Elise Boulton engineers 4th-quarter surge, Montezuma beats Saint Ansgar in state quarterfinals

DES MOINES — When things started going downhill for Montezuma, that was a good thing.

The sixth-ranked Bravettes separated themselves in the fourth quarter from an inaccurate perimeter game, reclaimed momentum and topped No. 3 Saint Ansgar, 50-45, in a Class 1A quarterfinal at the girls' state basketball tournament Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

'We'd been shooting a lot of out-of-rhythm 3s,' said Montezuma's Elise Boulton, who led all scorers with 29 points, the most of anybody in any class in the quarterfinal round. 'We started getting downhill with the drive, and that got us going.'

Despite shooting 27 percent from the field, including an ugly 1-of-16 in the third quarter, Montezuma (23-1) advanced to face No. 2 Newell-Fonda (24-1) — an 88-47 winner over No. 7 Kingsley-Pierson — in a semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday.

The Bravettes turned the tables on Saint Ansgar (22-2), which eliminated them 51-46 in last year's first round. But revenge wasn't high on their priority list.

'We didn't focus on who we were playing,' Boulton said. 'We didn't want to stop playing tonight. We don't want to stop playing until Saturday.'

'That's such a true statement with this group, and it's a unique group,' Montezuma Coach Janel Burgess said. 'They'll come back tomorrow even more focused. They want that next 32 minutes together.'

The Bravettes led 27-20 at halftime, then things got wonky on the third quarter, enabling the Saints to take a 34-32 edge into the last eight minutes.

After Boulton hit Dylan Holland for a basket to tie it, Saint Ansgar answered on Brooklyn Hackbart's basket for a 36-34 Saints lead. Then, Boulton engineered a 10-0 run, hitting two floaters in the lane and four free throws, while Shanae Wetering added two more foul shots.

Montezuma was 12 of 14 from the line in the fourth quarter, 21 of 24 in the game.

'I shot 50 free throws at the gym before we left,' said Boulton, who was 9 of 10.

Wetering added 10 points and six rebounds, and Dylan Holland posted seven points and eight boards.

'We had to slow down and take a deep breath after that third quarter,' Wetering said. 'We focused on each play, one at a time.'

Wetering is the younger sister of Shateah Wetering, former all-stater at Montezuma and current freshman at the University of Iowa.

'Last year, a lot was about Shateah, and I needed to gain confidence in just being myself,' Shanae said.

Hali Anderson led Saint Ansgar with 19 points, but shot 8 of 26 from the floor.

MONTEZUMA 50, SAINT ANSGAR 45

Class 1A State Quarterfinal, at Des Moines

MONTEZUMA (50): Shanae Wetering 1-8 7-8 10, Kierstyn Price 0-3 0-0 0, Mia Boulton 0-3 2-2 2, Elise Boulton 8-17 9-10 29, Dylan Holland 3-10 1-2 7, Madison Johannes 0-3 2-2 2, Jadyn Sharer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-44 21-24 50.

SAINT ANSGAR (45): Hali Anderson 8-26 0-0 19, Gracie Urbatsch 3-8 0-0 6, Brooklyn Hackbart 5-14 2-2 14, Taylor Hanna 1-3 0-0 3, Madison Hillman 0-1 0-0 0, Lauren Bork 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Gooder 1-3 0-0 3, Adrianna Kruse 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-56 2-2 45.

Halftime: Montezuma 27, Saint Ansgar 20. 3-pointers: Montezuma 5-23 (Wetering 1-5, Price 0-2, M. Boulton 0-3, E. Boulton 4-7, Holland 0-4, Johannes 0-2), Saint Ansgar 7-29 (Anderson 3-14, Urbatsch 0-2, Hackbart 2-8, Hanna 1-3, Gooder 1-2). Team fouls: Montezuma 8, Saint Ansgar 16. Fouled out: Hackbart. Rebounds: Montezuma 33 (Holland 8), Saint Ansgar 39 (Urbatsch 11). Assists: Montezuma 3 (E. Boulton 2), Saint Ansgar 11 (Anderson 5). Steals: Montezuma 12 (E. Boulton 4), Saint Ansgar 6 (Anderson 6). Turnovers: Montezuma 12, Saint Ansgar 15.

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com