Mustangs thrash Wolf Point; To face Rocky Boy Friday

The Malta Mustangs avenged a loss they suffered earlier in the year by smashing the Wolf Point Wolves 72-26 last Saturday.

The team was led by Allen Williamson, who had 17 points in the win.

Malta showed pure dominance in the first half, out scoring Wolf Point 24-8.

The second quarter was even more impressive, when Malta only gave up one point, while scoring 29 more points, giving Malta a 53-9 lead at halftime, which put the game away.

Nate Costin added to the total with 14 points. Jase Galt had 13 points. Jeremy Costin had nine points. Jace Bishop, Devon Raybon had four points. Blake Sjostrom and Ostin Welch each had two points.

Before the game, Allen Williamson knew what the team needed to do to win.

“We need to protect the post more,” Williamson said. “We’ve been working on post help a lot, that’s where they scored the most on us last time.”

With Malta not having a true post player, Williamson who is a 5’11” junior has picked up the slack in the paint.

“You just gotta play physical with them, it doesn’t matter how tall they are as long as you’re more physical that helps a lot. It’s what I do since I’m a bout five inches shorter than a lot of them.”

Now only a couple of weeks away from tournaments, Tyson carney had some insight on what the team needs to improve on going against tough teams they will see.

“Like Allen said, we just have to protect the paint more,” Carney said. “Most of the time when they score on us, it’s an easy basket of the second pass.”

Carney also shared the key to improving their perimeter defense.

“When they get the ball, we gotta get out there with a hand in their face so they can’t get the quick shot up,” Carney said. “We’ve got to anticipate which way they’re going so we can jump to either side to defend them.

Carney has been an excellent ball player for Malta and he shared his favorite part of the season. Or maybe he didn’t.

“Not yet. When we get to tournament time that time will probably be my favorite time.”

Being told that he couldn’t say the same thing Carney said, Williamson shared his favorite moment.

“I liked when Devon got a dunk in the game against Roundup,” Williamson said. “It was during the JV game.”

The Mustangs will have a chance to tie the series against Rocky Boy on Friday.

Malta lost to Rocky Boy in a game that ended in a 74-70 Malta loss.

Those who saw that game may remember Nate Costin putting up a three point buzzer beater prayer that nearly went in twice with a near foul.

Though Malta doesn’t have a strong post player, they have proven that they could hold strong post players to limited points.

Rocky Boy’s Cecil LaFromboise was held in check for most of the game, until Malta faced foul trouble.

“I’m going to try to be physical with him. He’s a lot bigger than everybody else but I’m a lot quicker than him, so that helps,” Williamson said.

Those lucky enough to travel to Rocky Boy, will likely see a great game.

The game is set to start Friday at 7:30 p.m.