Montezuma’s girls’ basketball team is going to State.  The Bravettes defeated Springville 77-57 Wednesday night (2/26) in Iowa City to win the Class 1A Region 5 championship.  If you think that game was a blowout, you’re wrong.  Springville jumped to a 7-0 lead before Montezuma came back, storming to a 16 point lead at the half.  Then Springville rallied, taking a brief lead in the third quarter before the Bravettes came back and took control of the game in the fourth quarter.  Montezuma Coach Janel Burgess talked about the roller coaster ride.

“First quarter, third quarter, second quarter, fourth quarter.  The first and third were Springville’s, then we wanted to take the second and the fourth.  And I was really proud of our composure, though, because they went up by one in the third quarter.  And we really didn’t bat an eye, we just stayed true to ourselves.  You know, we were missing shots and I just though we did a really good job of just locking in and just still staying together.”

Senior Shateah Wetering had 20 points to lead Montezuma.  She talks about going back to State.

“Oh, it feels amazing, always has.  It’s the best feeling, like having a community behind you and the team, it’s just amazing.  Very exciting.”

Montezuma is now 23-1 on the season.  The Bravettes are the fourth seed in the Class 1A State Girls’ Basketball Tournament and will play St. Ansgar in the Tournament’s first round next Wednesday afternoon (3/4) at 3:15.  You can follow Montezuma’s girls at State on KBOE-FM.