Malta looks to add hardware for fourth straight year

The Malta Mustangs were young last year and weren't expected to make it to the Northern B Divisionals, let alone state.

Then the team showed resilience behind seniors Zach Handley and Troy Manoukian, who led the team to a third place finish at the 2014 State B Tournament. The team won two straight state championships in 2012 and 2013.

"I know these guys have pretty high expectations," said Malta Head Coach David Costin. "The varsity teams throughout their high school career have been successful."

Coach Costin believes that their goal is to follow in the footsteps of those great Mustang teams.

To do that the team will need to establish new leaders with both Handley and Manoukian graduated.

The team's lone senior this year is Jeremy Costin.

"We're just hoping Jeremy can step into that senior leadership for us," Coach Costin said. "He's kind of an all-around guy, a good defender and pretty good on the offensive end."

Costin will be stretched this year because the team is missing a big presence in the middle.

Costin is a natural guard but at 6'3" Costin will be called to guard inside and play some post in Costin's dribble drive offense.

The junior class consists of a group of very athletic players that have had shining moments on last years team as well as on the football field for Malta. Three of four come with plenty of playing time from last season.

"The three juniors, what I see different from last year is that they have matured both mentally and physically," Coach Costin said. "I just think they have a better understanding of the game and what we want to get done."

Tyson Carney played guard last season and was the team's main point guard.

Carney also shined defensively, racking up many of the team's steals.

Jase Galt showed some real spark last season and his aggressiveness at the rim paid off in the state tournament.

Allen Williamson proved to be a huge asset to the team nailing shots at clutch moments for the team during the regular season.

"Those three all started throughout the year, last year," Costin said. "Our squad looks young but we really return a lot of experience."

The only junior that hasn't been field tested is Devon Raybon, who at 6'3" looks like a natural post player, who can thrive with some time.

"He's a big kid and we're excited about him. He's very athletic, he just hasn't played a lot of basketball yet."

Coach Costin went on to say, Raybon is showing improvement every day and should get quality varsity minutes as the season goes on.

The team's fifth starter will be sophomore Nate Costin, who thrived even as a freshman last season.

"Nate has filled out, he's stronger and he's a pretty good decision maker for us," said Coach Costin.

Nate leads a large class of sophomores, that will see a lot of time in JV games, though many will also see double duty in varsity games as well.

At the moment Coach Costin has no idea who will complete his varsity squad.

"We'll evaluate when we get into those JV games and some of those kids are going to fill those bench spots for us as our six seven and eighth players."

He did acknowledge that those sophomore players are doing good things for the team in practice, which may bode well for the team in future years.

Malta Mustangs Basketball

DATE OPP Location Time

20-Nov First Practice Home 6 p.m.

12-Dec Havre B/G Away 4 p.m.

13-Dec Fergus B/G Home 6:30 p.m.

19-Dec Glasgow B/G Away 6:30 p.m.

20-Dec Poplar B/G Home 4 p.m.

2-Jan Wolf Point B/G Home 6 p.m.

3-Jan Havre B/G Home 5 p.m.

9-Jan Rocky Boy B/G Home 6 p.m.

10-Jan Roundup B/G Away 5:30 p.m.

13-Jan Dodson B/G JV Home TBA

16-Jan Harlem B/G Away 6 p.m.

17-Jan Plentywood B/G Home 4 p.m.

23-Jan Glasgow B/G Home 6 p.m.

24-Jan Poplar B/G Away 4 p.m.

26-Jan Fergus G Away 7 p.m.

31-Jan Wolf Point B/G Away 4 p.m.

2-Feb Fergus B Away 7 p.m.

6-Feb Rocky Boy B/G Away 6 p.m.

7-Feb Roundup B/G Home 4 p.m.

10-Feb Dodson B/G JV Away TBA

13-Feb Harlem SN B/G Home 6 p.m.

14-Feb Plentywood B/G Away 4 p.m.

2/19/2021 B&G Dis. Tourn. Wolf Point TBA

2/26/2028 G DIV Tourn Malta TBA

3 5-7 B DIV Tourn Shelby TBA

3 12 - 14 B& G State Great Falls TBA