Montezuma’s defense never rested.
It couldn’t.
Facing a an experienced, high-octane offense, the Bravettes turned up the defensive pressure and emerged with a 48-32 win over North Mahaska Monday evening, Dec. 3.
It was a matchup of two top-five teams (Montezuma rated #1 in Class 1A; North Mahaska #4). But never mind that. This was Bravettes vs. Warhawks. That’s one local version of cats vs. dogs, spy vs. spy, Hatfields and McCoys.
This means war! But . . .civilized. Assuming hard screens, block-outs and other bumps fall into that category.
The Bravettes won each quarter, but didn’t put this game away until the latter stretches of the fourth.
“I am extremely proud of our gritty performance,” Montezuma Coach Janel Burgess said.
“We came out knowing it would be a hard-fought battle, and it was,” she said. “It went back and forth until we were able to put together some really relentless defensive possessions, she added.”
“The defense we showed in this game was really solid,” Burgess said. “We had a lot of deflections that took North Mahaska out of their offensive rhythm.”
“We had good help side defense which is a TEAM effort on the defensive end,” Burgess said.
Emma Tyrrel was North Mahaska’s only double figures scorer with 10 points. All-stater Kassidi Steel had nine – with just seven field goal attempts.
North Mahaska had put up 75 points and shot 55 percent in an earlier 20-point loss to Grinnell.
Montezuma’s Division 1 recruit, Shateah Wetering, led all scorers with 17 points. She has a changed role this year – point guard, with occasional slides down into the post. Tuesday night, she added four rebounds, four assists, six steals and two blocked shots to her scoring totals.
Guard Elise Boulton scored 13 and was effective at creating opportunities for herself. She got herself to the line, where she went five-for-six. She also hqd four rebounds.
Senior guard Maddy McKeag played a key role, dropping in a trio of three-pointers. She also ran down a team-high five rebounds and had two steals.
Post forward Dylan Holland gave Montezuma more presence inside with five points and four rebounds.
Versatile Shelby Conger scored four points and had a pair of steals.
Montezuma led 8-6 after one quarter, 22-14 at halftime and 37-23 through three periods. The Warhawks didn’t make it to 10 points in any quarter. The Bravettes made it in three – still, the outcome was never a sure thing until the fourth quarter.
North Mahaska fell to 0-2.
The Bravettes are 3-0.
“There was a lot of growth from Saturday (a win over #9 East Buchanan) to Tuesday,” Burgess said.
“Overall, it was another good step in becoming a better team tonight,” Burgess said. ‘I em excited to watch this group of young ladies grow daily.”
“Grit will take you far in life and on the court,” Burgess said. “We displayed great grit in this game!”
The Warhawks were missing a wheel, playing without three-year starter Cheyenne Shaw, who was out with an injury, but is expected back soon.
UP NEXT – The Bravettes are at Colfax-Mingo Friday evening, Dec. 6.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
North Mahaska 6 8 9 9 – 32
Montezuma 8 14 15 11 – 48
MONTEZUMA (48): Maddy McKeag 3-7, 0-0, 3, 9. Shanae Wetering 0-1, 0-0, 4, 0. Mia Boulton 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Shateah Wetering 8-19, 1-2, 1, 17. Elise Boulton 3-7, 5-6, 1, 13. Carissa Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Shelby Conger 2-3, 0-0, 2, 4. Dylan Holland 2-2, 1-5, 2, 5. TOTALS: 18-40, 7-13, 13, 48.
NORTH MAHASKA (32)
TOTALS: 9-41, 10-12, 17, 32.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attepted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: North Mahaska 23, Montezuma 12.
Three-point goals: North Mahaska 4-16, Montezuma 5-19 (McKeag 3, E. Boulton 2).
Rebounds: North Mahaska 28, Montezuma 25 (McKeag 5, Shat. Wetering 4, E. Boulton 4, Holland 4).
MHS assists leaders: Shat. Wetering 4.
MHS steals leaders: Shat. Wetering 6, McKeag 2, Conger 2.
MHS blocks leader: Shat Wetering 2.
