Quick, quicker, and on Friday night, there was Montezuma’s Masin Shearer.
Was there ever!
The Braves’ senior guard scored 15 of his team’s first 21 points – all in the first quarter – and ignited Montezuma’s offense in an 85-43 run past Tri-County at home on Senior Night, Jan. 13th.
The Trojans had trouble staying with Shearer’s lightning moves in the open court. Evidence of that: just three of his points came from behind the arc.
Shearer was finishing at the rim and before long, so were his teammates.
Shearer’s scoring trailed off – he didn’t add to his 19 points after halftime. But other Braves had roared to life.
Montezuma outscored the Trojans 23-6 in the second quarter, to lead 54-25 by halftime. It didn’t take the Braves long to impose a continuous clock in the third quarter.
Three other Braves reached double figures. Garrett Watts scored 17 points, including a personal scoring burst after the Trojans made a brief run early in the fourth quarter.
Gavin Strong scored 15, and Brady Boulton had 13.
“The boys dod a nice job,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “Our speed overwhelmed them.”
The Braves shot .407 from the field, but were able to launch 81 shot attempts. They were just four-for-28 from three-point range.
“I was happy to see us play so well without making a bunch of shots from the outside,” Dengler said.
Montezuma also put itself on the line, making 15-of-20 from there.
Eleven different Braves snagged a total of 36 rebounds.
Montezuma assisted 19 of its 33 field goals, Shearer leading with six.
Boulton showed his overall court awareness, with five steals and nine deflections.
The win lifted the Braves to 10-3 overall, and to 8-3 in SICL play.
Tri-County is at 2-10 and 1-9.
UP NEXT – Montezuma’s teams are at HLV on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tri-County 19 6 9 9 – 43
Montezuma 31 23 15 16 – 85
MONTEZUMA (85)
Briar Simpson 1-2, 1-2, 0, 3. Jack Erselius 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Gavin Strong 7-16, 0-0, 3, 15. Masin Shearer 8-13, 2-2, 0, 19. Garrett Watts 6-15, 5-5, 1, 17. David Rose 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Brady Boulton 5-10, 1-1, 1, 13. Alex Black 0-2,1-2, 0, 1. Colton Benson 2-3, 0-0, 0, 4. Owen Cook 2-7, 2-2, 1, 6. Kohen Holland 1-3, 2-3, 2, 4. Max Anderson 1-7, 0-1, 1, 2. Jayden Ross 0-2, 1-2, 0, 1. TOTALS – 33-81, 15-20, 10, 85.
TRI-COUNTY (43)
16-49, 10-14, 17, 43.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 4-28 (Boulton 2-7, Shearer 1-4, Strong 1-5, Rose 0-1, Benson 0-1, Cook 0-1, Holland 0-1, Ross 0-1, Watts 0-3, Anderson 0-4); Tri-County 1-14.
Turnovers: Montezuma 10, Tri-County 29
Rebounds: Montezuma 36 (Cook 6, Holland 6, Strong 5, Watts 5, Boulton 4, Anderson 3, Shearer 2, Benson 2, Rose 1, Black 1, Ross 1); Tri-County 31.
Assists: Montezuma 19 (Shearer 6, Watts 4, Boulton 4, Anderson 2, Strong 1, Benson 1, Ross 1).
Steals: Montezuma 21 (Boulton 5, Strong 4, Watts 3, Shearer 2, Rose 2, Cook 2, Anderson 2, Holland 1).
Deflections: Montezuma 17 (Boulton 9, Strong 2, Shearer 2, Anderson 2, Watts 1, Rose 1).
