Mustangs Battle Southern B Teams at State; Go 1-2

The Malta Mustangs basketball team met up with the two-time State B Champion Lodge Grass Indians, though not the way they had anticipated.

Malta was defeated 67-63 by the Indians, in the consolation semi-finals on Saturday, March 12, at the 2022 State Basketball Tournament in Bozeman. Lodge Grass went on to defeat the Shelby Coyotes in the third-place game 63-49.

"I thought our effort was good," Malta Head Coach David Costin said. "I am proud of the guys. We competed. We battled against a very good team. A very experienced team. They are back-to-back state champions. The effort was good and that is the main thing."

To reach the consolation semifinals, Malta lost their opening round match 56-54 to Three Forks in overtime on Thursday, March 10. Three Forks went on to become State Champions after defeating the Harlem Wildcats 72-57 Saturday night.

After Malta's loss to Three Forks, the Mustangs defeated the Manhattan Tigers 62-50 on Friday, March 11.

"Tough defense pretty much won us the game," Malta senior Rex Williamson said. "They have tall kids, I just think that we did a good job matching up and boxing out."

Williamson said that the team was upset about losing their first game to Three Forks, but the team was trying their hardest to get to third place.

In their win against Manhattan, Malta was led by senior Connor Tuss, who had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and two assists.

Freshman Stockton Oxarart had 11 points and knocked down three treys. Williamson had 10 points, six rebounds, and two assists. Williamson also knocked down three treys. Freshman Treyton Wilke had nine points and five rebounds. Junior Jared Eggebrecht, junior Kaden Bishop, and freshman Bohdi Brenden each added five points.

"We knew coming into this game that no one on (Manhattan) was as tall as me and that I was going to get double and triple-teamed," Tuss said. "I knew that I had to find guys that could knock down threes."

Malta scored the first points in the win, and never gave up the lead. The Mustangs led by as much as 22 points with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Malta outscored Manhattan 17-10 in the first quarter. Both teams added 13 points in the second quarter. Malta scored 23 points in the third while holding Manhattan to 10 points. Malta gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter, while only scoring 10 points.

Malta outrebounded the Tigers 31 to 21. The Mustangs were 23-of-47 (48.9%) from the field and knocked down 9-of-18 of their three-point attempts. Malta's bench scored 16 points, while Manhattan's bench only had five. Malta scored eight second-chance points.

Malta went toe-to-toe with Lodge Grass Saturday morning and were led by Tuss, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Williamson also scored 19 points and had three rebounds. He knocked down three treys. Wilke had 10 points. Oxarart had eight points and three rebounds. Brenden had four points, six rebounds, and three steals.

Lodge Grass was led by Damon Gros Ventre, who scored 36 points and had three steals.

Lodge Grass would lead most of the game, but Malta kept things close in the first period. The score was 23-20 at the start of the second quarter. Lodge Grass led by 10 after a 13-0 run with 3:30 to go in the first half. Malta went on a nine-point swing before the half.

Coach Costin was asked about the run, and how Malta was able to battle back.

"I think some of it was just not giving up easy baskets," Coach Costin said. "We struggled a little bit early and gave up some offensive boards to them. We went to a zone defense, and that seemed to slow them down a little in the second half and changed the pace of the game."

Malta was down four points in the third quarter, but took the lead 43-40 after a seven-point swing, thanks to layups made by Williamson and Wilke, followed by a trey by Wilke.

"We tell the kids that it's just about making one play to start our own run," Coach Costin said. "We gotta get a stop, get a (defensive rebound), and then we gotta get a good shot. You follow that formula and usually, it works."

Teams traded buckets and the lead throughout the second half of the third. Tuss and Gros Ventre each put down crowd-pleasing slam dunks during the lead changes. There were eight lead changes throughout the game and the game had seven ties.

Malta would lead by as much as five points in the fourth quarter. The clash would continue throughout and Malta would lead 60-58 with 3:15 remaining.

Gros Ventre gave Lodge Grass a 61-60 lead after making a trey with 2:32 remaining. Lodge Grass extended their lead with a fastbreak layup. 63-60. Timeout called by Malta at 2:05.

Malta would cut into the Indians' lead, but ultimately the Indians maintained their lead.

Malta only reached the free-throw line five times and made two of those attempts (40%). Lodge Grass was 15-of-18 (83.3 %) from the free-throw line.

Malta forced Lodge Grass to make 15 turnovers. Malta had eight turnovers. Malta outscored Lodge Grass in the paint 36-22 and outrebounded the Indians 29 to 19.

In Malta's first-round loss to Three Forks, the Mustangs were led by Oxarart, who scored 13 points. He knocked down three treys.

Tuss had 12 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocked shots. Williamson had 11 points. Brenden had eight points. Wilke and Eggebrecht each had four points. Jonathan Siewing had two points.

According to Tuss, Malta understood that teams from the south (Lodge Grass, Three Forks, and Manhattan) would be strong but they knew they had to battle.

After trailing throughout the game, Malta gained the lead early in the fourth quarter. Their largest lead was three points.

"It was about finding open guys, getting good shots, and knocking them down," Tuss said.

A pull-up jump shot by Three Forks' Owen Long would tie the game 51-all with less than a minute in the game.

A layup by Finn Tesoro gave Three Forks a 53-51 lead in overtime. Williamson responded with a three-point shot with 2:28 left in OT. 54-53 Malta.

Both teams were held without a field goal for the remainder of the game, but Three forks would make three free throws, which sealed the game 56-54.

The last play by Malta was a missed three, that was rebounded by Wilke, who made a last-second putback attempt with contact, but no whistle was blown.

After the tournament, Costin was asked about Malta's young core, who was talked about at the tournament by those around the arena who were watching Malta's games.

"They played beyond their years," Coach Costin said. "They definitely don't look like freshmen. They all had a great tournament. Our whole team did. I don't like to focus on the three too much. Jared had a great tournament. Connor and Rex. Kaden came in on Friday and played well for us. It takes a team effort. The freshmen were big contributors and nothing seemed to faze them. The big stage didn't faze them."