NEW SHARON – You could attend Montezuma basketball games for a generation and possibly not see the Braves get outscored 27-6 from behind the three-point arc.
But it happened Thursday, Feb. 15, in the Class 1A Regional semifinals, and helped the Warhawks toward their 46-42 victory.
This one featured two big runs by North Mahaska: 9-0 to start the game, then 10-1 by the Warhawks during which North Mahaska regained a game-long lead and put the host team up 44-37 with just under two minutes left to play.
That one held up. But not until after Brady Boulton and Montezuma put up some major resistance.
Fast forward to the last two minutes: With North Mahaska leading 44-37, Boulton drove the lane, scored and was fouled, and made the free throw. Now, it’s 44-40, with 1:36 left.
Boulton stole the ball and scored, making it 44-42.
North Mahaska’s Nate Sampson missed a shot, Garrett Watts rebounded for the Braves and was tied up. The arrow was pointing Montezuma’s way.
On a play starting with 19 seconds left, Boulton and Watts both missed shots, and a Brave was called for traveling on a contested rebound.
After a deep pass, Boulton fouled Asher DeBoef of the Warhawks. He missed two free throws. Boulton had the ball, but it was stripped from him and a foul sent the Warhawks’ Nolen Andersen to the line with 2.2 seconds left.
He made two free throws, pushing it to 46-42 for the Warhawks.
On the inbounds, the ball was knocked out and after a discussion about the clock, the ball was awarded to the Warhawks.
And that . . .was it.
“Both teams played good defense,” said Montezuma Coach Derrick Dengler. “We definitely struggled shooting in a tight, physical game.”
North Mahaska’s first big run was 9-0, at the start of the game.
Montezuma came back with a 10-1 run that started late in the third quarter and carried over into the fourth.
In between, North Mahaska employed a box-and-one defense, with Sampson playing Boulton one-on-one.
Boulton never made a three, despite 9 attempts.
But other Braves weren’t making them, either. Max Anderson was one-for-seven; in all, Montezuma was 2-for-23 from three-point range.
The Warhawks weren’t connecting often, either: They shot .266 from the field overall, to Montezuma .314. But North Mahaska lobbed up 40 three-balls, and connected on nine.
North Mahaska put up 13 more shots in the game and did a good job running down deep misses. Of 39 rebounds, 16 were offensive, which gave the Warhawks another chance.
Boulton led the Braves with 16 points. He was five-for-20 from the field, but got himself to the line, where he was six-for-eight.
Kohen Holland scored 11 points on five-for-eight shooting. Garrett Watts scored 8 points on 4-for-7 shooting, and led the Braves with 7 rebounds.
Boulton was second with 6 rebounds, tied with Holland, and Boulton added 5 steals.
Sampson scored 20 points for North Mahaska, Asher DeBoef had 11 and Nolen Andersen scored 9.
“I’m very proud of the boys never giving up,” Dengler said. “North Mahaska just made enough big plays to come out on top.”
North Mahaska moves on to Tuesday’s regional final in Ottumwa with an 18-6 record and two wins in three tries this season against the Braves.
Montezuma closes the books on a 14-8 season.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma 8 13 8 13 – 42
North Mahaska 11 14 8 13 – 46
MONTEZUMA (46) – Dane Strong 1-2, 1-1, 1, 3. Garrett Watts 4-7, 0-2, 3, 8. David Rose 0-4, 0-0, 1, 0. Brady Boulton 5-20, 6-8, 2, 16. Alex Black 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Kohen Holland 5-8, 0-0, 2, 11. Max Anderson 1-10, 1-4, 0, 4. TOTALS – 16-51, 8-15, 10, 42.
NORTH MAHASKA (46) – TOTALS – 17-64, 3-8, 19, 46.
Line score legend: field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 15, North Mahaska 16.
Three-pointers: Montezuma 2-23 (Holland 1-2, Anderson 1-7, Boulton 0-9, Rose 0-3, Watts 0-1, Strong 0-1); North Mahaska 9-40.
Assists: Montezuma 6 (Anderson 3, Boulton 2, Watts 1).
Rebounds: Montezuma 31 (Watts 7, Boulton 6, Holland 6, Strong 3, Rose 4, Black 2, Anderson 3); North Mahaska 39 (including 16 offensive).
Steals: Montezuma 9 (Boulton 5, Rose 2, Holland 1, Anderson 1).
Deflections: Montezuma 2 (Rose, Boulton).
Blocks: Montezuma 1 (Watts).