Montezuma led from start to finish, but never by a large margin, in a 24-16 junior high ‘A’ boys basketball game against North Mahaska Monday, Jan. 13, at home.
“We played a great game defensively, holding them to four single digit quarters, and no points in the second period,” said Braves Coach John Beck.
“Tod Geiger and Peyton Minner did a good job handling their bigs despite being outsized.”
“We moved well on the pass and closed out very well to challenge shots,” Beck said.
“Carter Michalek, Cruz DeJong and Garrett Watts did great jobs of providing defensive pressure. We do need to be a little more physical boxing out and rebounding,” Beck said.
Braves scoring included Tod Geiger and Max Anderson with six each, Jack Erselius and Houston Van Roekel with four each, Landen Tyree with three and Cruz DeJong with one.
“We had balanced scoring and got contributions from a variety of players,” Beck said.
“Watts did a good job running and facilitating within our offense,” the coach said. “Max Anderson and Houston Van Roekel did a good job attacking the rim and well as setting up good outside shots for Erselius and Tyree.”
“We went 7-for-12 at the free throw line in the second half and that was big in closing out the game,” Beck said.
“I would like to see us move with and without the ball more as that will create better scoring opportunities,” the coach said.
“Overall, I was proud of the effort and execution coming off about a month without a game.”
The victory brought the ‘A’ team’s record to 3-1 overall.