M-ettes lose to Glasgow, Shelby

Despite dropping their last two games of the regular season, the Malta M-ettes have already punched their tickets to the Northern B Divisional by way of their 5-3 district record.

The Malta High School Gymnasium is set to host the 2020 2B District Tournament this weekend, as Glasgow, Harlem LadyCats, Poplar, and Wolf Point come to town.

The M-ettes ended the regular season as the third seed team in the 2B District, a district in which teams need to place in the top three to automatically qualify for the Northern B Divisional Tournament.

Coach Nate Hammond knows how important it is to win this weekend despite not having to qualify for the divisional round.

"It's important for seeding for the Divisional Tournament and it's always important to try to win a trophy and get first place at the District Tournament," Coach Hammond said.

The M-ettes will face the Glasgow Lady Scotties on Friday, February 21 to open their post-season. The game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

In the M-ettes' 41-22 loss to Glasgow, the team struggled heavily from the floor going 8-for-39 (20 percent). The team was 2-of-18 from the three point line. Offensively Malta was held under 10 points in each quarter. Glasgow outscored Malta 13-5 in the first quarter, 14-6 in the third and 8-2 in the fourth. Malta outscored Glasgow 9-6 in the third quarter.

"We have good players and we have good shooters," Coach Hammond said. "We have had a lot of games where we have shot well and we have had a lot of games that we have out shot the teams that we played, we just didn't play well this weekend. I still do think we played hard against Glasgow and Shelby."

Against Glasgow, Malta was led by Erica Smith, who had seven points. Kylee Nelson had five points. Carly Garfield had four points.

In the team's 39-34 loss to Shelby, Malta was led by Allie Kunze who had eight points, four rebounds, and two blocks. Maddie Williamson had eight points and four steals. Nelson had seven points, seven rebounds, and two steals.

Though Coach Hammond is proud of his team's defensive intensity, he knows that it takes buckets to win.

"We generally play well on defense but defense will only get you so far," Coach Hammond said. "We can't keep going into the locker room at halftime only giving up 14 points and still being behind... Eventually they are going to score."