PELLA – You never want to lose your season opening basketball game just for the sake of learning.
But if it can help your team learn and improve, so that later it can set a new goal: Win the last game – Tuesday night’s (Nov. 25) girls basketball exercise in Pella will have been well worth the time.
Class 2A Pella Christian took down Class 1A #10 Montezuma, 56-51, in a hard-fought game that should pay dividends to both teams as the season moves along.
Both did some good things they can build on.
Pella Christian defended the Bravettes well, and used their superior length and speed to run down 20 offensive rebounds.
Eagles 5-10 forward Rachel Kacmarynski held 6-0 Bravettes center Syd Burgess scoreless in the first half, and helped to turn the lane area into a no-fly zone for Montezuma’s offense.
Brynn Runner, 6-0, defended 5-4 Montezuma guard Vivian Cook, the leading returning scorer (12.4 ppg) on last year’s Bravettes state tournament team to the max.
Cook needed 27 shots, (unofficially), but still put down 13 points as the Bravettes refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.
For the Bravettes, a positive was that it kept fighting and finding ways.
Shooting guard Claire Erselius had a night shooting the basketball. Trailing 21-18 at halftime, the Bravettes started getting the ball into Erselius’ hands, and she went on an 11-point tear, putting Montezuma up 29-27 with 2:46 left in the third quarter.
Another plus for the guard-oriented Bravettes: A 16-for-24 game from the free throw line as they stubbornly kept trying to score points in the lane.
Pella Christian’s Jessa De Vries, a 5-5 junior guard, went on her own tear in the second half and her basket with 3:11 left in the third quarter gave her team its largest lead at 51-38.
Montezuma didn’t take the hint, and didn’t go away quietly. Cook got herself to the line and guard Lauryn Larmore drained a trey as the Bravettes clawed their way back, getting as close as four points in the final minute.
Montezuma pressed its way to a 14-9 lead after one quarter. But the Eagles started breaking that pressure with some long passes for Kacmarynski, a standout performer in track last spring.
Burgess reached double figures in rebounds and came back to score points during second half action.
It wasn’t necessarily a fun night for the Bravettes, but they should have come away with some ideas they can use the rest of the season.
While the game was Montezuma’s season opener, it was game #2 for the Eagles, who lost by double digits to Class 2A PCM last week.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 14 4 13 20 – 51
Pella Christian 9 12 16 19 – 56