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Hilary Iverson denies entry
into the lane area.

Bravettes run with the best, but fade late

Jan. 30, 2010

NEW SHARON - For three quarters, the Montezuma Bravettes came pretty close to matching unbeaten North Mahaska in intensity, defense, rebounding, shooting . . .maybe not ballhandling . . .but suffice to say, it was a battle and the respective crowds were into it.

Come the fourth quarter, though, and the Warhawks watched in their rear view mirror as the Bravettes pulled into the pits - and stayed there.

Leading just 28-27 through three quarters, coach L.E. Moore's club outscored Montezuma 20-6 in the fourth quarter to win going away, 48-33 on Saturday night.

"I know the scoreboard showed a 15-point loss, but it was one where we walked out of the gym feeling like it was a five-point loss and pretty frustrated to have battled so hard and then lose focus for a few possessions and give the game away," said Montezuma coach Keith Sietstra.

Relentless North Mahaska is 18-0 overall and outlasts its opposition, physically, emotionally, sometimes both.

Coming off a difficult game the night before when they held their opponent to 23 points and lost, the Bravettes got better ball movement from the start in this game. Forward Hope Kriegel scored seven points in the first half, and center Emily Long and guard Brittany Bryan each had five as the Bravettes held three leads and went off with a 19-18 advantage at intermission.

"Tonight was exactly the way this team needs to start games," Sietstra said. "Our defensive intensity was great and the girls were ready to go right from the start."

"After a couple of misfires, we were able to handle their pressure well and that translated to our halftime lead," the coach said.

The Warhawks have been 30 percent field goal shooters this season, but they attack, put up lots of shots, and crash the boards from all angles.

The Bravettes blocked them out pretty well during the first half, but Mallory Boyle helped North Mahaska with a pair of three-balls.

Both teams attacked the basket in the third quarter. Acacia LaRue and Tara Smith got it up on the glass for North Mahaska, while the Bravettes continued to show patience on offense, taking the ball down low to Long, who made eight of her 13 points in the second half.

"Coming out of halftime, the girls did a great job of staying prepared and doing the little things," Sietstra said. "The result of that of that was finding ourselves down only one point early in the fourth quarter."

The breaking point seemed to come when North Mahaska's Hannah Ferguson hit a trifecta with seven minutes left to play that gave her team a 33-27 lead.

The Bravettes didn't move as quickly after that and got caught out of position numerous times. The Warhawks extended their lead by making 11 of 17 free throws during second half play.

The Bravettes shot 40 percent from the field, but were able to squeeze off just 30 field goal attempts. The Bravettes struggled with turnovers against Warhawk pressure. The Bravettes made 24, a dozen in each half. North Mahaska made 10, including just three after halftime.

"We just had a series of four or five possessions that really changed the game," Sietstra said. "They were all turnovers to turn a three-point lead to a 10-point lead, which is exactly what they need to be successful."

LaRue worked the inside for 14 points for North Mahaska, while Ferguson had 11 and Boyle and Smith each scored eight.

Long (13 points and 10 rebounds) and Bryan (11 points), got seven points' worth of support from Kriegel - but she was not able to score in the second half.

The Bravettes fell to 6-11 against the league and 7-11 overall. 

"Hopefully we get one more chance to match up with them," Sietstra said. That could come in the second round of tournament play. "We will look to improve every chance we get here during our last three regular season games," the coach said.

WATCH IT! - at 1 and 7 p.m. on Thursday on Local Channel 3, with Keith Brake and Kaylin Hansen bringing home the action.

NEXT UP - The Bravettes host BGM on Hope for Haiti Night on Tuesday evening.

Score by quarters
Montezuma       10    9    8    6   -  33
North Mahaska  13    5   10  20  -  48

Montezuma (33) - Hilary Iverson 0, 0-0, 3, 0. Brittany Bryan 4, 0-0, 0, 11. Alexis Ferguson 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Hope Kriegel 3, 1-2, 5, 7. Madison Ehret 0, 0-0, 1, 0. Shannon Sutfin 0, 0-0, 3, 0. Courtney Latcham 0, 2-2, 3, 2. Emily Long 5, 3-5, 2, 13. TOTALS - 12, 6-9, 17, 33.

North Mahaska (48) - Kate Ray 1, 3-4, 2, 5. Hannah Ferguson 4, 2-2, 1, 11. Megan Watts 0, 0-0, 1, 0. McKenzie Lenz 0, 2-2, 0, 2. Mallory Boyle 2, 2-4, 3, 8. Acacia LaRue 6, 2-3, 3, 14. Tara Smith 1, 6-8, 4, 8. Abbie Agan 0, 0-1, 0, 1. TOTALS - 14, 17-23, 14, 48.

   Three-point goals - Montezuma 3 (Bryan 3). North Mahaska 3 (Boyle 2, Ferguson 1).
   Fouled out - Montezuma (Kriegel, :18.0, 4th quarter). North Mahaska - none.
   Turnovers - Montezuma 24, North Mahaska 10.
   Rebound leaders - Long 13, Latcham 5.
   Assists leaders - Latcham 3, Iverson 2.

Give you our ball? Never!

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