LuLu's       Consignments         321 E. Main Street           Montezuma, IA     next to Remedy Drug   641-623-5858 (LuLu)

Alexis Feguson drives to the basket against
Abby Van Wyk.

L-S tempo change curbs Bravette enthusiasm
Jan. 20, 2012

SULLY - Take out a 13-2 run over the first three-and-one-half minutes of the second half, and Montezuma girls basketball coach Keith Sietstra was pretty happy about how his team played Friday night in a 49-30 loss to fifth-rated, 16-1 Lynnville-Sully.

Even with that stretch, the coach was still pretty pleased.

Reasons: The Bravettes came out with some passion and executed some things they have been working on in practice against one of the state's better teams.

"I was excited about what I saw, on our press break and about getting back on defense," Sietstra said. "But I was really proud of how we came out."

The Bravettes came out really active on defense. That led to some offense. Lynnville-Sully led just 17-15 at halftime. But then the Hawkettes changed the game's tempo at the start of the third quarter.

Abby Van Wyk made a four-point play, hitting a trey while being fouled, then converting the free throw. Aimee Rolffs hit a trey and post player Brianna James broke free for a couple of quick baskets. The Hawkettes had changed the tempo, and maintained control to the finish.

"We had a couple of mental lapses there," said Sietstra, admitting that one of those may have been his own. "We maybe played ourselves out of position in that third quarter," said Sietstra. "Maybe I should have called timeout somewhere in the middle of their run. Take out those first three-and-one-half minutes, and this maybe is a five-ponit game."

Brianna James, a graceful post player with a quick shot, scored 15 of her game-high 19 points after intermission. She displayed an assortment of spin moves than enabled her to free herself in traffic. And her teammates made it a point to move the ball quickly until it found its way in to her.

Both teams put up a lot of shots in the first half and neither side connected often. "It was a very intense half," Sietstra said. "We got a lot of the looks we needed. Maybe we can turn some of those misses into makes over the final weeks of the season."

Post player Brynna Steele scored 11 of Montezuma's 15 first-half points, most on finishes of the Bravettes' press-breaker.

A key for the Hawkettes was their ability to sag off and defend against Montezuma's other post scorer, Emily Long, while still getting out to run the Bravettes off their three-point shots. Long was limited to two baskets and six points while the Bravettes failed to knock down a trey, which often is a weapon for them.

Brynna Steele finished with 15 to lead Montezuma, which is 11-7 overall and 10-6 in South Iowa Cedar League play.

Carly Steele scored five for Montezuma, which got eight rebounds each from Long and Brynna Steele and three assists from Alexis Ferguson.

The Bravettes shot just 25 percent from the field and were 0-for-7 from behind the three-point line. The Hawkettes got themselves to the foul line more often and outscored Montezuma 17-4 from there. 

The Hawkettes, 16-1 and 15-1, got eight points from Rolffs to back James' 19.

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 are idle Tuesday and take on North Mahaska in New Sharon on Friday, Jan. 27.

Abby Van Wyk (14) takes the ball to the
hoop despite the defensive efforts of
Carly Steele (15), Brynna Steele (33) and
Emily Long (45) for the Bravettes.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Montezuma         5   10    9    6  -  30
Lynnville-Sully  10    7   21   11 -  49

MONTEZUMA (30): Aly James 0, 0-0, 4, 0. Maranda Evans 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Alexis Ferguson 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Shena Bryan 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Carly Steele 2, 1-4, 3, 5. Courtney Petersen 0, 0-0, 1, 0. Madison Dawley 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Mackenzie James 2, 0-0, 2, 4. Brynna Steele 7, 1-2, 4, 15. Emily Long 2, 2-2, 3, 6. TOTALS: 13, 4-8, 17, 30.

LYNNVILLE-SULLY (49): Brittany Bryan 2, 0-0, 2, 4. Sydney Brand 0, 1-3, 0, 1. Abby Van Wyk 1, 3-3, 2, 6. Aimee Rolffs 3, 0-1, 1, 8. Becca Vos 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Jade VanRees 1, 0-0, 2, 3. Cassie Cullen 0, 1-2, 2, 1. Lyndsay Terpstra 0, 4-4, 1, 4. McKenzie Ritter 1, 1-2, 0, 3. Rachel Van Wyk 0, 0-0, 0, 0. Brianna James 6, 7-10, 1, 19. TOTALS: 14, 17-25, 11, 49.

Three-point goals: Monetzuma - none. Lynnville-Sully 4 (Rolffs 2, Van Wyk 1, VanRees 1).
Fouled out: none.
Turnovers: Montezuma 22, Lynnville-Sully 19. 
Bravette rebound leaders: Long 8, B. Steele 8, M. James 4, Ferguson 4, C. Steele 3.
Assists leaders: Ferguson 3, M. James 2.
Steals leaders: A. James 3, Ferguson 2, B. Steele 2.
Blocks leader: Long 2.
Line score legend: Field goals made, free throws made-attempted, personal fouls, total points.

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