Keota and Montezuma were locked in a 54-54 tie through three quarters of an important boys basketball game Tuesday night, Jan. 3, in Montezuma.
It was intense and high-energy, which is what fans have come to expect when these two play.
But the Eagles outscored the Braves 13-8 in the fourth period to squeeze out a 67-62 victory.
Keota had advantages in shooting percentage and fewer turnovers.
The Braves won the board battle, but also had to juggle their lineup with three players whistled for four fouls each.
“Actually, the fouls did not come into play much until the end of the game,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler.
“I think we gave up too many easy looks, hence part of the reason they shot so well,” Dengler said.
Keota shot .510 from the field. The Braves put up 16 more shots, but fired at just a .400 rate. And they put themselves on the line for just two free throws, getting outscored 14-2 from the line.
Garrett Watts had a solid game for the Braves with 18 points on nine-for-13 shooting. But take away his shooting, and the rest of the team was 17-for-52, which works out to .330. When you’re playing good teams, that won’t win many games.
Keota’s charts showed 22 assists on 25 made baskets. If true, that’s astounding. At any rate, the Eagles got enough good looks to get ‘er done.
Evan Vittetoe scored 16 points for eight-for-10 shooting for Keota. Cole Kinded had 15 and shot five-for-nine. And Billie Kindred scored 14 on six-for-12 shooting.
The Braves put in considerable effort. Freshman guard Brady Boulton led with 19 points, which did include five-for-11 on three-pointers.
Garrett Watts scored 18 and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Owen Cook grabbed 10 rebounds and scored four points while battling Keota inside.
Guard Masin Shearer scored 10 points, dished four assists and grabbed five rebounds.
Keota led 20-18 after one quarter and 36-32 at halftime. The Braves tied it up after three, 54-54.
“We need to make sure we do all the little things to beat good teams like Keota,”Dengler said.
“It was a good learning experience and I think we will get better going forward,” said Montezuma’s coach.
The win lifted Keota to 9-2 overall and to 7-1 in SICL play.
The Braves, 6-3 on the season, tumbled to 5-3 in conference play.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Keota 20 16 18 13 – 67
Montezuma 18 14 22 8 – 62
MONTEZUMA (62)
Gavin Strong 3-13, 0-0, 0, 6. Masin Shearer 4-15, 0-0, 4, 10. Garrett Watts 9-13, 0-0, 3, 18. Brady Boulton 7-16, 0-0, 4, 19. Colton Benson 0-0, 2-2, 1, 2. Owen Cook 2-7, 0-0, 4, 4. Kohen Holland 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Max Anderson 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3. TOTALS – 26-65, 2-2, 16, 62.
KEOTA (67)
TOTALS – 25-49, 8-14, 8, 67.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, pesonal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 8-27 (Boulton 5-11, Shearer 2-10, Anderson 1-1, Cook 0-1, Watts 0-2, Strong 0-2); Keota 7-16.
Turnovers: Montezuma 11, Keota 6.
Rebounds: Montezuma 37 (Watts 10, Cook 10, Strong 5, Shearer 5, Boulton 3, Anderson 2, Holland 1, Team 1); Keota 32.
Assists: Montezuma 7 (Shearer 4, Strong 2, Cook 1); Keota 22.
Steals: Montezuma 3 (Boulton 2, Anderson 1); Keota 5.
Deflections: Montezuma 6 (Boulton 2, Anderson 1); Keota 2.