For the Montezuma Braves, Thursday, Jan. 27 was a big date on the calendar.
That’s when Nik Kotar, a 6-foot-4 purveyor of multiple basketball talents, finally cleared the state’s waiting period for a transfer student to play in a varsity game for the Braves.
He didn’t disappoint, leading the Braves in scoring with 15 points in a 65-43 run past larger school Albia.
Kotar is no stranger to the Braves. He has practiced with them all season and played in junior varsity games. He didn’t start in this one, as guard Masin Shearer’s 8 points shot Montezuma out to a 10-2 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Kotar came in just after that. He promptly hit a three-pointer, then worked two nifty give-and-go plays, resulting in layups for Eddie Burgess, the team’s incumbent 6-foot-4 big guy.
Montezuma led 18-7 at the quarter break and 32-15 at halftime.
Impressive for the Braves: Four players in double figures scoring. Behind Kotar came Gavin Strong with 14, Masin Shearer with 13 and Eddie Burgess with 10.
Kotar sank three treys in the first half, then rolled around picks and scored off some drives in the second half.
“Nik is a good offensive player and is pretty unselfish,” Montezuma Coach Derrick Dengler said. “We got a lot of good looks.”
The Braves were efficient on offense. Montezuma shot .581 from the field, including 10-for-20 from behind the arc. The Braves’ charts listed just 2 turnovers.
Albia had some game left and avoided being just the other team on the floor by taking the ball to the basket with some authority during the third quarter.
“Defensively we played well, but #32 (Drew Chance, a 6-3 junior), made some good shots in the second half,” Dengler said. “We didn’t adjust too much, since those shots were still pretty difficult.”
The Blue Demons opened the second half with a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to 12 points.
On offense, the Braves opened some wider seams, and started finding Gavin Strong open. He responded with a trio of treys in the second half, and 11 of his 14 total points, to keep the Braves comfortable down the stretch.
Eddie Burgess scored in double figures (10) and again gave Montezuma command of the defensive boards. He totaled 14 rebounds in all and got help (6 rebounds) from Owen Cook.
The Braves extended their record to 13-3.
Albia is 8-8.
UP NEXT – The Montezuma boys and girls are at BGM on Friday, Jan. 28
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Albia 7 8 19 9 – 43
Montezuma 18 14 16 17 – 65
MONTEZUMA (65) – Gavin Strong 5-11, 0-0, 2, 14. Masin Shearer 4-5, 2-2, 0, 13. Colton Benson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 2-5, 0-0, 3, 4. Eddie Burgess 5-7, 0-0, 0, 10. Garrett Watts 2-2, 1-1, 0, 5. Max Anderson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Maguire De Jong 1-2, 2-2, 3, 4. Nik Kotar 6-8, 0-1, 2, 15. Alex Black 0-0, 0-1, 0, 0. Ryan Cheney 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 25-43, 5-7, 10, 65.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 10-20 (Strong 4-8, Shearer 3-4, Kotar 3-5, Benson 0-1, Cook 0-1, Cheney 0-1).
Turnovers: Montezuma 2.
Rebounds: Montezuma 25 (Burgess 14, Cook 6, Kotar 2, Anderson 2, Benson 1).
Steals: Montezuma 5 (Burgess 3, Shearer 1, Cook 1).
Blocks: Montezuma 1 (Burgess).