mahaska 19 15 17 15 – 66
Montezuma 8 14 14 22 – 58
MONTEZUMA (58) – Dane Strong 0-3, 0-0, 3, 0. Garrett Watts 5-12, 1-2, 3, 12. David Rose 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2. Luke Brennan 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Brady Boulton 11-22, 4-4, 3, 28. Alex Black 1-1, 0-0, 2, 2. Kohen Holland 2-5, 0-0, 1, 5. Max Anderson 3-10, 0-0, 1, 9. TOTALS – 23-55, 5-6, 14, 58.
NORTH MAHASKA (66) – 20-53, 13-21, 11, 66,
Line score legend: field goals made attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 16, North Mahaska 17.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 7-27 (Anderson 3-10, Boulton 2-11, Watts 1-2, Holland 1-1, Strong 0-2, Rose 0-1); North Mahaska 6-21.
Rebounds: Montezuma 36 (Watts 12, Boulton 5, Anderson 5, Holland 4, Rose 4, Strong 3, Black 3). North Mahaska 33.
Assists: Montezuma 9 (Boulton 4, Rose 2, Watts 2, Strong 1).
Steals: Montezuma 15 (Boulton 5, Watts 3, Strong 2, Rose 2, Black 1, Holland 1, Anderson 1).
Blocks: Montezuma 1 (Boulton).