Trojans tangled by Braves
STATE CENTER — For one half of basketball, West Marshall was handling the Montezuma Braves girls’ box-and-one defense against star forward Katy Reyerson. Reyerson only scored four in the first half, but contributions from Kiki Pfantz, Avery Randall and Delaney Nichols helped the Trojans to a 21-18 lead at the break.
But the second half was like opposite day for the home team Trojans (6-3). The suffocating defense played by the No. 9-ranked team in Class 1A was too much for West Marshall to handle in a 34-23 loss to Montezuma (10-1) Monday night.
Coach Fred Zeller gave a tip of the hat to the Braves for their defensive intensity.
“They did a great job of denying her the ball, and when she did get the ball they were all over her,” Zeller said. “So it was just a good defensive job of shutting Katy down. In the first half we made some shots, made some plays. In the second half I thought we kind of wore out.”
Jumping out to a 10-4 lead, it was clear from the opening tip that Montezuma was in the business of making things as difficult as possible for the Trojans’ offensive hub. Reyerson was swarmed by three defenders when she had the ball inside, forcing her to kick out and try to find her teammates open looks instead of getting shots off herself.
She scored just four points — the final four points of the first half. Avery Randall led the team with six points, all on first-quarter 3-pointers. The Trojans hit just three of their eight free-throw attempts and missed some breakaway shots as well that would have given them a bigger lead in the first half.
But in the second half, turnovers and the inability to create open shots for West Marshall resulted in a 16-0 third quarter in favor of the Braves. Going from up three to down 13 and with no offensive spark in sight, the fourth quarter trundled along, the only points being a basket from Delaney Nichols (six points) midway through the period.
The Trojans will learn from this, Zeller said.
“We’re gonna have to step up, and we did some of that in the first half,” Zeller said. “Second half, we didn’t handle it very well. Our kids will bounce back.”
West Marshall has a quick turnaround, hitting the road Tuesday night to face rivals East Marshall.
Montezuma 34, West Marshall 23
MONTEZUMA (10-1) — Madison Johannes 1 0-0 3, Shanae Wetering 4 0-0 9, Mia Boulton 2 0-0 6, Elise Boulton 4 0-0 9, Dylan Holland 3 1-1 7, Kierstyn Price 0 0-0 0, Jadyn Sharer 0 0-2 0, Korrinn Kehoe 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 1-3 34.
WEST MARSHALL (6-3) — Kiki Pfantz 2 1-2 5, Lauren Solberg 1 0-0 2, Delaney Nichols 3 0-3 6, Avery Randall 2 0-0 6, Katy Reyerson 1 2-3 4, Lilly Buck 0 0-0 0, Addie Young 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 9 3-8 23.
MONTEZUMA 14 4 16 0 — 34
W. MARSHALL 12 9 0 2 — 23
3-Point Goals–Montezuma 5 (M. Boulton 2, Johannes, Wetering, E. Boulton), WM 2 (Randall 2). Team Fouls–Montezuma 12, WM 7. Fouled Out–none.