Cole Watts and his Montezuma Braves teammates had ‘one of those nights’ – on the outstanding side – against a solid BGM team at home on Tuesday evening, Feb. 4.
Watts scored 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and the Braves scored 36 points in just the third quarter of a 79-44 victory.
Watts had help: Trey Shearer dropped in 27 points and posted other great numbers as the Braves took their record out to 15-2.
BGM (13-5) deserved Montezuma’s attention, having won nine of its previous 10 games coming in. The Bears got that attention.
Montezuma jumped out to an 18-3 lead after one quarter.
But the Braves went away for a while in the second quarter. BGM mounted a 15-12 charge during the period, and were menacing, down just 30-18 at halftime.
But then came a clinic by Montezuma.
Thirty-six (36) points in eight minutes by the Braves, and 66-30 control of the game after three quarters.
“Other than a bad stretch in the second quarter, we played pretty good defense for most of the night,” said Braves Coach Derrick Dengler.
“We held Noah Beck (22.9 ppg.) to about seven points under his average, and a couple of his baskets came on some very long threes,” Dengler said.
Then, there was all that Montezuma offense in the third quarter.
“We were able to get out in transition,” Dengler said.
Watts got his 33 on 12-for-21 shooting, including six-for-nine from behind the three-point arc.
Watts also grabbed 15 rebounds which helped to give the Braves a 33-29 edge in that department. Watts also threw three assists, two steals and five deflections into a big night of work.
Trey Shearer was right up there alongside Watts in scoring with 27 points. He was 10-for-17 from the field, four-for-four from the line and dropped in a trio of treys.
“In the half-court we were very good when we were patient and attacked the lane multiple times,” Dengler said.
Trey Shearer added eight assists, five steals and three deflections to his scoring total.
Masin Shearer was third Brave in double figures with 10 points. Eddie Burgess grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists as he and other kept finding open shooters.
Montezuma shot .556 from the field, including a stunning .647 on treys, 11-for-17 marksmanship.
BGM shot .316 on 18-for-57. The Bears weer 6-for-25 from behind the arc.
UP NEXT – Montezuma hosts a makeup date against Belle Plaine on Thursday, Feb. 6.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BGM 3 15 12 14 – 44
Montezuma 18 12 36 13 – 79
MONTEZUMA (79) – Brydon Henning 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0. Brayden Arendt 2-4, 0-0, 1, 4. Masin Shearer 4-7, 2-3, 0, 10. Connor Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Cole Watts 12-21, 3-4, 1, 33. Masin Shearer 4-7, 2-3, 0, 10. Connor Van Zee 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Joey Kercheval 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Maguire DeJong 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Trey Shearer 10-17, 4-4, 1, 27. Colton Benson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Owen Cook 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0. Gavin Strong 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2. Eddie Burgess 1-1, 1-2, 2, 3. TOTALS – 30-54, 8-10, 7, 79.
BGM (44)
TOTALS – 18-57, 2-7, 6, 44.
Line score legend: Field goals made-attempted, free throw made-atttempted, personal fouls, total points.
Turnovers: Montezuma 9, BGM 14.
Rebounds: Montezuma 33 (Watts 15, Burgess 7, Arendt 3, M. Shearer 3, T. Shearer 1, Cook 1, Strong 1, team 2); BGM 24.
Three-point goals: Montezuma 11-17 (Watts 6, T. Shearer 3, M. Shearer 2); BGM 6-25.
Montezuma assists: T. Shearer 8, M. Shearer 3, Watts 3, Burgess 3, Arendt 1).
Steals: T. Shearer 5, Watts 2, Burgess 2, Cook 1, Strong 1.
Deflections: Watts 5, T. Shearer 3, Strong 1, Burgess 1.
Blocks: Arendt 1, Benson 1.
