Gentlemen, are you tired?
“Not us!” said the Bears of BGM.
“Well, maybe just a . . .no, not us, either,” said the Braves of Montezuma, who had been chasing a Class 2A team around the night before in Albia.
The Braves, who got caught in transition from offense to defense in the first half by the slightly taller and very athletic Bears squad, got unwound after intermission.
The Braves, up by three points at halftime, outscored BGM 36-22 and pulled away to a 78-61 victory on Friday evening, Jan. 27 at home.
“We were a little tired and run down,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “Credit to the boys for playing well enough to be able to overcome it in the second half.”
“BGM is a scrappy team,” Dengler said. “They’re always a tough out for us.”
Montezuma did it with defense in the third quarter, getting in position to contest BGM shots, then ruling the defensive boards for a while – long enough to build a lead.
Gavin Strong and Masin Shearer hit back-to-back three-pointers after BGM got a little careless with inside passes on back-to-back possessions.
After that, it was back-and-forth for a while, until the Braves knocked down their tenth and final three of the game and pulled away one point at a time with free throws in the fourth quarter.
BGM knocked down six treys in the game, but none in the fourth quarter when they were sorely needed.
Different Braves have been stepping up on offense and on this night, it was forward Gavin Strong coming in with 31 points.
Strong was 10-for-17 from the field, including 6-for-10 on three-pointers. He went 5-for-5 from the line.
Garrett Watts scored 13 points and Masin Shearer had 12. Watts added 11 rebounds as two Braves made double figures in that category.
Freshman guard Brady Boulton scored 8, but had 10 rebounds.
Owen Cook led the Braves with 6 assists.
The win lifted Montezuma to 15-3 overall and 12-3 in SICL play.
Brayden Hepke scored 16 points to lead BGM. Jacob Mauer had 11 points and 7 rebounds, while Beau Burns was a third scorer in double figures with 10 points.
Dominic Coleman grabbed 11 rebounds for BGM and dished 7 assists.
BGM went to 4-14, and 4-11. But the Bears have improved as the season has gone along and could be a tough out come tournament time.
UP NEXT – The Braves and Bravettes are at North Mahaska on Tuesday, Jan. 31
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BGM 18 21 13 9 – 61
Montezuma 23 19 19 17 – 78
MONTEZUMA (78)
Gavin Strong 10-17, 5-5, 0, 31. Masin Shearer 3-6, 4-6, 3, 12. Garrett Watts 5-10, 2-3, 4, 13. Brady Boulton 3-11, 1-1, 1, 8. Colton Benson 0-1, 1-2, 0, 1. Owen Cook 3-7, 0-1, 0, 6. Kohen Holland 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Max Anderson 3-8, 1-2, 0, 7. TOTALS – 27-61, 14-20, 12, 78.
BGM (61)
TOTALS – 24-58, 6-15, 17, 61.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 10-20 (Strong 6-10, Shearer 2-3, Watts 1-2, Boulton 1-5, Benson 0-1, Cook 0-3, Anderson 0-4); BGM 7-23.
Turnovers: Montezuma 8, BGM 15.
Rebounds: Montezuma 37 (Watts 11, Boulton 10, Cook 7, Strong 3, Shearer 2, Benson 2, Anderson 2); BGZM – 32.
Assists – Montezuma 11 (Cook 5, Shearer 3, Watts 1, Boulton 1, Andeson 1).
Steals: Montezuma 10 (Boulton 3, Cook 2, Strong 1, Shearer 1, Watts 1, Holland 1, Anderson 1).
Deflections: Montezuma 12 (Shearer 6, Strong 5, Boulton 2).