PLEASANTVILLE – When everyone else on the court seemed to have an opposing player by the throat, Montezuma’s Elise Boulton was still cool, calculating new and creative ways to win.
Wednesday night, the Montezuma senior guard had the ball out near the center line. It was knocked away and in trying to get it back, Elise touched it before it crossed the mid-court line.
Then, as players scrambled on the floor for the ball, Boulton allowed her opponent to touch it, then she grabbed it back and passed it to a teammate. Had Boulton touched it first, it’s an over-and-back call.
You want Elise Boulton on your team, especially if you’re heading to the state tournament.
Which Montezuma is, for the fourth year in a row, after the Bravettes beat Collins-Maxwell, 62-44, in the regional championship game.
The next mission for the 21-1, sixth-seeded Bravettes: Take down 22-1, third-seeded Saint Ansgar in the state quarterfinals. Last year Saint Ansgar was the team that ended the Bravettes’ season in the quarterfinals.
That first round state game starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, in Wells Fargo Arena.
This Wednesday evening, Feb. 24 regional championship was hand-to-hand combat at times. There were a lot of loose balls, flailing arms, and bodies sliding across the court.
Collins-Maxwell, which came in 21-1, has a talented player in 5-11 Reagan Franzen. When she got the basketball, she had three, sometimes four Bravettes running at her.
Still, she scored 10 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished six assists.
Freshman guard Erica Houge led the Spartans with 15 points and also had five rebounds. Brooke Christie dropped in a trio of treys and scored nine points.
But the Bravettes led 19-14 after one quarter, 28-22 at halftime, and 42-30 through three quarters.
The Bravettes put the ball in Elise Boulton’s hands. With about five minutes left, Collins-Maxwell started fouling, hoping missed free throws would prove to be a way back.
Montezuma made just one field goal in the fourth quarter. But the Bravettes made 18-of-24 free throws in the fourth quarter, with Elise Boulton making 10-of-14. She’d simply flip the ball to the official after his foul, head for the line, and fire.
Elise finished with 23 points, including 16 in the second half.
She had help. Her sister, Mia, dropped in 14. And 5-10 post forward Dylan Holland ran amok on the boards. She scored 15 points, and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The game was a physical war. “Yes, it was,” said Bravettes Coach Janel Burgess. “Our girls were warriors from the beginning. We ALL played our role to the best of our ability, for the most part,” she said.
Collins-Maxwell and Montezuma had the second- and third-best defenses in Class 1A coming in. Three-point baskets were hard to come by, but when the Bravettes made them back-to-back – and that happened once in each half – it helped them to extend their lead.
Collins-Maxwell played without senior point guard Alexis Houge, who injured an ankle Friday during the Spartans’ regional semifinal win over Baxter. She averaged 11 points, and her 3.2 assists per game ranked second on the team to Franzen’s 4.2.
“Any time you lose a potentially all state point guard, it’s going to be a heck of a challenge,” Collins-Maxwell Coach Justin Flaws told the Ames Tribune. “I thought that we had a solid game plan. We were able to push them off the three-point line a little bit, but we just didn’t score enough.”
Montezuma’s execution was near flawless in the second half. The Bravettes made just two turnovers after intermission, and just five for the game. The Spartans made 11.
The Bravettes already had an 18-12 rebounding lead by halftime, including nine off the offensive board.
“I am so excited to take this special group of kids into the Well on Wednesday night!” Burgess said.
UP NEXT – The Bravettes, now winners of 21 straight games, play 22-1 Saint Ansgar at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, in Wells Fargo Arena.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Collins-Maxwell 14 8 8 14 – 44
Montezuma 19 9 14 20 – 62
MONTEZUMA (62)
Shanae Wetering 1-6, 2-3, 4, 4. Kierstyn Price 2-4, 0-1, 4, 4. Mia Boulton 4-7, 3-4, 2, 14. Elise Boulton 5-14, 10-14, 3, 23. Dylan Holland 5-7, 5-6, 2, 15. Madison Johannes 1-5, 0-0, 1, 2. Jadyn Sharer 0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0. TOTALS – 18-43, 20-28, 16, 62.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: CM 11, Montezuma 4.
Three-point goals: CM 3, Montezuma 6-18 (M. Boulton 3-6, E. Boulton 3-6, Wetering 0-1, Price 0-2, Johannes 0-3.
Rebounds: CM 24, Montezuma 30 (Holland 11, Wetering 8, E. Boulton 5, Johannes 3, M. Boulton 2, Price 1).
Assists: CM 12, Montezuma 12 (E. Boulton 5, Wetering 2, Price 1, M. Boulton 1, Holland 1, Johannes 1, Sharer 1).
Steals: CM 3, Montezuma 9 (Price 2, M. Boulton 2, Holland 2, Johannes 2, E. Boulton 1).
Blocks: CM 1, Montezuma none
