M-ettes win ninth state title in dramatic showing in Great Falls

There was no girls team in the state of Montana as dominant as the Malta M-ettes this past season.

Their dominant 26-0 2015 campaign ended in a 46-35 win over the Colstrip Fillies in the 2015 Class B Girls Championship in Great Falls.

They defeated the previously undefeated Forsyth Dogies 44-42 in a highly anticipated semi-finals match last Friday and the Columbus Cougars 54-39 in the opening round last Thursday.

It marks the team’s ninth state title, since 1991. The M-ettes have won 37.5 percent of Class B titles in that time span.

The team has been to the championship 16 times since 1983 (32 year span), and once more in 1978.

“Maybe tonight I’ll sit my head down on a pillow and just start crying,” M-ette Head Coach Nate Hammond told the PCN after the win. “It just feels so good but it takes a couple of minutes to realize what we just did because I’ve never prepared for this.”

Coach Hammond was talking about the post-game interviews.

“You don’t want to prepare yourself for it because I think the let down is just too hard.,” Coach Hammond continued. “But we wanted it so bad the kids wanted it so bad and they deserve it.”

In the 2015 Class B Girls Championship game, Malta was led by Sophomore Sophia Stiles, who led the team with 27 points, eight steals, four rebounds and four assists. She was also six of seven from behind the charity stripe.

Stiles’ performance was dominant even though she had twisted her ankle in the semi-final game against Forsyth.

“I went to the CMR’s athletic trainer and she ultra-sounded (my foot) in a bucket of ice water and she did shock treatment on it twice today,” Stiles said. “It was really weird . It would shock and my toes would move without me moving them.”

Darby Schye also had a tremendous night, scoring 11 points and snatching a game high eight rebounds.

Hailey Nicholson had seven points and Marley Manoukian recorded one point, six rebounds and four assists.

Due to the fact Malta didn’t run their full court press, the score was closer than it could have been at half time.

With Colstrip’s Kile Denny catching fire scoring 12 first half points and the game being 26-22 at halftime, it seemed as though the game could go either team’s way.

“I just think we came out and hung in there and played hard,” Coach Hammond said. “We came out a little rattled and a little rusty at the beginning of the game.”

Coach Hammond admitted that the team was forcing things and calls weren’t going the team’s way.

“But we just hung in there and kept trying to work harder on defense than they were working.”

Malta’s man to man defense was impressive and sound in the second half, holding Denny to one lone trey in the second half and only giving up twelve points total in the second half.

“We just really had to focus on where her (Denny) and Brina Hall were,” Stiles. “We definitely had to watch out for the other girls, but those two, they are their main scorers, so we just had to watch where they were the whole time.”

It also helped that Colstrip only hit five of 25 field goals (20 percent) in the second half, which speaks of how difficult Malta’s defense was.

Malta scored 24 points off of their 17 forced turnovers.

The closest Colstrip would come was in the third quarters when they chopped Malta’s lead to one point late in the third, but after a few turnovers Malta was soon up 38-31 at the end of the quarter.

Malta would hold on to that seven point lead well into the fourth quarter, then at the 4:30 mark the team would play keep away.

Though many of the Colstrip crowd voiced their opinion to foul Malta, and try to win the game at the line, the Fillies wouldn’t commit a foul, letting time slip away.

Malta would pull their starters with less than a minute to go.

The bench and crowd erupted knowing that with a 13 point lead (46-33), the team had sealed the game.

“It feels amazing,” Senior M-ette Rebecca Smith said after the win. “It’s amazing. We worked so hard for this and I’m so excited that we finally got it.”

“It feels amazing, we’ve been dreaming about this day ever since we first picked up the ball when we were little and it is just one of the best feelings ever,” Smith continued.

She also shared the sad part of playing her last game.

“It’s also sad because this is my last time playing with some of my best friends and I’ll just miss them forever. To be able to share this memory is one of the best things because we’ll have it forever,” Smith said.

Schye another senior shared her thoughts on the win.

“It’s so awesome, it doesn’t even feel real,” Schye said. “I can’t even believe it right now. It’s the best feeling.”

Schye, who is known for her unguardable left spin move, was less prone to do the maneuver this season, however the move came back with a vengeance during the last few weeks. Schye looked as confident in the move as she did last year.

So what gave her the confidence?

“My team,” Schye said. “ My team is my everything. They are my highs, they’re my lows. They help me get through everything. They are an inspiration to be better.”

Kelsey Kuehn is another senior who was in shock and awe after the game.

“It is just unbelievable,” Kuehn said. “I’m so happy. So happy for my teammates. We’ve all worked hard. It’s been fun.”

Dubbed a sophomore sensation by media all over Montana, Sophia Stiles shared her feelings after the