Montezuma dictated tempo with its defense and rebounding and outscored Lynnville-Sully in each quarter in a 71-39 run past the Hawks on Tuesday evening, Feb. 2.
The Braves worked on balance, and achieved some with four scorers reaching double figures. And then there was the rebounding, headed by the 6-4 Burgess, who grabbed 20 caroms on the night, 18 of them off the defensive glass. Cole Watts snagged eight rebounds as the Braves won the board battle 36-24.
The win allowed Montezuma to hold onto its portion of the South Iowa Cedar League lead. The Braves can win it outright, or share it, with a win over HLV at home on Saturday evening, Feb. 6.
Montezuma’s double figures scorers were Trey Shearer (17 points), Gavin Strong and Eddie Burgess (13 each), and Cole Watts (12).
The Braves did that despite making just four three-pointers, a relatively low number for them. But, they were able to finish at the rim in this game.
“Teams are trying to take away that three and we did a good job adjusting and going to the hoop,” Braves Coach Derrick Dengler said.
Watts scored eight of his in the first quarter as the Braves jumped out to a 10-0 lead to open the game.
Montezuma got its transition game going in the second period, pushing its 18-6 first quarter lead out to 37-18 by halftime.
Burgess and company had control of the defensive boards, and Montezuma’s tight defense didn’t give the Hawks a lot of quality looks at the basket. Lynnville-Sully shot just .259 from the field for the game, on 14 makes in 54 attempts. That included six-for-28 from three-point range.
But the Hawks, a young team that came in with a 10-5 record, played some tough defense of their own and made the Braves pass the basketball to beat it.
Pass Montezuma did – the Braves made no second quarter turnovers. The Braves kept that up in the third period, which was perhaps their best at 18-7.
Montezuma started the period with an 8-0 run to push its lead out to 45-18 with 4:39 and then it was a question of whether Lynnville-Sully could stay close enough to deny the Braves a continuous clock. Montezuma assisted 15 of its 30 made field goals, with Trey Shearer and Cole Watts leading with seven and four, respectively.
Preston Rodibaugh led Lynnville-Sully scorers with 13 points and added six rebounds. Klayton Van Dyke had six points and eight rebounds and Conner Maston scored six points.
The win lifted the Braves to 16-2 on the season, including 13-1 in SICL play.
Lynnville-Sully is 10-6 and 10-4.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Lynnville-Sully 6 12 7 14 – 39
Montezuma 18 19 18 16 – 71
MONTEZUMA (71)
Cam Johnson 3-4, 0-0, 3, 6. Masin Shearer 3-6, 0-0, 0, 7. Cole Watts 5-8, 1-1, 3, 12. Trey Shearer 7-12, 3-3, 3, 17. Eddie Burgess 5-9, 3-4, 1, 13. Garrett Watts 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 1-2, 0-0, 0, 3. Gavin Strong 6-8, 0-0, 3, 13. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Camden Michalek 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 30-50, 7-8, 13, 71.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls total points.
Turnovers: L-S 14, Montezuma 14.
Three-point goals: 4-13 (M. Shearer 1-2, C. Watts 1-2, Cook 1-2, Strong 1-3, T. Shearer 0-4).
Rebounds: 36 (Burgess 20, C. Watts 8, T. Shearer 5, Cook 1, Strong 1, Kercheval 1.
Assists: 15 (T. Shearer 7, C. Watts 4, M. Shearer 2, Johnson 1, Burgess 1).
Steals: 9 (C. Watts 3, Burgess 3, Strong 2, T. Shearer 1).
Blocks: 3 (Burgess 2, Strong 1).