M-ettes top Fairfield, Choteau for Northern B Division Crown

The Girls Northern Divisional title was returned to Malta last Saturday after the M-ettes defeated the Choteau Bulldogs 58-46.

"We're just really happy," Coach Nate Hammond told the PCN after the win. "This is a great division. Choteau and Fairfield and all these teams are tough teams. We battled through."

On the way to the championship game, Malta destroyed the Fairfield Eagles, who have won the title the last four consecutive years.

Before Fairfield's 120 game win streak it was Malta who last owned the Northern B trophy.

With fresh memories of the 2014 State B championship loss to the Eagles on mind, the atmosphere at the Girls Northern B was electric when the M-ettes and Eagles squared off Friday night. For the first time in a while, Fairfield looked overmatched.

Malta won the game 53-30 with hard nosed defense.

"I never felt like we had a monkey on our back (facing Fairfield), I just felt like we had a lot of business to take care of," Coach Hammond said.

The M-ettes were led by Hailey Nicholson who had 15 points, eight steals and four rebounds.

Sophia Stiles had 11 points, six assists and five steals.

Markelle Lett had seven points and two blocks.

Jada Nicholson had five points. Kelsey Kuehn and Marley Manoukian both had four points. Rebecca Smith had three points. Darby Schye and Eva Harms had two points a piece.

"It was fun but it's not the same team so it's not like a revenge game," Senior M-ette captain Darby Schye said. "A win is a win no matter what. We just like winning."

Fairfield, though without Jill Barta who graduated last season, still had plenty of height under the bucket with Liz and Natalie Klinker protecting the paint.

The Klinker sisters accounted for 18 of the team's 24 rebounds.

The Klinkers also made it tough for Post-forward Darby Schye to snag rebounds.

"Man they are physical. You just have to push back. Obviously we had a lot of fouls," Schye said with a smile.

Malta still outplayed Fairfield defensively forcing 33 turnovers, while giving up the ball 18 times.

The M-ettes scored 21 points off of turnovers and Fairfield scored 11.

Malta generated 14 points off of the bench, while Fairfield only netted three.

Though the defeat of Fairfield marked a huge win for Malta, the M-ettes weren't done yet, as they knew they had to prepare for a tough Choteau Bulldog team the next night.

"I think the kids are going to be focused," Coach Hammond said after the semi-final win. "I think sometimes as coaches, we try too hard and maybe give them too much information. These kids have done a great job with game plans but they are going to be focused and that's what's so fun about coaching them. I know they're going to come out and play hard."

The M-ette's defense looked just as sharp against Choteau as it did against Fairfield, however Choteau kept it close. Malta won the championship game 58-46.

"I was really proud because we had a lot of adversity in this one," Coach Hammond said. "Not everything went our way but our kids kept their composure and kept battling. We knew we were good enough to win if we kept our heads in it and kept battling."

Malta was led by Sophia Stiles who exploded 31 points, nine steals, five assists and five rebounds.

Stiles made it to the charity stripe for 22 shot attempts and sank 13 shots.

Darby Schye had 10 points and five rebounds.

Hailey Nicholson scored eight points, had seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

"I expected them to be tough but I think we prepared well for them and came out ready and we played hard," Hailey Nicholson said.

Marley Manoukian had five points. Jada Nicholson, Kelsey Kuehn, Markelle Lett and Rebecca Smith each had one point.

Malta reached the free throw line for 47 shot attempts, though the team struggled early shooting the penalty shots, they came around in the second half. The team finished with 28 attempts made, giving them 59 percent in the end.

"Free throws are such a mental thing that sometimes it's better to not even talk to them about it," Coach Hammond said. "But we made some down the stretch and it kept enough distance for us."

Malta forced 28 turnovers against Choteau, while Choteau forced Malta to commit 18.

Malta scored 28 points off of turnovers, though many of those buckets didn't come until late in the game.

Choteau proved to have some depth, with the bench scoring 23 points, the same amount as the starters.

In the opening round of the tournament, Malta made short work of the Cut Bank Wolves, defeating them 62-22.

The team was led by Stiles, who had 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Hailey Nicholson had 10 points, six rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks.

Schye had eight points and seven rebounds. Jada Nicholson had five points. Kuehn and Manoukian had four points a piece. Markelle Lett had three points. Kaitlyn Smith and Eva Harms had two points a piece.

Jada Nicholson, a sophomore has been providing many highlights for the