EDDYVILLE – The Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Rockets, trailing Montezuma by 16 points at halftime, came all the way back.
The now 17-1 Rockets hammered the Braves on the offensive glass, got the lead late, then watched as a open look from the corner, which would have won it for the Braves, missed.
The Rockets scored a 73-72 win over Montezuma in a game that saw the Braves score more points in each of the first two quarters than they did in the entire second half.
The Rockets aren’t a rated team (Class 2A is a jungle, infested by good teams). But they’re rangy and physical. They had most of their offensive success when they drove into the lane and crashed the boards.
Montezuma splashed down 16 three-point baskets – but needed just one more. A two would have done it, too.
But 16 wasn’t the decisive number in this game. It was 18 – the number of offensive rebounds the Rockets commanded with their towering, 6-7, 6-6, 6-4 front line.
“We have to find a way to overcome the rebounding, and we got hurt with turnovers, too,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler. “Credit to them, they are a very talented team.”
“But, I am proud of some of the offensive steps we have taken,” the coach said. “We will keep working to get ready for the end of the season.”
The Braves, whose starters top out at 6-2, showed their quickness and knocked down threes – 16 in all, there’s that number again – and played a stunning first half.
Montezuma nailed 13 of its treys in the first half, which ended with the Braves leading 49-33.
But the start of the third quarter was tough on the Braves, who coughed up the ball on five of six possessions to start the period, which allowed the Rockets to knock the lead back down under 10 points.
In the fourth, two Masin Shearer free throws put the Braves up 72-68 with 2:47 left. But those were Montezuma’s final points.
Down by a point in the closing seconds, the Braves got a chance to win it with a baseline jumper, but the shot was hurried, perhaps to beat the clock, and missed.
The Braves had some good looks at three-pointers down the stretch, but the shots started drawing iron and bouncing away.
Brady Boulton had a spectacular shooting night, scoring 25 points on 10-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-7 on three balls.
Gavin Strong scored 14, Garrett Watts had 12 and Masin Shearer was in with 10.
Strong had 7 rebounds and Shearer had 6 assists.
The Braves checked most of the stat boxes in this game, but came up a point short.
Montezuma fell to 15-5 with the tough defeat.
UP NEXT – Montezuma next plays on Tuesday at Grundy Center.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 25 24 13 10 – 72
EBF 18 15 21 19 – 73
MONTEZUMA (72)
Gavin Strong 5-11, 0-0, 1, 14. Masin Shearer 2-7, 4-4, 4, 10. Garrett Watts 4-8, 2-4, 3, 12. Brady Boulton 10-13, 0-0, 2, 25. Colton Benson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 1-4, 0-0, 1, 2. Kohen Holland 1-1, 0-0, 0, 3. Max Anderson 2-2, 0-0, 0, 6. TOTALS – 25-47, 6-8, 11, 72.
EBF (73)
TOTALS – 31-64, 7-15, 12, 73.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 16-33 (Boulton 5-7, Strong 4-10, Anderson 2-2, Watts 2-3, Shearer 2-7, Holland 1-1, Benson 0-1); EBF 4-11.
Turnovers: Montezuma 21, EBF 14.
Rebounds: Montezuma 21 (Strong 7, Watts 5, Cook 3, Shearer 2, Boulton 2, Benson 2); EBF 35.
Assists: Montezuma 14 (Shearer 6, Strong 2, Watts 3, Boulton 2, Holland 1).
Steals: Montezuma 12 (Shearer 4, Boulton 4, Strong 3, Anderson 1).
Deflections: Montezuma 7 (Boulton 3, Watts 2, Shearer 1, Anderson 1).