Mustangs defeat Blue Ponies 46-42

The Malta Mustangs picked up their first series sweep of the season after defeating the Havre Blue Ponies 46-42 in Havre last Saturday.

The team will look to face the Rocky Boy Morning Stars this Friday at 7:30 in Rocky Boy and then come back to face Roundup on Saturday in Malta at 5:30.

Rocky Boy defeated Malta in all three meetings last season, including a challenge game in last year’s Northern B Divisional that dashed Malta’s hope of reaching the state tournament.

Rocky Boy looks a lot different this season, losing postman Cecil LaFromboise to gradation, as well as Bubby Gopher, Skylar Parisian and leader Junior Day Child.

Still Rocky Boy will boast plenty of talent, specifically at the guard positions.

“They’re going to be decent,” Mustangs Head Coach David Costin said about Rocky Boy. “They’ve got a point guard that’s a nice player. They’re a better squad. I think they’ll give us a challenge.”

In last Saturday’s win against Havre, Malta jumped out to an early lead that put them up 31-21 at halftime.

“We took control early and led by ten most of the game,” Coach Costin said. “We played straight man defense. The first game against them we played straight zone.”

Coach Costin praised his team for their defensive effort in man-to-man defense including senior guard Tyson Carney and junior Ostin Welch.

“Overall our team defensive played really well,” Coach Costin said. “We played the boards well.”

Malta’s defense limited Havre’s offense to six points in the third while the team scored eight points. It was 39-27 at the end of the third.

Junior Nate Costin led Malta’s offensive attack with 21 points, bested only by Havre’s Dane Warp who had 23 points.

“Nate shot the ball very well for us,” Coach Costin said. “The only issue we had to focus on in that game was the end of game situations.”

Malta was hit with Havre’s pressure defense in the fourth quarter and the team didn’t handle it well as Havre outscored Malta 15-7 in the final quarter. They did hold on to win 46-42, which is still a victory.

“Overall you find a couple things to work on and survive and get a win, so it was a pretty good night for us,” Coach Costin said.

He admitted that the team may have been a little out of sorts because of the Winter Break period.

“To some extent I think so,” he responded to being asked about Winter Break rust. “I don’t think we practiced that well during the break. There was just a lot of things going on between the Snowball, New Years Eve, kids out ice fishing. I don’t know if we were as selfish as I would like to have been over break but again we did just enough to come out and play well on Saturday and get that win.”

A win is definitely a win.

Some icing on the cake is that senior postman Devon Raybon threw down a two-handed dunk that sent the Havre gym into a joyous roar.

“He could’ve had two but he didn’t trust himself the first time,” Coach Costin said. “I kind of gave him a little motion that he shoulda, then he got a second opportunity and he did it. It was pretty cool and neat for him.”