Mustangs, M-ettes roll into 2B tournament defeating district foes

MUSTANGS

The Malta Mustangs picked up a couple of wins last weekend destroying Plentywood 52-9 and demolishing Harlem 74-46.

By winning those games Malta placed second in the district with a record of 7-3 (11-7 overall). Because they finished second the team will have a first round bye in this year's 2B District Tourney which starts tomorrow in Wolf Point.

"I think right now we're probably playing the best basketball we've played all year." Malta Mustangs Head Coach David Costin said of his team.

The Mustangs will face the winner of the game between Harlem and Plentywood at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

On the other side of the bracket, first place Glasgow, who is undefeated against 2B opponents this season will also have a first round bye. The Scotties will square off against the winner of the Poplar and Wolf Point game.

In Malta's 74-46 win against the Harlem Wildcats last Friday, the team honored Jeremy Costin as the team's lone senior for Senior Night.

Malta had four players in double digit points.

Jase Galt had a game leading 15 points, in the win. Tyson Carney had 14 points. Jeremy Costin had 12 points. Nate Costin had 11 points. Both Allen Williamson and Ostin Welch had eight points a piece. Devon Raybon had six points.

"We've managed to defend the paint better and right now we're rebounding the ball pretty well," Coach Costin said.

Coach Costin did notice one thing his team could've done better.

"We need to be a little more patient. When we take early shots, we're shooting at a real poor percentage. If we make a few passes our percentage doubles or triples."

If they play defense how they did against Harlem and can improve their shooting, Coach Costin believes the team can compete with anyone.

Malta was relentless against Plentywood defeating the Wildcats 52-9 last Saturday in Plentywood.

The team was led by Jeremy Costin who scored 16 points.

Williamson scored 10 points. Carney, Raybon, Bishop and Welch scored four points a piece. Cru Darrah scored three points. Both Nate Costin and Blake Sjostrom scored two points a piece.

Malta established dominance from the start out-scoring Plentywood 14-1 in the first quarter and 19-4 in the second, giving the Mustangs a 33-5 lead at halftime.

Plentywood would be held to two points in the third quarter and another two in the fourth quarter. Nine points were shared between six Wildcats players, meaning no one player scored more than one basket.

Malta should be able to skate to the championship game, which in all likelihood would be against Glasgow who has defeated Malta twice this season.

The last time the teams met Malta was beat by a barrage of three pointers and strong post play in the fourth quarter.

This time around Malta may try a more aggressive approach on defense, though Coach Costin is unsure how the team will defend Glasgow in the event the teams meet this weekend.

M-ETTES

The Malta M-ettes completed a perfect 18-0 regular season, after blowing out Harlem 66-25 last Friday and then Plentywood 74-27 last Saturday.

Being in first place in the district, the M-ettes will sit out the first round of the 2B District Tournament in Wolf Point out with a bye.

The M-ettes will see their first action against the winner of Game one, which will be between Plentywood and Harlem on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

It would seem that the tournament is the M-ette's for the taking, however the team isn't taking anyone lightly in the tournament.

"We definitely need to just take it one game at a time," M-ette Sophia Stiles told the PCN.

If the M-ettes make it past Plentywood or Harlem, they will be in a championship game against Glasgow, Poplar or Wolf Point (teams on the other side of the bracket).

Four of six 2B teams will go to the Northern B Divisional Tournament in Malta February 26-28.

The team was hoping to put an end to the Fairfield Eagles' win streak, however Choteau did the honors last week, ending the Eagle's streak at 120.

Their last loss came at the hands of 2010 State B Champion Malta M-ettes.

"I was disappointed because I wanted to break the streak," Stiles said. "I figured it was going to come to an end sometime, but since it was so close to us maybe playing them at the divisional tournament I was hoping we were going to end it."

In the M-ette's 66-25 win against the Harlem Wildcats, Darby Schye, Kelsey Kuehn, Markelle Lett and Rebecca Smith were honored during the team's Senior Night.

The team was led by Sophia Stiles who scored 19 points, had nine assists and six steals.

"We started out really fast and got a lead pretty early, so it was good," Stiles said..

Darby Schye had a 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.

Hailey Nicholson scored 10 points, had eight rebounds, seven steals, four assists and two blocks in the game.

Kelsey Kuehn had eight points and seven rebounds.

Markelle Lett had six points, four rebounds and three steals.

Rebecca Smith had three points and Marley Manoukian added two points.

Malta scored 22 points off of turnovers and had 17 second chance points. The team outrebounded Harlem 46-29.

Malta then traveled to Plentywood and blew-out the Plentywood Wildcats 74-27.

Hailey Nicholson exploded for a game leading 26 points, nine rebounds, six steals, five assists and three blocks, which nearly gave her a 5 x 5 in the win.

Stiles added 15 points, five assists and three steals in the effort.

"It was a long bus trip and usually when we go there we don't get going as fast as we normally would, but we came out ready to play," Stiles said. "Our press was working right away. We did good there."

Schye added seven points. Manoukian, Jada Nicholson and Rebecca Smith had six points. Adrianna Bibeau had four points. Shay Garfield scored three points. Kaitlyn Smith had one points.

Malta scored 30 points off of turnovers in the game.

The M-ettes shouldn't have too much of a problem getting into divisionals, however the team will need to keep their head on a swivel in order to avoid an upset.