Zach Gibson (3) drops off a pass to Kane Barker (21) vs. Iowa Valley.

Braves focus a beam through Iowa Valley
Jan. 10, 2012

MARENGO - You can't change the past, but you've got some control of your future.

And after a tough loss to unbeaten Keota the night before, the Montezuma Braves came out and quickly got control of Iowa Valley.

The Braves held the now-4-7 Tigers to 11 first half points and scored a 62-36 road win on Tuesday evening, Jan. 10.

"That was exactly what we needed to do," said Braves coach Derek Schulte. "We came out with a lot of energy and got a lot of opportunities at the basket. And we were really solid defensively."

Guard Stephen Vavroch dropped in 30 points, including 23 in the first half. He made 4 of Montezuma's 10 three-pointers on the night.

The Braves led 16-8 after one quarter and 37-11 by halftime. Schulte used his entire roster during second half play.

"We only gave up two offensive rebounds in the first half, and we had us down for just two turnovers in the first half," Schulte said.

"I'm happy with a win over an improved Iowa Valley team," the coach said. "We were focused. It was good to come back from a tough one the night before."

"Stephen Vavroch had a tremendous game," Schulte said. "He got into a rhythm right away."

"We got good inside-outside ball movement," Schulte said. "It was good to see some improvement offensively."

Those 10 three-pointers came on just 21 attempts from behind the arc.

"We did a really nice job in our man-to-man defense," Montezuma's coach said. "We do have some areas that need work in our zone. But, we forced them into contested shots. Then, we went from rebound to outlet to transition."

After Vavroch's 30, Montezuma scoring fell off to 6, on a pair of treys by Coleton Tompkins. But 8 different Braves scored points. Matt Armstrong led Braves rebounders with 9.

Iowa Valley took the ball to the basket well in the second half and had some scoring balance. Jace Roberts led with 8 and Austin Schalbaugh and Austin Roberts had 7 each.

The Braves moved to 7-6 overall and to 6-5 in league play. Iowa Valley hasn't played outside of the SICL.

NO TV - Local Channel 3 did not tape this game, but will air Monday's Keota game at 1 and 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The Friday games against English Valleys will be shown Saturday and Sunday.

NEXT UP - The Braves host English Valleys on Friday.

DISTRICT TEAMS ANNOUNCED - The lineup of teams for Class 1A District 12 basketball has been released by the state. They include BGM, Colo-Nesco, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, GMG, Grundy Center, Lynnville-Sully, Meskwaki, Montezuma, North Mahaska an North Tama. District 11's lineup includes Alburnett, Belle Plaine, Cedar Valley Christian, English Valleys, Highland, HLV, Iowa Mennonite, Iowa Valley, Lone Tree and Tri-County. The basketball teams will be seeded later this month and then the pairings will be released. Note: These are the basketball districts, not the new, re-aligned football districts, which haven't been announced yet.

Stephen Vavroch (30), who dropped in 30 points for the Braves,
has his focus on defense in this action against Iowa Valley.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma    16   21   17    8  -  62
Iowa Valley      8    3    14  11  -  36

MONTEZUMA (62): Brady Losure 2, 0-0, 1, 4. Dillon Wilhelm 1, 0-0, 0, 3. Zach Gibson 2, 0-0, 4, 5. Codi Townsend 0, 0-0, 1, 0. Tyler Swenson 1, 0-2, 2, 3. Dallas Peavy 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Kane Barker 0, 0-4, 2, 0. Coleton Tompkins 2, 0-0, 0, 6. Colton Talbert 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Stephen Vavroch 12, 2-3, 1, 30. Nathan Wheeler 3, 0-0, 0, 5. Alex Brownell 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Matt Armstrong 1, 0-2, 2, 4. Niall Lyons 0, 0-0, 2, 0. TOTALS: 24, 4-9, 15, 62.

IOWA VALLEY (36): Austin Schalbaugh 3, 1-4, 0, 7. Jacob Loffer 0, 0-1, 0, 0. Austin Roberts 3, 1-2, 3, 7. Dakota Cooling 1, 0-0, 0, 2. Jace Roberts 3, 2-6, 2, 8. Austin Carney 3, 0-0, 1, 6. Ian Krutsinger 0, 0-1, 1, 0. Derek Hobbs 2, 0-2, 1, 4. Kegan Cameron 1, 0-0, 3, 2. TOTALS: 16, 4-16, 11, 36.

Three-point goals: Montezuma 10 (Vavroch 4, Tompkins 2, Wilhelm 1, Gibson 1, Swenson 1, Wheeler 1). Iowa Valey- none.
Fouled out: none.
Turnovers: Montezuma 7, Iowa Valley 19.
Braves rebound leaders: Armstrong 9, Barker 7, Wheeler 6.
Assist leader: Tompkins 2.
Steals leader: Swenson 2.
Line score legend: Field goals made, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.  

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