Welch scores 31 in Mustangs' win

The Malta Mustangs are off to a solid start this season as the team defeated the Poplar Indians 77-50 last Saturday night in Poplar. The team was set to face Havre on last Tuesday night in Havre and will face Wolf Point on Wednesday. Both games will be covered in next week’s Phillips County News.

The Mustangs were led in victory by senior Ostin Welch who exploded for 31 points. Welch had pin-point accuracy as he was able to knock down seven treys. His three point explosion was the most for Malta since Nate Costin’s eight trey game in last year’s 2B District Championship game. Welch was also 2-for-2 from the Charity stripe.

“He’s a good shooter and he was feeling it Saturday night,” Mustangs Head Coach David Costin said.

Costin had 13 points. Hunter Love and Taylor Matthews both had eight points.

“They were face guarding Nate, trying to limit his touches,” Coach Costin said. “It’s fine because it opens up opportunities for our team and Ostin took full advantage of it that night.”

Coach Costin also praised N. Costin and Welch for playing solid defense against Poplar’s guards.

“They have two really good guards in Kenny Smoker and Coy Atkinson,” Coach Costin said. “We tried to do the same thing to them, limiting their touches and I thought Ostin and Nate played some tremendous defense on those two kids and really limited their scoring and set a tone for the whole game.”

The Mustang’s game against Wolf Point is set for tonight at 6:00 p.m. in Wolf Point.

“We are hoping that we will see some man defense,” Coach Costin said, when asked about things they will work on. “We’ve put in a screen motion offense and I would like to work on that in game situations.”

He hopes that by being able to run the new-look offense at a slower pace, it will open the game up for Malta’s post players.