Belle Plaine hosted Montezuma in a boy-girl basketball doubleheader earlier this week with mixed results. The girls pulled out a 46-39 win, but the boys dropped a 74-57 decision to the Braves.
The last time the girls’ teams faced each other, Belle Plaine came home with a 47-28 decision. But this time, after they battled to a 7-7 first quarter tie, the Plainsmen took a 24-13 lead into the half. But Montezuma kept it close, trailing after three quarters, 38-31.
Dani Coover played an especially inspired second half and finished as the high point player with 23 points. She also had nine rebounds, two assists and three steals. Taylor Schafbuch also finished in double figures with a doze, along with five rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Macy DeMeulenaere had eight points and two rebounds. Julie Long added three points and five steals and Laura Breja had three rebounds.
For Montezuma, Brittany Bryan had 11 points and Emily Long added 10.
The Plainsmen hit just 15 of 41 shots from the field and trailed in the rebounding department, 23-21. But they connected on 16 of 31 free throw attempts, while the visitors hit just two of three attempts. Montezuma also had a 19-10 lead in turnovers.
Despite scoring 23 first quarter points, the Plainsman boys couldn’t top the Braves, who moved to 9-6 on the season. The Plainsmen have a record of 6-8. Belle Plaine scored seven points in the second quarter, before bouncing back with 18 in the third. But they had just nine in the last period.
Keegan DeMeulenaere led the Belle Plaine scoring with 13 points. He also had seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Ben Ehlen had 12 poitns, three rebounds, three assists and six steals. Cooper Northrop was next with nine points and two steals. Mitch Jacobi had eight points and four rebounds. Chris Janss had seven points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Kyle Janss had four points, two rebounds and two steals. Seivon Steward had two points and four rebounds and Zach Snyder also had two points with two rebounds.
The Plainsmen scored on 19 of 50 shots from the field, including four of 15 three-point tries. They also had 15 free throws in 22 attempts and a dozen turnovers.
The Plainsman teams travel to Lynnville-Sully Friday night before starting a busy first week of February. They host North Mahaska on Monday, travel to Keota on Tuesday and then host Tri-County Friday for Parents’ Night.