SULLY – Experience, hand and foot speed made a difference as the Montezuma Braves raced past a young, rangy Lynnville-Sully boys basketball team 77-48 Tuesday night, Dec. 15.
Trey Shearer scored 44 points – 30 in the first half – and Cole Watts went for 15.
The Braves made eight three-point baskets.
Masin Shearer scored eight points for the Braves and Cam Johnson had six.
The Braves led 25-7 after one quarter, and built their margin to 45-16 by halftime.
It was an important pre-holidays conference clash, as each side entered the game with one SICL loss.
The Hawks were short-handed, with several starters/regulars out because of illness. Nevertheless, the Braves won an important league game and got in some work in needed areas.
Montezuma, now 5-1, is 4-1 in league play. Lynnville-Sully is 3-4 overall and 3-2 against the league.
Full court zone pressure by the Braves caused disruption in the Lynnville-Sully offense. The Hawks struggled to get the ball inside effectively until Montezuma built its lead to 25 points and stopped pressing.
“It (the press) helped jump start a great first half,” Braves Coach Derrick Dengler said.
While the Braves were pressing, Trey Shearer was able to take the ball to the rim with deadly effectiveness. “Our press has been a bright spot all season,” said Dengler. “I have been very pleased with our boys’ execution of it. We hope we can continue to improve it going forward.”
Lynnville-Sully had a strong third quarter and outscored Montezuma 21-13.
“In the third quarter, I thought we actually started well on offense, but then missed a few jump shots. On the other end, they took advantage of their size to score a few points,” Dengler said.
“We have to continue to be tough and fight through stretches like that. I thought the boys did a nice job.”
Montezuma put things back together for a 19-11 edge in the fourth quarter. “That allowed us to work on our zone defense, which we have not done much of this year,” Dengler said.
The Braves made eight three-point baskets.
Masin Shearer scored eight points for the Braves and Cam Johnson had six.
UP NEXT – The Braves are at Sigourney on Friday, Dec. 18.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 25 20 13 19 – 77
Lynnville-Sully 7 9 21 11 – 48
MONTEZUMA (77)
Cam Johnson 1-3, 3-4, 0, 6. Masin Shearer 3-8. 2-4, 4, 8. Cole Watts 5-11, 4-8, 3, 15. Trey Shearer 16-25, 9-11, 1, 44. Owen Cook 1-2, 0-0, 1, 2. Garrett Watts 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Sawyer Tindle 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Gavin Strong 1-6, 0-2, 2, 3. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 3, 0. Camden Michalek 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0. Ryan Cheney 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 27-58, 16-27, 14, 78.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: 12.
Three-point goals: 8-28 (T. Shearer 3-8, M. Shearer 2-4, Johnson 1-2, C. Watts 1-6, Strong 1-4, Cook 0-1, G. Watts 0-1, Michalek 0-2).
Rebounds: 38 (T. Shearer 8, C. Watts 7, Johnson 5, Cook 7, M. Shearer 3, Strong 3, Kercheval 3, Tindle 1, Cheney 1).
Assists: 13 (M. Shearer 6, C. Watts 3, Johnson 2, T. Shearer 1, G. Watts 1).
Steals: 15 (M. Shearer 4, C. Watts 4, Johnson 2, T. Shearer 2, G. Watts 1, Strong 1, Kercheval 1