When you’re wearing the target on your back, you can never be sure just where you might run into some adversity.
It happened Tuesday night, Feb. 16, in the second quarter of a semifinal round game of the Class 1A regional.
The sixth-ranked Bravettes led Iowa Valley 22-11 after one quarter, but Montezuma Coach Janel Burgess was up hollering “move your feet” to her girls.
Before long, Iowa Valley had a 25-24 lead after a made three.
Iowa Valley, a team the Bravettes drilled 70-23 on Jan. 8, after leading 49-7 at halftime.
Well, we’ll skip ahead, but we’re coming back. The Bravettes won, 57-36, and they’ll play again Friday night. Bravettes fans, some of which may have left their bleacher seats wet, will be glad for fork over money for an admission ticket.
But for a while, they had trouble securing a defensive rebound, couldn’t get the ball to post player Dylan Holland, and couldn’t make a three-point basket. Holland was to change the defensive boards portion of all that . . .and did she ever!
The Bravettes also had to manage foul trouble. Shanae Wetering, Kierstyn Price, Elise Boulton and Jadyn Sharer all finished with three personals each.
Meanwhile, the Tigers, 13-8 coming in, played like their hair was on fire, with feet moving and arms flailing on defense, appearing to confuse Montezuma on offense part of the time.
Montezuma, 19-1 coming in, burned with passion after emerging from halftime with a 29-25 lead.
Senior guard Elise Boulton, who may have been lining up her shot on her first step onto the floor, made Montezuma’s first trey of the night, then another. And after senior forward Kierstyn Price nailed a trey from the right corner, the Bravettes had created separation with an eight-point lead.
After that, it was defense, getting the ball to forward Shanae Wetering, and clearing driving lanes for Elise Boulton. The Bravettes didn’t drop their usual high number of three-pointers in this game (four, that’s low for them), but they made up for it by getting themselves to the line, where they went 13-for-18.
Montezuma outscored the Tigers 28-11 in the second half. Montezuma led 48-33 through three quarters, and kept the pedal to the metal in the fourth on their way to its 20th straight victory.
Elise Boulton finished with 24 points and Wetering, scoring off drives after getting high post picks from Holland, dropped in 19. Boulton also dished four assists, bringing her career total to 265, a school record. The old mark, 264, was held by Jessica Sutfin, according to Coach Janel Burgess.
Simpson College-bound Holland was all over the glass. She grabbed 15 defensive rebounds, on her way to a school record game total of 18. The former mark was 16, by Sara Iverson.
The Bravettes helped to create 22 Iowa Valley turnovers. Montezuma had 17.
Each team finished with four treys. All of Iowa Valley’s were in the first half. All of Montezuma’s were in the second.
UP NEXT – Montezuma (20-1) will host North Mahaska (15-3) in a regional semifinal game on Friday, Feb. 19. The Warhawks were 55-41 winners over Lynnville-Sully on Tuesday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Iowa Valley 11 14 8 3 – 36
Montezuma 22 7 19 9 – 57
MONTEZUMA (57)
Shanae Wetering 8-10, 3-4, 3, 19. Kierstyn Price 2-2, 0-0, 3, 5. Mia Boulton 1-8, 0-0, 0, 2. Elise Boulton 8-14, 6-10, 3, 24. Dylan Holland 0-4, 4-4, 0, 4. Madison Johannes 0-2, 0-0, 2, 0. Jadyn Sharer 1-3, 0-0, 3, 3. Alyssa Cline 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Alivia Cline 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Korrinn Kehoe 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS – 20-43, 13-18, 15, 57.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Iowa Valley 22, Montezuma 15.
Three-ponit goals: Montezuma 4-14 (E. Boulton 2-3, Price 1-1, Sharer 1-2, M. Boulton 0-6, Holland 0-1, Johannes 0-1).
Rebounds: Montezuma 28 (Holland 18, Wetering 4, M. Boulton 2, E. Boulton 1, Sharer 2, Johannes 1).
Assists: Montezuma 11 (E. Boulton 4, M. Boulton 3, Holland 2, Wetering 1, Price 1).
Steals: Montezuma 13 (E. Boulton 3, Wetering 2, Holland 2, Sharer 2, Price 1, M. Boulton 1, Johannes 1, Kehoe 1).
Blocks: Montezuma 1 (Wetering 1).
