Rebounding and defense helped Montezuma establish tempo early, and the Braves ran to a 70-49 home victory over Colfax-Mingo on Senior Night, Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The Braves did something they haven’t done often this season as four players scored in double figures.
“It was an up and down game,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “Our defense was improved,” he said. “We held Brady Berkey, their leading scorer, 14 points, which is five points under his average.”
The Tigerhawks were a respectable 9-3 coming in, and were very competitive in the first quarter, which ended with the Braves up 15-9.
But Montezuma, now 13-1, did its heavy damage during the two middle quarters, in which the Braves outscored their visitors 46-22, to lead 61-31 heading into the final period.
“We got a lot of shots at the rim,” Dengler said.
Montezuma’s four in doubles were Trey Shearer with 21 points, Cole Watts with 16, Eddie Burgess with 12 and Brayden Arendt with 12.
The Braves shot .556 from the field on 30 makes in 54 attempts. They assisted 14 of those baskets.
Colfax-Mingo was able to shoot just .373 from the floor.
Montezuma had a 34-25 advantage in rebounds against a taller team.
Burgess had another double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Same with Watts with his 16 points and 11 boards. Watts also splashed down a pair of treys.
Brayden Arendt was five-for-nine from the floor, including a pair of three-balls, on his way to 12 points.
Trey Shearer’s line included 10-for-15 shooting, including one three-ball, five steals, four assists, four rebounds and a deflection.
THANKS SENIORS –Honored during the night were Braves Brayden Arendt and Brody Chidester.
UP NEXT – Montezuma visits PCM on Thursday evening, Jan. 30, and HLV on Friday, Jan. 31.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Colfax-Mingo 9 14 8 18 – 49
Montezuma 15 21 25 14 – 70
MONTEZUMA (70) – Brydon Henning 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3. Brayden Arendt 5-9, 0-0, 2, 12. Masin Shearer 0-2, 0-0, 2, 0. Connor Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Cole Watts 6-16, 2-2, 4, 16. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Trey Shearer 10-15, 0-0, 1, 21. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 2-2, 0-0, 0, 5. Eddie Burgess 6-8, 0-1, 1, 12. Brody Chidester 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS – 30-54, 2-3, 12, 70.
COLFAX-MINGO (49)
TOTALS – 19-51, 8-13, 8, 49.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 8, Colfax-Mingo 12.
Rebounds: Montezuma 34 (Burgess 11, Watts 11, T. Shearer 4, Arendt 2, Cook 2, Benson 1, Chidester 1, team 2; Colfax-Mingo 25.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 7-20 (Arendt 2, Watts 2, Henning 1, T. Shearer 1, Strong 1); Colfax-Mingo 4-22.
Montezuma assists: T. Shearer 4, M. Shearer 3, Watts 3, Burgess 3, Kercheval 1.
Steals: T. Shearer 5, Burgess 2, Watts 1.
Deflections: Arendt 1, T. Shearer 1, Benson 1, Strong 1, Chidester 1.
