Montezuma will be playing for the Class 1A Boys State Basketball Championship.  The Braves defeated Grand View Christian 49-35 Wednesday night (3/10) in the semifinals at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.  Montezuma made just three of 12 three-point shots Wednesday, so according to senior guard Cole Watts, the Braves went to Plan B: attacking on defense.

“Shots weren’t obviously falling when we wanted them to.  So we just started attacking.  Everybody is so skilled all around.  We all don’t have one single game. We all play differently, we all play together and we needed to attack tonight because shots weren’t falling.”

The Braves held Grand View to just 29 percent shooting and forced 14 turnovers.  This was Montezuma’s third consecutive trip to the 1A semifinals but their first win to advance to the State title game.  Senior guard Trey Shearer is looking forward to it.

“It’s something that we expected.  But I don’t know how many people outside our locker room would expect it.  We came in with the mentality that we would upset some people and we’ve done that.  Hopefully we can get there Friday and do what we do.”

Shearer had 15 points for Montezuma, with Watts adding 13 and Eddie Burgess getting seven points and 15 rebounds.  The Braves are now 24-2 on the season.  They’ll take on top-ranked undefeated North Linn Friday (3/12) at noon for the Class 1A State Championship.  You can hear the Montezuma boys at State on KBOE-FM with live coverage starting at 11:45am.