Second quarter dooms Baxter boys against Montezuma

BAXTER — The boys basketball matchup between Baxter and Montezuma on Saturday featured a pair of all-staters from the previous season.

But a player who averaged nearly eight points per game last winter stole the show during the Braves’ 75-65 non-conference road win.

“We knew he was a good player,” Baxter head boys basketball coach Kyle Stribe said. “We couldn’t stop him on the boards. Our help defense needs to be better. We were not in a good position a lot of the time. We didn’t help very well and our energy was poor.”

The “he” and the “him” was Dane Strong, who finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and four steals in Montezuma’s win.

Both teams shot just under 42 percent from the floor and the Bolts made one more 3-pointer and five more free throws than the Braves, but Montezuma forced 17 turnovers and used a big second quarter to grab an advantage it wouldn’t give up.

Montezuma led 18-14 after one quarter and outscored the Bolts 24-13 in the second. The Braves took an 18-point lead into the final frame before Baxter rallied with a 23-point fourth.

Eli Dee scored 28 points to lead the Bolts (3-1), and Baxter held first team all-state guard Brady Boulton to 10 points under his season average, but Strong’s big effort was too much to overcome.

Dee opened the game with a three-point play and then scored inside through contact to keep the Bolts close early.

But a technical foul was called on Dee for yelling “and one” as he ran to the other end of the floor.

That personal foul ended up plaguing the Bolts as he missed the final 2:32 of the first half with three fouls and was forced to play a different way the rest of the game.

“Eli is a kid who plays with energy,” Dee said. “It’s not so much talking but just being excited and that sucked the energy out of him. When you can’t do that, if you’re that kind of player, it can take it out of you. It’s a learning experience for him. He needs to find that next level another way.”

A bucket by Maddux Tuhn and a 3-pointer from Hayden Burdess tied the contest at 10-all in the first. It stayed even at 12-all following a runner by Tuhn, but Montezuma scored six of the final eight of the period to lead by four after one.

The Bolts never led the rest of the way. The Braves lead grew to 30-19, but back-to-back 3s by Dakota Parker melted the margin to 32-25. Another bucket with the foul by Dee kept the deficit at seven, but the Braves finished the half on an 8-0 run and led 42-27 at the break.

“We’re excited for games like this because we can watch the film and know where we struggled,” Stribe said. “We didn’t rebound well and turned the ball over too much.”

Strong is shooting 28 percent from 3 this season and was a 31-percent shooting from distance last year.

His two made treys in the game both came in the first quarter. That momentum led to seven more points in the second and a 14-point second half.

Strong scored the first basket of the second half, but Dee totaled 10 points in the first half of the third and had 15 in the frame. His final basket was a two-handed dunk in traffic and he drained 11-of-11 from the foul line.

But the Braves still led 63-45 after three. The lead grew to as large as 22 for Montezuma (4-1), but Burdess and Stadan Vansice both drilled 3s and Tuhn started a 6-0 run that also included four points from Dee.

Vansice ended the game with back-to-back 3s to melt the margin to 10, but that’s as close as the Bolts got.

“We hope to see them again. Things didn’t go our way and we did play (the night before),” Stribe said. “We don’t want to use that as an excuse, but you could tell it was different. It’s a good experience for us because you never know what the schedule will be with snow days factoring in.”

Dee grabbed six boards to go with his 28 points. He was 16-of-17 from the foul line.

Burdess totaled 10 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks and Tuhn chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Vansice scored nine points and grabbed three boards, Parker put in six points, Colten Damman dished out two assists before fouling out and Holden Dee grabbed two rebounds.

The Bolts shot 41.7 percent from the floor, made 7-of-24 from 3 and connected on 18-of-21 from the foul line.

Montezuma shot 41.8 percent from the floor, hit 6-of-27 from 3 and made 13-of-18 from the line but only committed six turnovers.

Boulton finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals to go with Strong’s career high.

“It’s hard to guard them in man-to-man defense so playing a zone you just hope they miss some,” Stribe said. “But it’s like any team. Same with us. We can make everything one night and some nights we don’t make anything.”

Baxter 80, GMG 40

GARWIN — Dee’s double-double and a big second half powered the Bolts to a 10th straight win over GMG on Friday.

Baxter led by two after one quarter and went into halftime with a 10-point advantage but dominated the second half during an 80-40 road win in Iowa Star Conference South Division play.

The Bolts (3-0 in the conference) are 15-2 against the Wolverines since 2017.

Dee finished with 31 points, a career-best 18 rebounds and five assists to lead Baxter. He scored his 1,000th career point in the win.

Parker put in a career-best 18 points, Tuhn totaled 13 points and Burdess contributed four points, six rebounds and three assists.

Parker grabbed two boards, Tuhn collected two rebounds and two assists, Damman added five points and three rebounds and Blake Maxwell (3) and Alec Robinson (2) scored their first career varsity points.

Cael Wishman made his season debut after missing the final part of the football season and the first few games of basketball due to an injury.

The Bolts outscored the Wolverines (1-3, 1-2 in the conference) 45-15 in the second half.