Mustangs win Northern B Title

The Malta Mustangs basketball team is headed to the State B Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2017, the year that the Mustangs defeated the Anaconda Copperheads 54-51 for the Class B Title.

This time, the Mustangs go to state as the Northern B Division Champions.

"It feels amazing," Malta Senior Co-Captain Rex Williamson told the PCN. "It took us four years to get here and just making it to state is an honor. I am just happy that we are here."

The Mustangs punched their ticket to state by shocking the Shelby Coyotes 46-42 in the Northern B Divisional Semi-finals on Friday, February 25, in Glasgow. Shelby was a team that had defeated Malta in both of their previous meetings this season. Malta also defeated the Fairfield Eagles 63-53 in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, February 24.

The Mustangs then defeated the Harlem Wildcats 83-67 in the Northern B Championship game on Saturday, February 26, in the same gym that Harlem handily defeated Malta 72-52 for the District 2B title, one week prior.

"It feels great," Malta Senior Co-Captain Connor Tuss said. "Everyone was doubting us and we knew that we were on a mission and we made it happen."

Tuss, who is 6'7", went head-to-head with two other imposing post players during the Northern B, including Harlem's Caleb Cole, who stands around the same height, and Shelby's Rhett Reynolds, who is 6'9" and a University of Montana commit. Tuss helped slow down both posts, keeping Reynolds to 20 points in the semifinals, and Cole to 14 points in the title game.

"You have to play straight up, play smart and not get any dumb fouls," Tuss said. "I had to move my feet and let them shoot over the top."

The PCN also talked to junior Kaden Bishop, who did not play in the championship game but had logged valuable minutes for Malta this season.

"Amazing," Bishop said. "The key to our win was defense and rebounding."

Malta Head Coach David Costin said that he was extremely proud of his team.

"Our effort level was so high," Coach Costin said after the championship win. "We played good defense, had good decision-makers on offense, and we frustrated that team. They put forth a great effort this entire weekend."

In the championship win over Harlem, Williamson led Malta in scoring with 23 points. He also had four rebounds and three blocks. He was 11-of-14 (78.5%) from the field. Fellow senior captain Connor Tuss had a 15-point, 17-rebound double-double, and nine assists. Tuss also blocked four shots.

Freshman Treyton Wilke had 15 points and four rebounds. He was 7-of-8 (87.5%) from the field. Freshman Stockton Oxarart scored 13 points and had five rebounds. Freshman Bohdi Brenden had nine points, three assists, and two steals. Junior Jared Eggebrecht had eight points and five rebounds.

Malta made 37-of-58 (63.8%) shot attempts from the field, knocked down 5-of-14 (35.7%) three-point attempts, and made 4-of-6 (66.7%) free-throw attempts.

Harlem was 28-of-78 (35.9%) from the field, 6-of-29 (20.7%) from three-point range, and 5-of-10 (50%) from the free-throw line.

"Connor did a good job stepping up on the big guys and honestly, our boxouts and boards helped us do the job. Defensive rebounds did it for us and I am happy with that."

Malta had 38 rebounds and Harlem had 33.

Harlem led by as much as seven points in the second quarter of the game, thanks to their efforts on offensive boards early in the game. Harlem would score 11 second-chance points in the game.

Layups did not fall early for the Mustangs, but the team kept attacking.

"We were all a little frustrated," Williamson said. "We just had to keep our heads up and get it done."

Malta was able to close the seven-point gap with a pair of three, the first by Eggebrecht and the second by Oxarart midway through the second quarter. The score was 25-24.

Malta was eventually able to take the lead (28-27) thanks to a layup by Tuss made with 2:50 to go in the second quarter. Malta would exchange the lead with Harlem a few times before halftime, which included a 35-32 lead earned by a trey from Eggebrecht with seconds remaining. Harlem responded with a triple of their own on the next possession. The score at halftime was 35 all.

After the break, Williamson and Wilke scored the first two buckets for Malta respectively, giving the team a 39-35 lead. Wilke added another bucket to the 6-0 run, putting Malta up 41-35. Malta outscored Harlem 22-10 in the third period, putting the Mustangs up 57-45 at the end of the third quarter.

Harlem closed the gap to six points in the fourth, but Malta built a 19 point lead in the fourth, leading 77-58 late in the game. Malta outscored Harlem 26-22 in the final period.

Before defeating Shelby last Friday night, Malta was 0-2 against the Coyotes, losing 70-65 in their first meeting in mid-January and then 52-41 in Shelby mid-February.

This time, Malta would finally overcome the hurdle that the Coyotes had presented. Tuss led Malta in scoring with 19 points and seven rebounds. Eggebrecht had 10 points and Williamson had seven.

Wilke, a freshman would kick things off for Malta offensively in the team's win over Fairfield, scoring 12 of Malta's 19 first-quarter points. Wilke led the team in total scoring with 17 points. He also had six rebounds.

Brenden had 16 points, three rebounds, and three steals. Eggebrecht had 12 points. Tuss had 10 points and five rebounds. Williamson had six points and eight rebounds.

Though the team is fresh off of a title win, they know that they can improve their play.

"We just have to work on the little things," Tuss said. "Like talking. We have to work on our game and we will be ready to go."