The 21st century is still young, but Montezuma’s boys’ basketball team may have pulled off the comeback of the century Saturday (2/23). The Braves trailed Grundy Center by 14 points at halftime of the boys’ Class 1A Substate game in Marshalltown. But in the second half, Montezuma turned it around, scoring a 64-55 win and earning a trip to the state tournament. Montezuma Coach Derrick Dengler explains what changed in the second half.
“I’d say the biggest adjustment we made was just being a little bit more simple defensively and a little bit more aggressive defensively. And offensively, attacking the basket under control. In the first half, we got shots at the rim, we were just flipping them up. But in the second half, we did a great job being under control, getting the big guys off their feet, drawing fouls, getting to the free throw line. That led to them over-helping and we were able to hit a few threes.”
Sophomore Trey Shearer led the Braves’ offense with 25 points. Montezuma will take a 21-1 record into the Class 1A boys’ State basketball tournament next Monday (3/4) against an opponent to be determined.
