Montezuma Bravettes bring home state quarterfinal trophy

        The Montezuma Bravettes’s 2024-25 basketball season came to an end on Wednesday, March 5 in a tough, 69-31, loss to the Algona Bishop-Garringan Golden Bears at the IGHSAU State Basketball Tournament. The Bravettes finished the season with a 19-6 overall record and first place finish in the SICL. Pictured are, from left, front row: Mya Smothers, Rylee Thompson, Claire Erselius, Shiressa Wetering, Ellen Cook, Vivian Cook, Alexa Rose. Back row: Ryanne Williams, Sydnee Burgess, Khloe Krouse, Leticia Wilson, Sophia Semprini, Lindsey Henry and Lauryn Larmore.

By J.O. Parker
 
        Losing at state basketball is tough to swallow.
        Getting there is even tougher.
       And for Montezuma, this year marked their sixth trip to the girls’ state basketball tournament in the past eight years. All-totaled, the Bravettes have taken their game to Des Moines 17 times.
        The Bravettes struggled in most phases of the Class 1A quarterfinal state basketball game on Wednesday, March 5 at Wells Fargo Arena to a deep Algona Bishop-Garrigan Golden Bears team, falling 69-31.
       Montezuma output was the lowest of the season. The Bravettes had been averaging 58.2 points per game throughout the regular season and playoffs.
        Coach Janel Burgess said following the game that she thought the team did compete in some capacity.
      “But you just can’t turn the ball over the way we did,” she said. “We just kept baiting ourselves to the sidelines and ultimately you can’t commit the turnovers.”
        “You can’t go and shoot 29 percent from the field and only 6 percent from the three-point line,” Burgess added. “We only had one (three pointer in the game). Which anybody who plays Montezuma knows you got to keep us off the three point line because if we get settled in, we’re in pretty good shape.
      “Defensively, I thought we knew what we needed to do. But you can’t give up second chance opportunities and transition buckets off of turnovers. And you got to look at points in the paint, 28, 26 off of turnovers. I mean, boom, that’s just it. That hurts.”
         Seniors Shiressa Wetering and Ellen Cook were top scorers in the game. Wetering finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds while Cook finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds.
         Burgess was quick to praise the team, saying these kids played and they developed throughout the year.
“They played for each other,” said Burgess. “They played for a purpose bigger than just themselves. To be able to finish here (at state) is a wonderful accomplishment. We played a really unique schedule that was hard for us and I thought we had to overcome some of that adversary of mind over matter. But really proud of just these two seniors and what our youthfulness did as we grew throughout the year. We need to develop. We need to get deeper as a team. We can’t be five deep or six deep. I mean, we need to be able to compete. You can see where the game is changing. It’s a full court game at this point in time and we have not adjusted to that for a variety of reasons. I think we can in the future but we weren’t quite ready for that yet.”
        And as for the future, Sydney Burgess, Vivian Cook, Claire Erselius and Lauren Larmore and the rest of the bench will be back wearing a blue and white uniform next season.
       “We are going to have to find two or three kids who are ready to put in some time to get themselves better because we have skills that we have to get better,” noted Burgess.
        The Bravettes wrapped up the 2024-25 campaign with a 19-6 overall record and first place finish in SICL Conference play.
        The only conference loss came early in the season to North Mahaska. The team’s other losses came at the hands of bigger 2A schools, Pella Christian, Maquoketa Valley, PCM and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont.
Maquoketa Valley, Eddyville- Blakesburg-Fremont and North Mahaska all made state appearances.
       And as for seniors Wetering and Cook, the future is looking bright. Cook will be attending Drake University in the fall where she will run cross country and track. She plans to major in biology on the pre-dental track.
Wetering will be hitting the books in the fall at UNI.
       When asked about the season, Wetering said it definitely wasn’t how we wanted it to go.
      “But it was a really fun ride,” she said. “It’s just great to be back here (at state). It was such a blessing for everyone who came out here to support us.”
       When asked what advice she gives to the younger team members, Wetering said to give it your all.
      “Keep being your best and work hard every day at practice,” she said.
Cook said the community support has been amazing.
     “All those people who drove up today in the weather just shows it all,” said Cook. “I have just enjoyed having our community by us every step of the way.”