Player to coach: ‘We did it, Dengler!’

The Montezuma Braves had just won the 2021 state basketball championship, and Coach Derrick Dengler, locked in a mid-court embrace with senior guard Trey Shearer, heard the player say, “We did it, Dengler!”

Memories will flood the minds of players, coaches, families and fans of the Braves’ third state championship season, but the first since 1990.

Trey would momentarily go on to to be named captain of the all-tournament team. Dengler would be named the Des Moines Register’s coach of the year, for all classes.

Both of them are quick to tell you they couldn’t have done any of it without all of the rest of this special basketball family with a distinct Montezuma flavor.

Here, we present a few things Coach Dengler had written down about his players, by class in school, prior to the annual basketball dinner on Sunday, March 21.

Interspersed are some questions from Montezuma Magazine Editor Keith Brake to Dengler, with the coach’s answers below, in italics.

Question – You had three of the best offensive players in Class 1A. Yet, I thought defense keyed your run at state. Agree?

“I definitely agree. Having the talent we had offensively obviously was crucial to our success. All the credit to having hard-working players who put the time in. But we have always felt that if you put forth effort and control the controllable, you can give yourself a chance to win any game. And those controllables for us are playing as hard as you can defensively, understanding the scout of the other team to try to put them into as inefficient shots as possible and trying to get every loose ball. Luckily, that paid off at Wells Fargo”

FRESHMEN

Garrett Watts – “Garrett had a really nice season, especially for our JV team, which he led in scoring. That, translated to practice, meant he did a great job of simulating the opposing guards and making it really tough for our varsity team,” Dengler said.

Alex Black – “Alex wasn’t eligible for varsity this year, but battled and learned a lot in our JV program. He was a great teammate, cheering and supporting the team the whole time,” said the coach.

Jack Erselius – Dengler said, “Jack was a great teammate. He showed great enthusiasm the whole season and did a nice job on our JV team, battling defensively.”

Sammy Boughner – “Sammy played JV for us,” Dengler said. “What I will remember was him making a couple of buckets against Albia and Grundy Center.”

Question – What is the key to getting the buy-in of the players regarding their roles? When do you know you/they have achieved it?

“Getting kids to buy into their roles is probably the most important and at times, challenging part of coaching. The biggest key for me is to be very direct with what that role is. That can be difficult, particularly if a player’s role does not involve much playing time or is different then what they want. At the end of the day, I think kids appreciate honesty and if they feel you still care about them, have been fair and honest, that’s all you can do.”

“This year, I think I knew they achieved it by their effort. I felt like we had hard practices all the time, because the boys played hard, whether they got much playing time in the game or not. And, I felt like we had a team that enjoyed being around each other for the most part, and I think that is another by-product of people buying into roles.”

SOPHOMORES

Masin Shearer – “Masin did a great job of adjusting his role from last season to this season,” Dengler said. “I asked him to play a different role, manning up on the opposing team’s guards, as opposed to playing zone.”

“Masin hit some big-time shots for us and made some big plays,” said Dengler, “particularly some timely steals against Grand View Christian.”

Gavin Strong – “Similar (to Masin), Gavin did a great job adjusting to his role. He played strong defense all season,” Dengler said. “He had some big moments offensively as well, scoring in double digits off the bench against PCM and Lynnville-Sully, in partciular.”

Owen Cook – “Owen also does a good job of just being a team player,” Dengler said. “When Eddie (Burgess) was out, Owen often took the brunt of playing against the other team’s best post player, despite being a little out of position,” Dengler said.

“Owen played great defense down the stretch, adjusting seamlessly to a role coming off the bench,” said the coach.

Colton Benson – “Colton was bitten by the injury bug this season,” Dengler said. “When he was able to play, he did a great job of battling in practice and helping to be a playmaker for the JV season. I look forward to watching him get healthy and grow next season.”

Maguire DeJong – “Maguire had a good JV season and did a good job simulating opposing guards in practice,” said the coach. “I look forward to watching him grow and take a step forward next season.”

Question – Trey led the state in scoring about half the season, but when his averaged dropped a bit, the team seemed to be making dramatic improvement on both ends of the floor. Did you re-structure his role somewhat, or did it maybe change a bit because Eddie was back?

