M-ettes strong in home opener

The Malta M-ettes split a pair of games last week, picking up a home win over the Poplar Indians on Saturday, December 15, after falling to Harlem on Friday, December 14.

The M-ettes hosted the Havre Lady Blue Ponies on Tuesday, December 18, a game that will be covered for next week's PCN. The team is also scheduled to travel to Wolf Point this Friday, to take on the Lady Wolves, who swept Malta last season.

Prior to the game against Havre, the PCN asked M-ette senior Raina Mortenson what they would have to do well to defeat Havre.

"Good communication, good passes, and having the mentality that we can do it," Mortenson said. "We are strong enough to get it done."

In Malta's home opener against Poplar, the M-ettes cruised to a 65-32 victory, that was spearheaded by a 26-7 run in the first quarter.

"I feel like we really worked together and we had a lot of teamwork," M-ette senior Kloie Marks told the PCN. "Our passes were good, our shots were falling and we were drawing a lot of fouls."

The M-ettes were led by junior Kelbee Denham who had a game-high 16 points. She also had three assists. Erica Smith had 13 points and four rebounds. Marks had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a block. Kyleigh Schipman had seven points, six rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Wylee Young had six points and five rebounds. Carly Garfield had four points and five rebounds. Mortenson had four points, four rebounds, and three steals. Aidan Wiese and Sidney Meeks both scored two points each.

"I think we just came out with a lot of energy," Mortenson said. "We were ready to get it done."

Malta outrebounded Poplar 35-24. Malta forced sixteen turnovers, scoring 13 points off of those turnovers. Malta's defense held Poplar to 25 percent shooting from the field (12-of-48). Malta made 27-of-53 (50%) from the field, 4-of-12 (33%) from the three point line, and 7-of-15 (46%) from the free throw line.

Following the game 26-7 total in the first quarter, the Malta M-ettes continued to outscore Poplar in the remaining quarters. The totals were 14-6, 11-7, and 14-12.

This year's home opener was a complete contrast to last year's home opener in which the M-ettes fell to Poplar 60-34. Since that loss in 2017, the M-ettes have been building chemistry and looked more aggressive and efficient. When asked about last year's opening game Denham, Marks, and Mortenson broke out into laughter.

"Last year we were starting off kind of new, we were building again and this year we came out saying we really want to start this season off well," Marks said. "And so we did."

The M-ettes made a valiant effort to catch up to the Harlem Lady Cats on Friday, December 14, outscoring them 21-5 in the fourth quarter, but lost to the Cats 51-48.

"Some of our passes weren't there and we were making mistakes, but we kept fighting," Mortenson said.

Malta was led by Garfield who had a 14 point, 14 rebound double-double. Garfield had a total of 12 offensive rebounds. Smith had 11 points and four steals. Denham had 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Mortenson had seven points and three steals. Marks had six points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Malta fell behind quickly surrendering 22 points in the first, while scoring only six points. Malta's defense managed to tighten up in the remaining periods of the game only giving up 11 points in the second, 13 in the third, and five in the fourth. The M-ettes scored eight points in the second, 13 in the third and 22 in the fourth.

"I feel like there was a fire awakened in us," Denham said of the late comeback effort. "We started working together and our passes started getting better and defensively everything started to click."