M-ettes Fight Hard, Take Down Falcons, but Fall in Consolation Semis

The Malta M-ette basketball team's 2024 campaign ended much like their last two outings, in the State B Consolation Semifinals.

The team picked up a win in the opening round of the 2024 State B Girls Basketball Tournament in Billings on Thursday, March 7, as they defeated the Florence-Carlton Falcons 48-43.

The M-ettes fell to the Missoula Loyola Breakers 56-46 in the semifinals. The Breakers went on to lose the state championship game to the Baker Spartans on Saturday, March 9.

Malta went on to lose their final game 61-58 to the Anaconda Lady Copperheads at Rocky Mountain College. Anaconda went on to lose 58-50 to the Huntley Project Red Devils in the consolation finals.

In Malta's win over Florence-Carlton, sophomore Denvyr Tuss led the M-ettes with 16 points and nine rebounds. Tuss, a second year starter, was asked about the win and how it felt to win at state, despite having an almost new starting lineup this season.

"It feels really good," Tuss said. "A lot of people didn't think that we could do it and it feels good to prove them wrong and be back in the semifinals like last year."

Elly Anderson had 10 points, two rebounds, and two assists. Neva Jacobson had eight points, five assists, and five steals. Emree Stuart had seven points, five steals, and four rebounds. Kendall Clausen had four points, four rebounds, and one steal.

Anderson, a senior, was asked about the key to Malta's win over Florence-Carlton.

"Defense and staying in the game, chipping away point by point," Anderson said.

Malta had 30 points in the paint, while holding the Falcons to 16 in the paint. Four of those points came by layups late in the game by Clausen.

"I got hurt," Clausen said. "I got slammed to the floor but I felt bad for my team that I was hurt, so I had to come back and push myself. I went back on the floor and just had fun."

Both teams had 23 turnovers.

The M-ettes built an 11-6 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter, but fell behind 19-18 at halftime. Malta bounced back in the third quarter, outscoring them 14-10 and expanded their lead in the fourth quarter tallying 16 more points and holding Florence-Carlton to 14.

In Malta's loss to Missoula-Loyola, Malta was led by Tuss who had a 13 point, 12 rebound double-double. Neva Jacobson had 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Giona Lamb had seven points and five rebounds.

Malta made 14-of-48 shot attempts (25.4%) and the team was 2-of-19 (29.2%) from three point range.

Malta won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Missoula Loyola 49-to-38. The M-ettes scored 15 second chance points. Both teams had eight turnovers. Malta fouled 17 times and the Breakers fouled ten times.

Malta was led by Tuss in their loss to Anaconda. Tuss had a 23 point, 16 rebound double-double. Jacobson had nine points, eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Nelson had eight points, three rebounds, and two assists. Anderson had four points. Ulrich had three points, three rebounds, and two steals. Clausen had three points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Stuart had three points and three rebounds.

Malta outscored Anaconda 36-to-18 in the paint, but struggled to score from three point range. The M-ettes made 2-of-20 from three point range. The M-ettes were 13-of-16 from the free throw line.