Bravettes take care of business vs. Tri-County
Jan. 5, 2012

"The business of this country is . . .business!"
           - Oliver Warbucks, in "Annie"

And the Bravettes got down to business right away, rebounding, defending and posting up for some easy scores in a 41-25 win over winless but improving Tri-County on Friday evening, Jan. 5.

The Bravettes led 28-9 at halftime, then worked on some new plays on offense after intermission.

"We had a great first half, to hold them to 9 points," said Bravettes coach Keith Sietstra. "Our (defensive) rebounding was the key," the coach said. "We gave them just one shot, then we got down the floor and got our offense going."

That offense was spread around, too, with 9 Bravettes denting the scoring column on the night.

The Bravettes did some second half work on a double low post offense. "We used more ball screens. We wanted to open things up inside and sometimes it worked," Sietstra said.

"Emily (Long) and Brynna (Steele) do such a nice job of finding each other, but it starts with the guards getting them post touches," Sietstra said. "It still needs work but we've got our best basketball ahead of us," Sietstra said.

Long led the Bravettes with 10 ponts, 8 rebounds, 7 blocked shots and 4 assists.

Brynna Steele had 8 points and Alexis Ferguson had 7.

The Bravettes held the Trojans (0-10) to 20 percent field goal shooting.

Meanwhile, they shot just over 40 percent themselves as their field goal percentages tend to creep higher and higher as their balance gets better.

The Bravettes missed 10-of-11 free throw attempts and had 20 turnovers, so there's still some work to do. But Montezuma does have 9 wins, against 4 losses and the Bravettes are 8-3 against the league.

"We've got 3 big games coming up next week," Sietstra said. "We're alone in third place in the conference, but all of those games are against teams that are right there close to us."

Tri-County (0-10) used player-to-player defense much of the way. "They've come a long way," Sietstra said. "They play hard." Kacy Brumbaugh led the Trojans with 9 points.

WATCH IT! - at 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on Local Channel 3, with Keith Brake and Zach Price bringing home the action.

NEXT UP - The Bravettes host Keota on Monday and travel to Iowa Valley on Tuesday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tri-County         4    5    6   10  -  25
Montezuma      12  16    8     5  -  41

TRI-COUNTY (25): Teresa Ahlberg 1, 3-6, 2, 5. Christian Wadsworth 1, 0-0, 0, 2. Laura Steinke 2, 0-1, 4, 4. Kacy Brumbaugh 2, 3-6, 2, 9. Kristen Lundy 0, 0-0, 2, 0. Megan Garber 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Megan Striegel 2, 0-0, 0, 4. Jennifer Leer 0, 0-0, 1, 0. Sara Gragg 0, 1-2, 0, 1. TOTALS: 9, 7-15, 11, 25.

MONTEZUMA (41): Aly James 1, 0-0, 1, 3. Maranda Evans 0, 0-1, 0, 0. Alexis Ferguson 3, 0-3, 1, 7. Shena Bryan 1, -0, 0, 2. Carly Steele 2, 1-2, 3, 5. Courtney Petersen 2, 0-0, 2, 4. Madison Dawley 0, 0-2, 0, 0. Mackenzie James 1, 0-2, 2, 2. Brynna Steele 4, 0-1, 4, 8. Emily Long 5, 0-0, 1, 10. TOTALS: 19, 1-11, 14, 41.

Three-points goals: Tri-County - none. Montezuma 2 (A. James 1, Ferguson 1).
Fouled out:  none.
Turnovers: Tri-County 18, Montezuma 20.
Bravette rebound leaders: Long 8, B. Steele 7, Ferguson 5.
Assists: Long 4, Ferguson 2, A. James 2, M. James 2.
Steals: Ferguson 5, C. Steele 3.
Blocks: Long 7.

Line score legend: Field goals made, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.

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