MONTEZUMA – The Montezuma Bravettes controlled tempo – and Moravia – start to finish in a 64-27 win on opening night of the Class 1A regional tournament Tuesday evening, Feb. 18, at home.
The Mohawks came out in early full-court pressure, but the Bravettes cut through it and got great looks at three-point shots, which they splashed down.
Montezuma made 10 treys in the first half – and 14 for the game.
It was a continuous clock game by the third quarter.
The Bravettes opened the game with treys by Vivian Cook and Ellen Cook, then went in to Shiressa Wetering for a three-point play the traditional way.
It was outside-inside, or the opposite – like that most of the way through, with Moravia’s defense scrambling to keep up.
Lauryn Larmore, Claire Erselius and Vivian Cook added another trey each in the first quarter, which ended with the host team in front, 24-5.
The Bravettes ran down a number of their own misses, which, combined with the Mohawks hustling to re-set their defense, wound up with a pass by the Bravettes to another of what seemed like a myriad of three-point shooters.
Result was five more treys, a 20-11 second quarter, and a 44-16 halftime lead.
Vivian Cook got all 7 of her three-pointers in the first half, some of them from well behind the arc.
Ellen Cook made three of her 4 in a 17-3 Montezuma third quarter.
Claire Erselius made two from behind the arc.
Ryanne Williams knocked down her trey after Montezuma got everyone into the act in the fourth quarter.
Vivian Cook led the Bravettes with 21 points. Ellen Cook scored 19 and Shiressa Wetering had 10.
Syd Burgess grabbed 9 rebounds.
Evidence the Bravettes were passing well: 15 assists on 22 made field goals.
The Bravettes shot .373 from the field, and limited Moravia to .250 on 11-for-44.
The Bravettes turned over Moravia 23 times, while being guilty of just 8.
Freshman Leah DeJong scored 11 points for the Mohawks. Kaylen Robison, a senior, had 9.
The win assured Montezuma of another home game on Friday, against Melcher-Dallas. If you plan to attend, you’ll need to buy tickets online. (See the school’s website).
The Bravettes took their record to 17-5, which is the same as Melcher-Dallas.
Moravia closed its season at 12-12.
DID YOU KNOW? Montezuma finished as co-champions of the SICL Conference? North Mahaska and Montezuma split their two games and wound up at the top of the conference standings.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Movavia 5 11 3 8 – 27
Montezuma 24 20 17 3 – 64
MONTEZUMA (64) – Ellen Cook 7-18, 0-0, 1, 19; Vivian Cook 7-14, 0-0, 2, 21; Syd Burgess 3-5, 0-0, 1, 6; Claire Erselius 1-6, 0-0k 1, 2; Shiressa Wetering 2-5, 6-7, 0, 10; Lindsey Henry 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Lauryn Larmore 1-2, 0-0, 0, 3; Ryanne Williams 1-4, 0-0, 0, 3; Sophia Semprini 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Letisia Wilson 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Alexa Rose 0-5, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS – 22-59, 6-7, 7, 64.
MORAVIA (27) – TOTALS – 11-44, 3-4, 6, 27.
LINE SCORE LEGEND: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal foul, total points.
Three-pointers: 14-39 (V. Cook 7-14, E. Cook 5-14, Williams 1-3, Larmore 1-1, Erselius 0-4, Wetering 0-1, Rose 0-2). Moravia – 2-21.
Turnovers – 8. Moravia 23.
Rebounds: 30 (Burgess 9, E. Cook 5, V. Cook 2, Wetering 1, Larmore 3, Williams 2, Semprini 1, Rose 2, Erselius 5). Moravia 35.
Assists: 15 (V. Cook 5, E. Cook 4, Burgess 3, Erselius 2, Wetering 1).
Moravia 3.
Steals: 14 (Larmore 4, E. Cook 3, V. Cook 2, Burgess 1, Erselius 1, Wetering 1, Henry 1, Williams 1). Moravia 6.
Blocks: 3 (E. Cook 1, Burgess 1, Wetering 1). Moravia 1.