NEW SHARON – It’s possible not everyone that follows basketball in the South Iowa Cedar League knew that Eddie Burgess will miss the first part of Montezuma’s season.
For that reason, North Mahaska’s 68-66 win over the Braves in the season opener on Tuesday, Dec. 1, may have sent some shock waves around the conference.
But fans of the Warhawks and Braves shared a similar thought: Our team may be better than we thought.
Montezuma did some good things without the multi-skilled Burgess. North Mahaska made good use of some nice size across its front line and some shooting that if not prolific, was timely.
For a season opener, it was intense.
Both teams shot reasonably well most of the way. Same with handling the ball.
The Warhawks, who can go 6-5, 6-4 and 6-3 across the front, out-rebounded the 6-1-at-the-most Braves 44-33, a margin that allowed them to dictate the tempo. That was huge.
“Yeah, adjusting without Eddie on the boards is going to be a season-long process for us,” said Montezuma Coach Derrick Dengler.
“We have a lot of guys who need to adjust to new roles,” he said.
North Mahaska led 50-45 through three quarters, and spent much of the second half with a lead that ranged between three and eight points.
But Braves senior guard Trey Shearer started taking things into his own hands in the third quarter.
Shearer went off – he scored 37 points in all – and led the Braves all the way back, and into a brief one-point lead with about 90 seconds left.
But missed free throws and a spate of late turnovers by Montezuma pushed North Mahaska ahead to stay.
North Mahaska had balance in scoring and rebounding.
Braden Steel, a 6-3 sophomore, scored 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Warhawks.
Nash Smith, a 6-5 sophomore had 15 points and a dozen boards.
Dylan Klinker, a guard, scored 15 points and went three-for-seven from behind the arc as the Warhawks jumped out to a 34-31 halftime lead. The Braves were jamming the inside defensively, and Klinker couldn’t resist the open looks he had.
Blake Readshaw scored 10 for North Mahaska and 6-4 senior Addy Bollman put down nine.
The Braves fell behind 6-0 early, then went on an 18-4 tear, with Cole Watts and Trey Shearer driving at will. But North Mahaska’s defense jammed the driving lanes the rest of the half.
Trey Shearer was tough to stop in the second half. He wound up 13-for-25 from the field, including four-for-11 on three-pointers. He also had eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The Braves weren’t without rebounders, they just didn’t get the number they needed in order to control the pace of play. Cole Watts and Owen Cook led with nine each.
Both teams shot .417 from the field. That included Montezuma’s 13-for-26 from behind the arc. But from two-point range, the Braves were just seven-for-22 (.320).
After Trey Shearer, Watts came in with nine points, Masin Shearer had seven, Dakota Strong scored six and Cam Johnson had five.
Johnson joined the two Shearers, Watts and Cook in the starting lineup, with Joey Kercheval and Strong coming in off the bench.
“We have a lot of fundamental things to work on,” Dengler said.
UP NEXT – The Braves are right back at it on Thursday, when they will host PCM. That game will be live streamed.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 18 13 14 21 – 66
North Mahaska 10 24 16 18 – 68
MONTEZUMA (66)
Cam Johnson 1-2, 2-2, 4, 5. Masin Shearer 2-8, 0-0, 1, 7. Cole Watts 3-11, 2-4, 3, 9. Trey Shearer 13-25, 4-11, 3, 37. Owen Cook 0-1, 0-0, 3, 0. Dakota Strong 1-1, 3-4, 0, 6. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS – 20-48, 11-21, 14, 66.
NORTH MAHASKA (68)
TOTALS – 25-60, 11-21, 23, 68.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 6, North Mahaska 12.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 13-26 (T. Shearer 7-10, M. Shearer 3-6, Strong 1-1, Johnson 1-2, Cook 0-1, Watts 1-6).
Rebounds: North Mahaska 44, Montezuma 33 (Watts 9, Cook 9, T. Shearer 8, Johnson 2, Kercheval 2, Strong 1, team 2).
Assists: (11) – T. Shearer 4, M. Shearer 2, Johnson 1, Watts 1, Cook 2, Strong 1.
Steals: 5 (S. Shearer 4, M. Shearer 1).
Blocks: (1) – Strong 1.