Last season, the Montezuma Braves stunned Iowa by winning the Class 1A state championship on their way to a 25-2 season.
What will the Braves do for an encore?
What they do every season under Coach Derrick Dengler: By being the best version of themselves they’re capable of becoming.
Last season, they had two super scorers and all-around players in Trey Shearer and Cole Watts, who were joined by a third in January when Eddie Burgess came back on a rehabbed leg injured during the football playoffs.
With Burgess back in tow, the Braves roared to the title by becoming a lockdown defensive team during the season’s second half.
“We had a good summer for basketball, with our returners working in June and July to get better,” Dengler said. “Also, we had a good fall, where most of our players competed in sports.”
Burgess, a senior, returns, as does junior guard Masin Shearer, who also was a starter the last two seasons.
“Both are going to need to take on bigger roles this season,” Dengler said.
Burgess already is the school’s career rebound leader with 661, and set a single game record with 22 last winter in a game against HLV.
Burgess averaged 12.7 rebounds, but didn’t rely strictly on his 6-4, 230-pound size. He anticipates the ball going up and simply owns the side of the floor he’s on.
It comes as no surprise that the all-state quarterback is quite a passer on the basketball court. He averaged 2.7 assists last year.
Burgess averaged 13.2 points, doing that with .703 field goal shooting and a .667 average from the line.
Masin Shearer, a 5-8 guard, averaged 7.2 points and 2.7 assists. He could get hot from three-point range.
“Owen Cook and Gavin Strong played big minutes for us last year off the bench. We hope they can grow as well,” Dengler said.
Cook, a 6-1 junior forward, averaged 2.7 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Strong, a 5-10 junior, averaged 4.4 points per game.
“We hope a couple of other guys will pop as the season goes on,” Dengler said.
Montezuma’s coach said the South Iowa Cedar League, “particularly the west side, looks really tough this year. Both North Mahaska and Lynnville-Sully, who had good seasons last year, bring back a high percentage of their scoring.”
Over on the east side, “several teams bring back their leading scorer, such as Belle Plaine, English Valleys and Iowa Valley. Keota graduated a lot,” Dengler said, “but always do a good job of reloading.”
FIRST UP – Montezuma competes in a jamboree at Hillcrest Academy on Monday, Nov. 22. The season opens at home against HLV on Tuesday, Nov.30.
Varsity Braves
Eddie Burgess
Sawyer Tindle
Camden Michalek
Ryan Cheney
Nik Kotar
Jeremy Williams
Masin Shearer
Maguire De Jong
Gavin Strong
Owen Cook
Colton Benson
Garrett Watts
Jack Erselius
JV Braves
Alex Black
Sammy Boughner
Jayden Ross
Jack Erselius
Bryson Stockman
Peyton Minner
Maddox Anderson
Kohen Holland
Houston VanRoekel
David Rose
Carter Michalek
Briar Simpson
Lars Taylor
Kiyren Jurgenson