Keota unable to get revenge on Montezuma

WILLIAMSBURG - It was the end of a good run for Keota Thursday in a Class 1A District 9 boys high school basketball final as the Eagles dropped a 66-48 to the No. 7 ranked Montezuma Braves.

The Braves opened a 6-0 lead and Keota answered with a 9-0 run, but trailed 18-9 at the end of the first quarter and 32-22 at halftime.

'We struggled to score all night,” Keota Coach Dan Stout said. 'Our defense was there, but we didn't score. They got some run outs and hit some free throws at the end to stretch the final score on us.”

JD Stout ended a brilliant Eagles career 25 points short of 2,000 as he finished with 19.

'It just wasn't our night,” Coach Stout said. 'We were there defensively, and JD had a layup in the third quarter that would have got the deficit down to three and he chunked it. It was just one of those nights. Give Montezuma credit for their defense.”

The Eagles held the Braves to five third-quarter points but only scored nine. It was 37-31 starting the final frame.

Luke Hammen scored 14 while Keota teammates Brady Duwa and Carson Sprouse had five each.

Montezuma (Trey Shearer) and Keota (JD Stout) each had a player score 45 points in Tuesday's district semifinal wins. The Braves won an earlier meeting at Keota, 76-68, in January. In the that matchup, Shearer had 38 while Stout had while Stout had 28.

Keota had a couple of goals Thursday and met one, while barely missing the other.

'Our goal as to hold him to under 25 and he got 22,” Coach Stout said. 'We wanted to keep them in the 50s and they only had 55 with a couple minutes left, but we had to foul.”

Keota ends its season with a record of 20-4.

Montezuma (22-2) advances to play the District 10 winner, Nodaway Valley, a 57-39 winner over Central Decatur, at Knoxville Saturday.