M-ette Basketball: Team blows out Rocky Boy; Wins a close game against Panthers in Roundup

The M-ettes are now 8-0 after facing some tough competition last weekend.

They protected their house against Rocky Boy and won a close one in Roundup against the Lady Panthers.

The Malta M-ettes seemed to want to make a statement in their 70-40 against the Rocky Boy Northern Stars.

"I'd say we all just want to send a message," said Darby Schye, though she did not indicate what the message was.

The team was led by sophomore Sophia Stiles who had 18 points and 10 assists, seven rebounds and six steals.

Hailey Nicholson had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Marley Manoukian had 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.

Darby Schye and Markelle Lett had nine points a piece.

Jada Nicholson had six points. Rebecca Smith added five points.

Rocky Boy, went up 5-0 right after the tip off, which may have been concerning to many watching, but Malta eventually regained pace and won a very entertaining first quarter, going up 22-18 at the end on the quarter.

"I was actually not too worried about it," Junior guard Marley Manoukian said. "I knew that we could work as a team, come back and get it done."

The Northern Stars were playing hard against Malta's guards, but eventually Malta outlasted them.

"I guess Sophie and I just worked together and got it done," Manoukian said.

For those who haven't noticed, Manoukian has extreme focus, especially on defense.

"Defense has always been my favorite thing," she said. "No matter if you're having a bad day on offense or anywhere else, you can hang your hat on your defense no matter what."

The first quarter score would be the closest the Northern Stars would get to a victory.

For not having much height Rocky Boy was feisty in the paint, making Malta earn every bucket and giving Darby Schye a rough time in the paint.

"You just gotta push back and make your own space," Schye said.

Schye has a knack for making space, even with four defenders draped over her, she still converted a few buckets in the game.

"I learned it from Coach Hanson and my dad," Schye said. "I just like to use my left hand so sometimes it happens on accident."

Malta outscored Rocky Boy 16-3 in the second quarter, then 19-8 in the third quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter Malta sat comfortably with a 57-29 score.

The bench players even fared well, only giving up 11 points in the fourth, while scoring 13.

Malta was 53 percent from the field, sinking 24 of 45 shots.

They were 5 for 12 (41 percent) from three point land and 7 for 10 from the free throw line.

Malta out-rebounded Rocky Boy 31 to 19 and scored 19 second chance points, while Rocky Boy only scored six off of rebounds.

If you made it out to Roundup to see the M-ettes defeat the Lady Panthers, you saw a much closer game than Malta wanted. The final score was 43-36.

Stiles led the team with 13 points.

H. Nicholson had 11 points.

Lett scored eight points.

Manoukian had seven points.

Schye had three points and Kelsey Kuehn had one point.

Malta didn't shoot well in the game making only 40 percent of their shots from the floor.

The team went 0 for 7 from behind the arc and 7 for 16 from the charity stripe.

The major difference in the score came from second chance points in which Malta had 11 and Roundup only had three.

Malta is still undefeated as they look to keep their winning streak alive against Harlem and Plentywood this weekend.

"We just take each game, a step at a time," said Darby Schye, when asked which game she was looking forward to next.

"Everyone is a good opponent," Schye continued.

The game against Harlem is set for this Friday in Harlem at 6 p.m.

They will then see action Saturday night in Malta against Plentywood at 6:00 p.m.