DES MOINES – Adversity had hit the Bravettes during and at the end of the third quarter of their eventual Class 1A quarterfinals win over Saint Ansgar.
The Bravettes labored through a one-for-16 shooting quarter, and had fallen behind, 34-32.
It was starting to look hauntingly like last year’s quarterfinal against the Saints, when the Bravettes gradually sank in the second half, finally falling by five points.
That was then. This was different.
“We had to get our focus back to going downhill,” said Bravettes Coach Janel Burgess, whose team rallied to win by five, 50-45.
“We got some defensive rebounds we needed.”
There were no regrets about missing 15 shots in the third quarter. “They were good shots,” Burgess told KGRN’s Chris Varney. “I would want our girls to shoot those shots again.”
“But after going one-for-16, the thought of our girls became, ‘I guess we better go play great defense,’” Burgess said.
Burgess took the calculated risk of not guarding the three-point arc tightly. “Coming in, they were averaging three-for-10 back there. Those aren’t big numbers either way,” she said.
So, the Bravettes fell back and denied entry passes to Saint Ansgar’s rangy front line.
And no one denied better than 5-10 senior post Dylan Holland did against 6-2 sophomore Madison Hillman. “Dylan matched her cut for cut,” Burgess said. “That allowed Dylan to play her belly up.”
Hillman didn’t score and squeezed off just one shot. She came in averaging 9.9 points per game.
Burgess also praised the rebounding work of Holland and Shanae Wetering. “They went and got them,” she said.
“Shanae is a matchup nightmare for opponents because she has such a great first step,” Burgess said.
The coach also praised the defensive work of guard Mia Boulton, who was face-guarded and had problems getting room to shoot three-point shots. “Her role became to keep playing great defense and she did,” Burgess said.
Then, there was the effort of senior point guard Elise Boulton, who put her skills on display as Montezuma put the ball in her hands late.
“She’s a competitor, isn’t she?” said Burgess. “She keeps developing, and she’s a complete player.”
