Mustangs defeat Panthers

The Malta Mustangs were able to outlast the Roundup Panthers in the first action of 2018 in the Malta High School Gymnasium.

The win came after the team's 55-42 loss to the Rocky Boy Northern Stars on Friday, January 5.

In Malta's 45-35 win over Roundup, the team was led by Taylor Matthews who scored 16 points, eight of which were in the fourth period. Kevin Henry and Tel Jensen each had six.

"The first half we defended really well," Coach David Costin said. "Maybe not quite as well that second half but for us right now we are struggling on the offensive end to get a flow going."

Coach Costin knows that part of the offensive struggles were due to teams double and triple teaming Matthews.

"Now what we need is some guards to step up and knock some shots down," Coach Costin said. "We did hit a couple of threes in a row and kind of loosened that defense up a little bit and it made a big difference for us."

Offensively, the team seemed to improve on ball-control, something that was addressed during Winter Break practices.

"We just get a little impatient sometimes and throw some ill-advised passes," Coach Costin said. "This year, this team has got to be a little more patient. We need to swing it, make more passes and give Taylor as well as our other post guys honest looks in the post."

The team scored on their final three drives of the game with set plays.

In the team's loss to Rocky Boy, Matthews led Malta with 13 points, Kuehn had 10, Henry had seven and Kendall Koss had five.