State basketball: Montezuma defeats North Linn for first state title in 31 years

Cinderella danced all the way to the top on Friday morning.

The Montezuma boys' basketball team completed a dominant week by defeating North Linn, 44-41, to win the Class 1A state boys' basketball championship at Wells Fargo Arena. It is the Braves' third title in school history, and their first since 1990.

"This was our goal on day one," Montezuma senior Trey Shearer said. "State champion, I don't know if there's two better words that you could tell me right now."

The Braves, who finished the season 25-2 overall, stormed out of the 7-seed to knock off No. 2 Lake Mills, No. 3 Grand View Christian and the top-seeded Lynx to win this week. Those three teams entered the week with a combined record of 69-1.

Montezuma, Prep Hoops Iowa's third-rated preseason team in Class 1A, needed overtime to defeat the Bulldogs, 66-61, on Monday, then used stellar defense to defeat three-time state champion Grand View Christian, 49-35, in Wednesday's semifinal.

North Linn, meanwhile, cruised over No. 8 South Winneshiek and No. 4 Martensdale-St. Marys to reach its fourth-straight state title game. North Linn entered with a 27-0 record — and a 155-5 overall mark dating to the 2015-16 season.

But cold shooting plagued the Lynx early.

Montezuma led by as many 13 late in the second quarter after North Linn started 4-of-22 from the floor. The Braves took a 27-19 lead into halftime. Shearer ultimately led Montezuma with 13 points. Cole Watts added 10.

The Lynx, state champs in Class 2A in 2019, chipped away throughout the second half. Tate Haughenbury and Austin Hilmer, North Linn's scoring leaders with 13 and 11 points, fueled the charge.

The Lynx came within one point with 33 seconds left in the third, but Watts hit a triple to push Montezuma's lead to 34-30 entering the fourth. Cam Johnson then opened the final frame with a layup to put the Braves up six.

North Linn was within three points throughout the final 3:48 of the fourth quarter, but could not fully close the gap. Hilmer fired off two 3-point shots in the final five seconds. Neither connected.

"We came back and played tough," Hilmer said. "We figured out what they were doing to stop us, and figured out ways to score, but we came up just a little short."

As such, Montezuma donned the championship hats once the clock hit all zeroes, complete with dancing and hugs on the floor. Shearer took a moment to walk over to the North Linn bench to congratulate Hilmer and his teammates, a nod to the Lynx's run of recent success.

It took a third-straight state tournament appearance to finally reach the top, but it was an accomplishment well worth the wait for these Braves.

"We have such great kids and a great community that really builds these guys up and support us," Montezuma coach Derrick Dengler said. "The whole town might've been here tonight. It's awesome to be able to bring this back."

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.