NEW SHARON – The season opener for the North Mahaska and Montezuma girls basketball teams drew a crowd Friday night and based on what happened last year and who all is returning, it should have.
North Mahaska, 19-5 last season, is ranked as high as fourth this pre-season – in Class 2A.
Monteuzuma, 20-5 last year, rank as high as third in Class 1A. The Bravettes won last year’s conference title on criteria, as the Warhawks, Bravettes and Lynnville-Sully all had 13-2 league records.
Well, the Warhawks won this year’s round one between the two, 51-32, and did it the old fashioned way: They earned it.
They played defense. So did Montezuma, but the Bravettes couldn’t keep up after the middle of the third quarter.
It had been close up unti then, but after Montezuma’s Claire Erselius knocked down a trey to tie the game at 22-22, the Warhawks closed the quarter with a 12-point run over four minutes to make it 34-22.
North Mahaska played add-on with the lead, and wound up outscoring the Bravettes 33-15 in the second half.
North Mahaska laid the groundwork for this win with its defense in the first half, which was geared to stop Shiressa Wetering, Montezuma’s 5-11 post.
When the ball went toward Wetering, the Warhawks scrambled their jets. They moved their feet, and especially their hands, knocking the ball loose, while also jamming the passing lanes.
Wetering didn’t make a basket in the first half, but Bravette sharpshooters hit some three-balls to keep Montezuma going. North Mahaska led 8-5 after one quarter and 18-17 at halftime.
The Warhawks expanded their lead with some gritty offensive rebounding in the second half.
Wetering picked up her fourth personal foul during the fourth quarter and had to go to the bench. North Mahaska immediately went inside for points and soon sealed the deal.
Sydney Anderson led North Mahaska with 18 points while Breckyn Schilling scored 17.
Ellen Cook scored 10 for Montezuma, while Claire Erselius had 9. Wetering had 7.
A look at individual statistics show that Montezuma wasn’t terribly deficient in any category, except one: Shooting.
The Bravettes were 10-43 from the field, for a .233 percentage.
Warhawk JVS win – North Mahaska won the preliminary game, 34-25.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 5 12 5 10 – 32
North Mahaska 8 10 16 17 – 51
Montezuma (32) – Ellen Cook 4-11, 0-0, 2, 10; Claire Erselius 3-6, 0-0, 3, 9; Shiressa Wetering 2-10, 3-4, 4, 7; Vivian Cook 0-9, 0-0, 1,0; Syd Burgess 0-4, 3-6, 3, 3; Lindsey Henry 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Lauryn Larmore 1-3, 0-0, 1, 3; Letisia Wilson 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. TOTALS – 10-43, 6-10, 16, 32.
(LINE SCORE LEGEND – field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted; personal fouls, total points).
Three-pointers – 6-19 (Erselius 3-4, E. Cook 2-4, Larmore 1-3, V. Cook 0-7). NM – 4-15.
Rebounds (17) – Burgess 5, Wetering 3, E. Cook 2, Erselius 2, Henry 2, Larmore 2, V. Cook 1. NM – 26.
Assists – 9 (E. Cook 3, V. Cook 2, Burgess 2, Wetering 1, Larmore 1. NM – 16.
Steals – 13 (E. Cook 4, V. Cook 4, Burgess 3, Erselius 2. NM 10.
Turnovers – Montezuma 16, North Mahaska 10.
WARHAWK LEADERS
Points – Breckyn Schilling 17, Sydney Anderson 15, Regan Grewe 10.
Rebounds – Anderson 6, Natalya Linder 5, Aly Steil 5.
Assists – Schilling 8, Kayla Readshaw 3, Steil 3.