Mustangs Basketball 2023-24

The Malta Mustangs picked up a pair of wins to start the season in the Shelby Classic this past weekend.

Malta defeated Belt 65-60 in their season opener last Friday, December 8, and then defeated Three Forks 63-48 last Saturday, December 9.

This year's team welcomes back plenty of talent from last year's campaign which ended in the 2023 State B Championship game, a game that Malta lost 65-55 to Loyola-Sacred Heart.

The Mustangs are without All-State guard Jared Eggebrecht, who graduated last season, but they welcome back juniors Bohdi Brenden and Treyton Wilke, who both made the All-Conference list. Brenden was a first-team All-Conference selection while Wilke was a second team All-Conference selection.

"Both of those kids have played a ton of basketball and have good court sense," Malta Head Coach David Costin said. "And they have played so much basketball together that they have a sixth sense about each other. They both make a lot of plays."

He commended both Brenden and Wilke for their ability to score and attack the rim, but Coach Costin has noticed their improvement on the defensive side of the ball.

"This past weekend, one thing that really impressed me is that through summer ball, they both have become very good defenders," Coach Costin said. "They are both very athletic and have the ability to shut down other guards."

The team will also be without Stockton Oxarart, who was a top scoring threat for Malta for the past couple of seasons. Oxarart may be able to join the team later in the year provided he is medically cleared. Eli Hanson, who started at the post, graduated last spring.

The team also welcomes back their only senior, Carson Ottinger, who is a starting forward this season.

"Carson does a lot of good things," Coach Costin said. "He is a kid that is smart on the floor and understands the game. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time."

Sophomore Dawson Hammond saw time as a starter last season, and will start this season as well.

"By the end of the year, last year, Dawson was getting a lot of time for us," Coach Costin said. "He played a lot through the tournaments. He is a really intelligent kid. He has a very good understanding of the game."

Coach Costin also said that Hammond is really skilled, has a nice shot, defends well, and is really quick.

"When you have the ability to throw three guards on the floor who can defend and score like that, it's quite an advantage that we have as a team," Coach Costin said.

The final starting spot belongs to 6-4 junior Mason Simanton.

"Mason is going to be playing in the post for us," Coach Costin said. "He is very athletic. We have just a little bit of size with him. Mason is well-skilled. Varsity experience is probably the biggest weakness with Mason but I think that he is going to get better and better as the year goes on."

Sophomore Duke Williamson has returned to Malta High School and has provided the team with a boost from the sixth-man position.

"Duke has good size and he is one of those kids that we can use at multiple positions," Coach Costin said. "He is probably going to have to play a little post for us and he can play guard."

Coach Costin is happy that his team has the ability to score from several different players.

"We don't always have that year in and year out but I think that those six kids I mentioned have that ability," Coach Costin said.

The numbers for varsity are down at the start of the season due to football related injuries, so Malta has had to reach into the eighth grade pool early.

"We have about eleven high school kids out and four eighth graders," Coach Costin said. "We are thin and I think those numbers really affect us as far as having quality practices for our older guys."

He said that the main issue is that the eighth graders are trying to learn how the team does things on a high school level.

In Malta's 65-60 win over Belt, Brenden led the team with 25 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Simanton had 14 points, three rebounds, and three steals. Hammond had 10 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Williamson had ten points and seven rebounds. Ottinger had six points and three rebounds.

Malta had a strong first quarter to start off their season, outsourcing Belt 24-9. Belt's offense found their rhythm outscoring Malta 19-14 in the second and 18-11 in the third quarter.

Belt tied the game a couple of times in the fourth period, including tying the game 58-58 late in the period, but Hammond was able to knock down a three pointer off of a tipped offensive board by Simanton to give Malta the lead with 55 seconds left. Late free throws by Williamson and a layup by Ottinger sealed the win.

Malta hosted Havre on Tuesday, December 12, which will be covered in the December 20 issue of the PCN.