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Two old conference rivals at the tops of their game will square off in Williamsburg Thursday when No. 15 Keota faces No. 6 Montezuma for the class 1A district nine championship. Keota comes into the game ranked No. 15 in the latest poll from the Iowa Associated Press for class 1A. They blasted BGM in the semifinal round of the tournament Tuesday 85-66 behind a school record 45 points from JD Stout. On the season, the Eagles are led by Stout scoring 30 points per game, most in class 1A. Carson Sprouse has the team lead with 83 assists and 55 steals. Brady Duwa is best on the glass for Keota with 135 boards.

Montezuma comes into the night with an overall record of 21-2. The Braves are ranked No. 6 in class 1A in the most recent poll from the Iowa Associated Press. Montezuma was a 67-55 winner at home in the semifinal round over North Mahaska. Trey Shearer led the Braves with 45 points of his own on 17 of 24 shooting. On the year, Shearer leads the way for Monte at 26 points per game, fourth most in class 1A. He is also the team leader with 123 assists and 56 steals. Eddie Burgess has a team best 242 rebounds. These two teams met in 76-68 in January with Shearer going for 38 points, Cole Watts 19 and Eddie Burgess a 12 point 11 rebound double double to lead the Braves while Keota got 28 from JD Stout, 13 from Luke Hammen and 12 from Carson Sprouse. This week, Eagle head coach Dan Stout talked about the keys to a rematch with the Braves. “We have to take care of the basketball, limit turnovers. We have to get good looks at the basket and move the ball. We have to hit the glass, especially offensively. They are going to play JD (Stout) with two guys so he is going to have to be tough, Carson (Sprouse) and Luke (Hammen) are going to have to step up and hit some shots. Brady (Duwa) is really going to have to go after the glass, help defensively and play hard and Wyatt (Sieren) is going to have to hit the glass for us. Hopefully we can put all of those things together.”

You can hear all of the action live tonight between No. 6 Montezuma and No. 15 Keota on AM 1380, FM 102.5 KCII and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 6:30 and tip off at 7p.m. from Williamsburg High School.