GRINNELL – A maniacal fourth quarter by North Mahaska blew away a game’s worth of effort by Montezuma.
The Warhawks, down 10 on a three-pointer by Montezuma’s Brady Boulton seconds into the fourth quarter, hit the Braves with a 28-11 fourth quarter of a Class 1A district title game on Tuesday evening, Feb. 25.
After the drive-and dish Braves took their 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, they took their time with the ball on offense, hoping to take time off the clock. However, the tactic appeared to give the Warhawks time to set up a hounding defense. That defense had both bark and bite and before long, North Mahaska was right outside Montezuma’s front door.
It was a three-game sweep by the Warhawks over the Braves this season.
North Mahaska won 58-46 in Montezuma on Dec. 6 and 59-56 Jan. 21 at home. But the Braves have been improving, so much so that BCMoore Rankings made them the favorite, by .12 of a point, coming into this one.
You figured it would be intense and it was. But at the start of the fourth quarter, few probably sensed the avalanche that was coming.
The Warhawks’ Gabe Hora, who hurt the Braves in the two earlier wins, was hounded by Montezuma defender David Rose, and didn’t score his first points – on a trey – with 40 seconds left in the third quarter. That got North Mahaska to within 6 points.
Consider that Hora finished with 12 points, and his offense seemed to unlock the offense of his teammates, who rushed up the floor and attacked the basket.
At the same time, North Mahaska’s defense, already good, became a living thing. It attacked the ball and the Braves had trouble finding teammates to pass to. And those players were surrounded after receiving the basketball.
Earlier, Montezuma was scoring, but within limits. Boulton scored 21 points in the first half. He finished double-teamed but still managed to score 30. However, just two other Braves scored in the game. Kohen Holland, the 6-5 senior post, had a superior game with 19 points and a ton of rebounds, especially on the defensive end.
Senior Max Anderson scored 8 points for the Braves.
Meanwhile, Asher DeBoef drilled 19 for North Mahaska and Lucas Nunnikhoven added 14 for the Warhawks.
The Warhawks caught the Braves at 53-53 on a Horas three-pointer with 3:30 left, then kept right on going.
North Mahaska protected and extended its lead by draining free throws over the final three minutes.
North Mahaska went to 21-3, and plays again Saturday night in The Round House in Marshalltown with chance to makt it to the state finals.
The Braves ended their season at 20-4, but would have settled for one-out-of-three against North Mahaska.
This one.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
North Mahaska 14 16 8 28 – 66
Montezuma 21 16 9 11 – 57
MONTEZUMA (57): Dane Strong 0-3, 0-0, 4, 0; David Rose 0-4, 0-0, 1, 0; Brady Boulton 10-20, 5-5, 2, 30; Kohen Holland 9-15, 1-1, 2, 19; Max Anderson 3-12, 0-0, 2, 8; Luke Brennan 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0; Broox Stockman 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS – 22-55, 6-6, 14, 57.
NORTH MAHASKA (66) TOTALS – 32-67, 13-18, 11, 66.
LINE SCORE LEGEND: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Three-pointers: Monte 7-28 (Boulton 5-10, Anderson 2-10, Strong 0-2, Rose 0-3, Holland 0-6, Brennan 0-1). NM 10-33.
Turnovers: Monte 16, NM 22.
Rebounds: Monte 23 (Holland 13, Strong 3, Rose 2, Boulton 2, Anderson 2, Stockman 1). NM 35.
Assists: Monte 9 (Boulton 4, Brennan 2, Rose 1, Holland 1, Anderson 1.
Steals: Montezuma 13 (Boulton 4, Holland 4, Rose 3, Anderson 1, Brennan 1).
Blocks: Montezuma 2 (Holland 1, Anderson 1.