“I would not define it as re-structuring. I think it is probably two factors, one being Eddie came back and gave us another option that was also really efficient. I think our FG% went up with his return even though some of our individual averages may have gone down.”

“The other factor is simply at the end of the year, other teams are more likely to generate game plans to limit Trey and Cole. In the past couple of years, it was very difficult for us to win without Trey playing a great, great game. I think this year, we worked hard to try to do things that would put our other players in positions to be successful and that burden wouldn’t have to be worn so much by individual players.”

JUNIORS

Eddie Burgess – “He is a consummate team player . . does all the dirty work and relishes in it,” Dengler said. “He’s a competitor, and I was so pleased to see his hard work pay off at the state tournament.”

“Eddie’s passion just boils through. (My) back still hurts from that hug at the state tournament,” said the coach.

Camden Michalek – “Camden is another guy who is a great teammate,” Dengler said. “He worked hard, playing both JV and varsity. He really helped us in practice late in the season, frustrating the first team by making a bunch of three-pointers.”

Ryan Cheney – “Ryan did a great job of being a teammate this year as well,” the coach said. “He played JV for us and was a big-time fan favorite, as he was the only player the crowd would cheer for me to put in.”

Sawyer Tindle – “Sawyer had a great JV season. He played a little bit more in the post and really battled for us early. He did a great job,’ Dengler said.

Question – Did the guys ever doubt they could be a good defensive team despite their lack of size?

“I don’t think the guys know they lack size (lol). They are pretty willing to go to battle and I was very pleased with the pride they took in playing defense at the end of the year. It’s not the fun part of basketball, but it is the part that gives you a great chance to win.”

SENIORS

Joey Kercheval – “I can’t say enough about Joey,” Dengler said. “He played early, but we asked him to move to the bench. He never complained, just went to work in practice.”

“I’m going to fondly remember Joey as the best trash-talker on our team and playing great defense in practice to prepare the team,” said the coach. “He brought a bunch of joy to our team, and enthusiasm, and was a great teammate for four years.”

Cam Johnson – “Cam did a great job of stepping into his role this season. I would not like to look across and see Cam guarding me. He did a great job of shutting down opposing teams’ leading scorers. On offense, he seemed to take joy in screening and trying to get others open.”

“Cam made some big-time layups against Keota, and if I remember correctly, some big free throws against North Linn!”

Jacob Ross – “Jacob came out this season and unfortunately was bitten by the injury bug right away,” Dengler said. “However, when he was able to play he did a great job battling in JV and a tremendous job of simulating those big guys from Lake Mills.”

Trey Shearer – “What do I say?” asked Dengler. “I could go into Trey’s awards and accomplishments, but what I’ll probably remember is giving him a hug after our win against North Linn and hearing him say, ‘we did it, Dengler.’”

“I’m going to remember Trey scoring 30 points in a Tuesday game and then being the last one to leave practice as he worked on shots for 15 minutes after practice. I’m going to remember him coming to every game with the same intensity and passion, regardless of the opposition.”

Cole Watts – “I’m going to remember Cole shooting one of the softest jump shots I have ever seen. I am going to remember him finding someone to play one-on-one with after every practice and then getting so mad if that person made a couple of shots.”

“I’m going to remember Cole asking me an hour after we won the state championship if that really happened, and then texting me basically the same question the next day,” said the coach.

Question – Any thoughts about how close to the edge you were dancing against Keota? Yet, the Braves were an apex predator at state. . .

“Yeah, the Keota game was really something. We were very fortunate to come out of that game with a win. Again, I think it speaks to the importance of our team’s pride defensively. We did about everything wrong that we could on offense in that game. We missed open shots, we turned the ball over, and we got stuck in a more half-court battle.”

“But, we battled defensively and gave ourselves a shot to win at the end. That may have been, statistically, Trey’s worst game but he still made the game-winning shot. I think ultimately, it showed our team’s toughness and showed that we needed to be locked in going forward.”

And locked in they were, giving Montezuma fans a lifetime of memories – Keith Brake