‘Gritty’ Bravettes take down Saint Ansgar!
DES MOINES – Coach Janel Burgess has called her Bravettes “gritty” all season.
Wednesday night, the Bravettes spit up enough “sand” to fill the lower bowl of Wells Fargo Arena.
But it was worth it!
Elise Boulton scored 29 points and the Bravettes went 21-for-24 from the free throw line as sixth-seeded Montezuma beat number three Saint Ansgar, 50-45, in the Class 1A quarterfinals.
The win sends the Bravettes (23-1) against Newell-Fonda (24-1), which is seeking its third straight Class 1A championship.
That semifinals game tips off at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 5.
“That was one great game!” said Montezuma Coach Janel Burgess. “Now, we get ready to compete tomorrow (Friday) against a tremendous program.”
There is another word that describes the Bravettes: Versatile.
They showed in this game they can play and win a half-court game against a skilled taller opponent.
On defense, the Bravettes denied entry passes to 6-2 sophomore Madison Hillman, who entered scoring 9.9 points a game and shooting .526 from the floor.
Hillman didn’t score. She only got off one shot. The Bravettes’ Dylan Holland took her out, with some sagging help from the Montezuma guards.
Montezuma still had 6-1, 6-0 and 5-11 people to contend with – no Bravette is taller than 5-11 – but, they contended with them well.
The Bravettes’ physicality and athleticism served them well against St. Ansgar.
On the flip side, the Saints were determined to not let Montezuma’s three-point shooting get their defense spread out. They face-guarded Bravette sophomore guard Mia Boulton. She was able to squeeze off just three shots, and finished with two free throws.
But keeping the ball away from senior guard Elise Boulton was another matter entirely.
She just came out and got the basketball, got high post screens from Shanae Wetering and Holland, and wound up taking the ball to the basket, passing and getting it back, or shooting step-back threes or floaters from the lane.
She put down 29 points, on eight-for-17 shooting that included four-for-seven on treys. And nine-for-10 from the line.
Then there was Montezuma’s free throw shooting – 21-for-24, for 87.5 percent. Who does that? On this night, the Bravettes did.
Guard Hali Anderson worked really hard to get 19 points for Saint Ansgar. Her shooting: 8-for-26.
The Saints did splash down seven three-pointers, to Montezuma’s five. But three of them came in the last three minutes as the Saints were trying to catch up.
The game featured scoring burst by both teams. Montezuma led 14-9 after one quarter. The Saints tied the game at 20-20 about three minutes before halftime, then came a 7-0 run by Montezuma to close the half. During that run, momentum seemed to take a definite turn in the Bravettes’ direction.
But as quickly as ol’ mo came, it went away. Montezuma shots over the long-armed Saints defense started falling short during the third quarter, when the Bravettes were one-for-16 from the field (6.3 percent, but they survived).
St. Ansgar led 34-32 to start the fourth. The Bravettes needed the lead, got it, and extended it to 40-36 when Elise Boulton used Wetering’s screen to drive for a layup. It was the start of an 8-0 run by the Bravettes.
After that, the Bravettes put the ball in Elise Boulton’s hands and screened for her She scored 11 points in the final 6:21 of play. Montezuma’s last field goal came with 3:52 to play.
Montezuma led for 22:59 of playing time, compared to St. Ansgar’s 2:33. The game was tied for 6:28.
The score was tied six times and there were five lead changes.
Montezuma fared well enough on the boards, trailing just 39-33 in total rebounds. The Bravettes established themselves early on the defensive boards, in particular, bodying up and not allowing the Saints many putbacks.
There were a lot of rebounds to be had. The Bravettes shot just .273 from the field, with the Saints answering with .321.
St. Ansgar shot just two free throws, which they made, but Montezuma’s 21-2 lead in points from the line rendered Saint Ansgar’s two more made three-pointers meaningless.
Shanae Wetering scored 10 points and had six rebounds for Montezuma. Holland had seven points and eight boards.
After Anderson’s 19, Brooklyn Hackbart scored 14 for the Saints. She also had 10 rebounds, while Gracie Urbatsch had 11.
Montezuma advances with a 23-1 record. Saint Ansgar bowed out gracefuly at 22-2.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 14 13 5 18 – 50
Saint Ansgar 9 11 14 11 – 45
SAINT ANSGAR (45)
Hali Anderson 8-26, 0-0, 4, 19. Gracie Urbatsch 3-8, 0-0, 2, 6. Brooklyn Hackbart 5-14, 2-2, 5, 14. Taylor Hanna 1-3, 0-0, 0, 3. Madison Hillman 0-1, 0-0, 4, 0. Lauren Bork 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0. Megan Gooder 1-3, 0-0, 0, 3. Adrianna Kruse 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 18-56, 2-2, 16, 45.
MONTEZUMA (50)
Shanae Wetering 1-8, 7-8, 3, 10. Kierstyn Price 0-3, 0-0, 0, 0. Mia Boulton 0-3, 2-2, 0, 2. Elise Boulton 8-17, 9-10, 1, 29. Dylan Holland 3-10, 1-2, 2, 7. Madison Johannes 0-3, 2-2, 2, 2. Jadyn Sharer 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 12-44, 21-24, 8, 50.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: SA 15, Montezuma 12.
Three-point goals: SA 7-29 (Anderson 3-14, Urbatsch 0-2, Hackbart 2-8, Hanna 1-3, Gooder 1-2); Montezuma 5-23 (Wetering 1-5, Price 0-2, M. Boulton 0-3, E. Boulton 4-7, Holland 0-4, Johannes 0-2).
Rebounds: SA 39 (Anderson 2, Urbatsch 11, Hackbart 10, Hanna 2, Hillman 3, Bork 1, Gooder 2, Kruse 2); Montezuma 33 (Wetering 6, Price 5, M. Boulton 2, E. Boulton 5, Holland 8, Johannes 3).
Assists: SA 11 (Anderson 5, Hackbart 3, Hillman 1, Gooder 2); Montezuma 3 (E. Boulton 2, Johannes 1).
Steals: SA 6 (Anderson 6); Montezuma 12 (E. Boulton 4, Johannes 3, Wetering 2, Holland 2, M. Boulton 1). Blocks: SA 3 (Hillman 2, Anderson 1); Montezuma 1 (Holland 1).
