The Montezuma junior high boys ‘A’ team found itself down 12-2 after one quarter, and wound up on the short end of a 33-24 score at home against Keota on Monday, Jan. 27.
“We started out slow and they (Keota) did a good job of pushing the ball in transition that led to us getting down early,” said Braves Coach John Beck.
“After we settled down and started doing our thing defensively we got some momentum. This led to us getting some great possessions on offense,” the coach said.
“In the 3rd quarter we got some great shots at the basket that did not fall. We made a run in the 4th quarter and got score down to single digits. We played like a different team than in the first 3 quarters,” Beck said.
Garrett Watts led scoring with eight points. Max Anderson had five, Cruz DeJong scored three, as did Houston Van Roekel, and Kohen Holland had two.
“I thought that Garrett Watts did a great job running the point and getting defensive rebounds,” Beck said. “Max Anderson and Houston Van Roekel did a good job moving the ball and hitting the open kick-out shot.”
“Tod Geiger did a great job handling their bigs inside. He has been outsized most of the year and still finds a way to alter shots and get rebounds,” said the coach.
“Cruz DeJong has done a good job of attacking and getting to the hoop. Carter Michalek, Peyton Minner and Kohen Holland did a great job coming in off the bench and playing their roles,” added Beck.
“Overall, once we got settled down and played our game we were very competitive. Take away our 1 bad quarter (1st) and we are heading to overtime with a great opportunity to win. We just need to have the intensity we had in the 4th quarter the whole game.”