M-ettes outlast Havre to sweep series; Team set to play Rocky Boy and Panthers

The Malta M-ettes started the 2016 calendar year on a good note after defeating the Havre Lady Blue Ponies for a second time this season last Saturday, January 2. The score of the game was 55-44.

This Friday the M-ettes will take on the Rocky Boy Northern Stars, who haven't seen much action this season.

The M-ettes will then come back to Malta to defend their home court against the Roundup Lady Panthers who are 4-3 of the season. Their wins include a 56-34 win against Huntley Project last Saturday and a 43-36 win against Glasgow early in December. The Lady Panthers are currently on a three game win-streak.

In last Saturday's win against Havre, the Blue Ponies showed the M-ettes more resistance than they did a month ago in Malta's 63-39 win but Malta held on to sweep the series.

"I was real happy with how we played," M-ette Head Coach Nate Hammond said. "It was kind of a tough week for us with Christmas, New Years, the Snowball and all that going on. Our kids did a pretty good job of staying focused."

He continued to say that Malta knew going into the break that Havre was going to give it their all. Knowing that gave Malta good reason to stay focused.

Malta was led by Hailey Nicholson who had a strong double-double consisting of 21 points and 13 rebounds. Nicholson also had two blocks and two steals.

"Hailey played great," Coach Hammond said. "She was able to use her size against Havre in a way that I haven't seen her use it much." We stuck her in the low-block the second half and she was really able to show how long and tall she was."

He noted that she has also played a more physical game this season that started to show against Havre.

Sophia Stiles had 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Marley Manoukian had 10 points. Jada Nicholson had eight points and two blocks. Shay Garfield had two points and two steals.

"They all played well," Coach Hammond said. "It was good for us because we faced a lot of man-to-man defense. That's all Havre played. In Malta the only thing they played was zone all game."

Havre was led by Dani Wagner who had 22 points and Naomi Terry who had 11.

The M-ettes made 27-of-61 field goals (44 percent) but were 0-for-5 from three point range and 1-for-4 from the free throw line (25 percent).

"Havre doesn't give us any easy baskets," Coach Hammond said praising Havre's defensive efforts. "They get back on defense, so that we don't get many layups. You have to earn every basket you get against Havre and that makes it tough."

Malta out-rebounded Havre 31 to 29. Malta forced 18 turnovers while turning the ball over eight times. The M-ettes had 18 second chance points and 16 points off of turnovers.

Malta outscored Havre 14-7 in the first quarter and 19-12 in the second. The halftime score was 33-19.

Havre would avoid a complete blowout by lingering around the 14 point deficit as both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter. The score at the start of the fourth quarter was 49-35.

Havre outscored Malta in the fourth quarter 9-6, but the damage was done as the M-ettes won the game 55-44.

Before the game, during the school's Winter Break, the team still had practices, working on various aspects of their game, even aspects that were already strengths.

"We practiced all week Monday through Friday," Coach Hammond said. "We worked on our press. We put in a little bit of a different press that we ran against Havre. It worked pretty good."

He also noted that the team was working on some of their man-to-man principles.

"A lot of these nights man-to-man is the best defense we have, so we need to focus on making sure that we do those things well and be able to lock teams down man-to-man."

While Malta has won the last couple of games against the Roundup Lady Panthers, last season there was a little cause for concern as Roundup kept their first meeting with the M-ettes closer than expected.

"Roundup has been getting better the past few years and a couple of their best players are back," Coach Hammond said. "They're going to be tough. They are always one of the toughest teams we play."

While Coach Hammond doesn't know exactly what to expect from Rocky Boy, he is counting on the Northern Stars' past ability to try to speed up the game.

"We can anticipate seeing a zone defense out of both teams," Coach Hammond said. "Rocky Boy is always a challenge. They force you into a lot of turnovers and they play aggressive, trying to speed the game up on you. That's the way we like to play anyway."