VICTOR – Montezuma outscored HLV 58-21 during the two middle quarters and posted an 89-52 varsity boys basketball win over HLV on Tuesday evening, Dec. 8.
The Braves attacked the basket relentlessly during a 32-point second quarter and the Warriors couldn’t keep up.
HLV had knocked down some shots in the first quarter, after which Montezuma’s lead was 19-14.
The Braves’ Cole Watts sat out much of that first quarter after picking up two early fouls, but he scored five quick points in the second period, on his way to 14 in the quarter as the Braves added 15 points to their lead.
Meanwhile, Montezuma’s Trey Shearer took the ball to the rim, or stepped back and bombed from three-point range. The Braves also enjoyed a good night on the defensive boards.
Montezuma outscored the Warriors 26-4 in the third quarter, and had a continuous clock going a little past the midway mark of the period.
“I thought Cole (Watts) had a very nice game after getting the two quick fouls,” Braves Coach Derrick Dengler said. “Both him and Trey (Shearer) scored a lot at the rim.”
Trey Shearer scored 27 points and Watts dropped in 26.
Watts got his on 11-for-12 shooting from the field, and four-for-five from the free throw line. He also tore down 13 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive boards. And he had three steals.
Trey Shearer was 10-for-20 from the field, and added five rebounds, five assists and four steals to his night’s production.
Four Braves scored in double figures, as Owen Cook had 14 points and Masin Shearer scored 10.
Cook was six-for-six from the field, and had five rebounds and two steals.
Masin Shearer was four-for-10 from the field.
The game marked the first one this season Montezuma out-rebounded an opponent. The margin was 30-21, with 25 of the Braves’ caroms coming off the defensive board.
Montezuma’s three scoring leaders, Trey Shearer, Cole Watts and Cook, were a combined 27-for-38 (.710) from the field. Part of that was good marksmanship and part was good passing.
The Braves dished 16 assists. Montezuma shot .632 from the field.
The Braves’ defense yielded .357 shooting by the Warriors. Pretty good numbers, but the Brave did yield a few from point blank range.
“We are trying to be aggressive on defense,” Dengler said. “I thought at times we just lost focus in this game and gave up too many easy baskets. It will be something we have to improve doing forward.”
Grant Hall scored 13 points for HLV went three-for-six from behind the arc. Beau York scored 12 points.
The win pushed the Braves to 3-1 on the season. HLV fell to 1-3.
UP NEXT – The Braves are host BGM on Friday, Dec. 11.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 19 32 26 12 – 89
HLV 14 17 4 17 – 52
MONTEZUMA (89)
Cam Johnson 2-3, 2-3, 2, 6. Masin Shearer 4-10, 0-0, 2, 10. Cole Watts 11-12, 4-5, 2, 26. Trey Shearer 10-20, 5-9, 1, 27. Owen Cook 6-6, 0-0, 0, 14. Jack Erselius 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Garrett Watts 1-1, 0-1, 0, 2. Sawyer Tindle 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0. Gavin Strong 2-4, 0-0, 2, 4. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 2, 0. Camden Michalek 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 36-57, 11-18, 13, 89.
HLV (52)
TOTALS – 20-56, 8-13, 13, 52.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points
Three-point goals: HLV 4-16; Montezuma 6-14 (M. Shearer 2-5, T. Shearer 2-6, Cook 2-2).
Turnovers: HLV 15, Montezuma 14.
Rebounds: HLV 21, Montezuma 30 (C. Watts 13, T. Shearer 5, Cook 5, M. Shearer 3, Johnson 3, Strong 1.
Assists: HLV 10, Montezuma 16 (T. Shearer 5, M. Shearer 4, C. Watts 3, Strong 3, Johnson 1).
Steals: HLV 6, Montezuma 13 (T. Shearer 4, C. Watts 3, Cook 2, Johnson 1, M. Shearer 1, Erselius 1, Strong 1).
Blocks: HLV 0, Montezuma 1 (Strong 1).