Mustangs crush Wildcats in Harlem

The Malta Mustangs won their lone game of the week as they took out the Harlem Wildcats 89-43. It was their highest point output since their 85-61 win against Rocky Boy on March 2 of 2013.

Nate Costin had an explosive outing, racking up 30 points.

Both Allen Williamson and Tyson Carney had 15 points apiece. Devon Raybon had eight points. Ostin Welch and Taylor Matthews each had five points. Cru Darrah had three points. Hunter Love had two points.

Malta and Harlem both started strong, with the Mustangs putting up 21 points, while giving up 19.

Malta’s defense was extremely selfish in the second quarter, only allowing seven points, while offensively the team put up 28 points.

Mustang Head Coach David Costin noted that that the team’s press defense was particularly strong.

“Our 2-2-1 press is kind of new to us and we’re starting to use it more and more,” Coach Costin said. “I thought that had a big effect especially in the second quarter. That kind of broke it open.”

Malta forced 14 turnovers in the second quarter. That led to many points in transition.

“Offensively in transition, we’re getting the ball up the floor quickly,” Coach Costin said. “For the most part we are doing a good job on the boards now, that’s something that we’ve really focused on for the last two weeks.”

Malta outscored Harlem 30 to 17 in the second half.

The team’s offensive explosion can be attributed to a number of things, but for rebounding in particular practice has been key.

“We came up with a couple of new drills in practice that I think are helping us out,” Coach Costin said. “Thank you internet.”

Though Costin has a couple of state title wins under his belt, he knows it’s good to switch things up from time to time.

“A lot of this stuff gets tedious, especially this time of year if you do the same-old things day in and day out,” Coach Costin. “It’s nice if you can find a new drill to break the monotony, but still accomplish the same thing.”