Montezuma’s boys basketball celebration was spiced by news that senior guard Masin Sherer has been chosen for an Iowa all-state team.
The basketball family celebration event was held at Star Lanes.
The official announcement about Shearer came Tuesday morning, March 14, from the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association in Des Moines.
Shearer was one of eight members on the Class 1A third team.
Shearer was Montezuma’s second leading scorer at 14.46 points per game. That included a 39-point explosion against Baxter in his final game.
Shearer was a four-year varsity regular and starter for the Braves.
This year, he was a .481 field goal shooter, including .391 on three-pointers (66-for-169).
His quickness at cutting through defenses made a major difference in Montezuma’s offensive attack.
He dished out 85 assists and was guilty of just 44 turnovers, giving him an assists-to-turnover ratio of 1.93.
Masin’s big final game put him in Montezuma’s 1,000-points club as the 13th member. He wound up with 1,036 career points, 11th-best in school history.
It had been announced earlier by IPSWA that Masin was a first-team all-substate player. Braves Coach Derrick Dengler noted that 8 players were chosen for this honor from Montezuma’s district, which includes 18 teams.
In other basketball celebration news, junior Alex Black received the Braves “Team Together Award.” Dengler said this honor goes to the player that was “a tremendous teammate and always put the team first.”
Within the South Iowa Cedar League, Shearer was named to the all-conference first team.
Gavin Strong and Brady Boulton were named to the all-league second team, and Owen Cook and Garrett Watts were honorable mention picks.
Montezuma’s classroom excellence also was recognized.
The Iowa High School Athletic Association awarded the team a “Distinguished” academic honor, for having a team grade point average above 3.25.
A number of Braves earned the SICL all-academic honor for having at least a 3.5 grade point average the previous semester.
Those honored: Colton Benson, Alex Black, Brady Boulton, Luke Brennan, Owen Cook, Jack Erselius, David Rose, Jayden Ross, Masin Shearer, Broox Stockman, Bryson Stockman, Gavin Strong and Garrett Watts.
Also, Colton Benson and Owen Cook were named academic all-district by the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association.