Mustangs defeat Wolves

The Malta Mustangs split games last week as they went on a two-game road trip against Wolf Point on Thursday, January 25 and then Havre on Saturday, January 27.

The Mustangs defeated the Wolves 39-31, thanks to a third quarter shutout, in which the team did not allow any points after a slow offense start.

"It was a really slow start and a low scoring game full of defense throughout the game," Malta senior post Taylor Matthews told the PCN.

Matthews led Malta with 16 points. Tel Jenson had eight points, which included two treys. Kendall Koss had five points, Landon VanWichen had four points, Kevin Henry had three points, Tanner Smith had two points and Konner Kuehn had one point.

Malta was held to eight points in the first half, only scoring two in the second. The Mustangs' defense held the Wolves to two points in the opening period and zero points in the third.

"The first half, we kind of struggled," Matthews said. "The second half we came out and we did what we usually do; We just played and had fun."

Malta would pour on 31 points in the second half, 20 of which came in the fourth. Wolf Point scored 18 in the fourth.

Often finding themselves in defensive battles, Malta has embraced it's knack for playing a tough defense.

"Defense is huge," Matthews said. "We don't score as much like most teams would, so we have to make sure that we keep other teams down below 50 points, so that we can score with them."

Matthews believes that it's only a matter of time before things click on the offensive side of the ball.

"We feel our offense growing every time," Matthews said. "It gets better and better."

In Malta's 43-33, loss to Havre, Malta was led by Matthews, who scored 11 points. Kuehn scored eight, Henry scored four, Ben Costin had three points, Koss and Smith each had two.

After the first half, Havre held a slight advantage outscoring Malta 17-15. Malta would end the third with a 26-25 lead, but couldn't hold off an explosive offensive effort from Havre, who would score 18 points in the fourth, while holding the Mustangs to seven.

Malta will take on Rocky Boy, who will come to Malta on Thursday, February 1, with the JV boys game starting at 3 p.m. They will then face Roundup in Roundup on Friday, February 2 and the JV girls will kick off the event at 3 p.m.

With only a couple of weeks of regular season games left, Matthews shared what the team's focus will be.

"Just executing," Matthews said. "We need to focus on executing. We struggle a little bit, but we are going to work on things, so that we are perfect for tournament time."