The various ingredients of the English Valleys defense were hard enough for the Montezuma Bravettes to swallow in the first half of their basketball game Friday night, Feb. 18.
But after halftime, the Bears stirred their concoction into a potion that was lethal to the Bravettes.
The Bears stepped up their full-court pressure, kept a defender hounding Montezuma’s top three-point shooter and were deadly from the free throw line after they got the lead.
English Valleys outscored Montezuma 27-11 in the second half and beat the Bravettes, 44-36.
The Class 1A regional semi-finals win ended Montezuma’s season at 18 wins at 5 losses. The Bears roar on at 21-3.
In the first half, the game bore an eerie similarity to Montezuma’s 49-27 win over the Bears, also on Montezuma’s floor.
In that one, the Bravettes dictated with defense and out-shooting. Mia Boulton dropped in 18 points from the outside and Shanae Wetering stung them for 13.
The Bravettes were headed that way again, dropping six three-pointers and playing tight defense on their way to a 25-17 halftime lead.
But, problems were bubbling to the surface.
The Bravettes had massive foul trouble. Jadyn Sharer fouled out and Shanae Wetering and Mia Boulton finished with 4 each. Needed substitutions broke their continuity.
The Bravettes were whistled for 19 personal fouls. The Bears took advantage by sinking 17-of-25 free throws.
The stats chart posted on VarsityBound lists just 2 personal fouls against English Valleys. If that’s true, we’re not sure how Montezuma got to shoot 8 free throws. Nevertheless EV outscored the Bravettes by 12 points from the line.
Struggles against full court pressure, an on-again off-again item for Montezuma during the season’s second half, were more on than off. The Bravettes made 21 turnovers, after having made just 6 the first time the teams played. EV cut its number from 21 the first time to 15 this game.
Also, the Bravettes had some difficulty reeling in defensive rebounds after doing great work early in possessions, and the Bears were able to stay as close as they were at half-time.
Korrinn Kehoe again hit the boards hard, leading Bravettes rebounders with 6.
Five Bravettes scored in the first quarter. No others joined the list the rest of the game.
Mia Boulton, the Bravettes’ top trey gunner, didn’t score in the game. But guard Jadyn Sharer stepped up big, making 3 of 4 from behind the arc for 12 points.
But as a team, Montezuma made just one trey in the second half.
The game was tied at 32 after three quarter, after Montezuma led by 10 just seconds into the period.
Just three Bravettes scored in the second half. That included 6 by forward Shanae Wetering, who led Montezuma for the game with 14 points. Ellen Cook finished with 5 and Kallie Robison had 2.
The last 10 English Valleys points came from the free throw line, after the Bravettes had to foul after falling behind.
Carley Stanerson led Bears scoring with 10 points. Maddie Mikesell scored 9 and Kaely Axmear had 8, making for better balance at the top than English Valleys had in the Jan. 7 game.
Kennedy Axmear had 7 rebounds and Kaely Axmear squeezed 5 for the Bears.
Mia Ayers and Kaely Axmear each dished 3 assists.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
English Valleys 7 10 15 12 – 44
Montezuma 13 12 7 4 – 36
MONTEZUMA (36) – Madison Johannes 1-5, 0-0, 2, 3. Shane Wetering 5-14, 2-4, 4, 14. Mia Boulton 0-4, 0-0, 4, 0. Jadyn Sharer 3-6, 3-4, 5, 12. Korrinn Kehoe 0-0, 0-0, 3, 0. Ellen Cook 2-5, 0-0, 0, 5. Izzy Roorda 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Kallie Robison 1-1, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS – 12-35, 5-8, 19, 36.
ENGLISH VALLEYS (44) – TOTALS – 11-30, 17-25, 2, 44.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 21, English Valleys 15.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 7-17 (Sharer 3-4, Wetering 2-5, Cook 1-2, Johannes 1-3, Boulton 0-3); English Valleys 5-13.
Rebounds: Montezuma 21 (Kehoe 6, Sharer 4, Wetering 3, Roorda 3, Robison 3, Boulton 2); English Valleys 25.
Assists: Montezuma 6 (Boulton 3, Johannes 2, Cook 1); English Valleys 10.
Steals: Montezuma 9 (Sharer 4, Johannes 2, Wetering 1, Cook 1, Robison 1); English Valleys 4.
Blocks: Montezuma none. English Valleys none.