2nd Annual Malta Peewee Summer Slam

The 2nd Annual Malta Peewee Summer Slam Tournament filled the Malta High School Old Gym with 40 young basketball players on Friday, June 21.

The annual event put on by Tia Stiles and Caitlin Anderson, is a fundraiser for the City of Malta's Department of Parks and Recreation youth basketball program and since it's first run in 2018, the Peewee Summer Slam has raised $2755.

"The thing that we are really excited about is that we advocate for Phillips County youth sports," Anderson said. "We are going to be able to buy additional hoops for them, pinnies (jerseys), basketballs, and other things that they are going to need for the program."

This year's event featured a camp as well as a tournament broken up into eight groups. Preschool- Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, and Third Grade. Each age group featured a boys and girls bracket. There were sixteen teams total.

"I thought it went really well," Stiles said. "We had a few more teams than we had a year ago. It was really nice to have the community come together."

Stiles felt that a majority of kids interested in the sport of basketball were present and Phillips County was represented well. The event had teams from Malta, Whitewater, Saco, Harlem, Turner, Glasgow, Helena, and Custer.

The event had several coaches, helpers and referees consisting of former and current high school basketball players from around the area. Two of the coaches were the fathers of Anderson (Larry Smith) and Stiles (Alan Love).

"That is the awesome thing about Phillips County; everything is a family affair," Anderson said. "I think it is really exciting to see that Malta is not dying, it is thriving."

Champions from the event: Pre-K Through K-5 girls Kaci Knudsen, Vada Stiles, Sokoya Love, and Demi Math. Pre-K Through K-5 boys- Kash Welch, Benny Keller, David Simonson, and Ivan Taylor. 1st Grade Boys - Taije Stiles, Taeyson Wilke, Jaxson Tollefson, and Tryan Anderson. 1st Grade Girls- Maya Bantz, Macey Lien, Zaya Stiles, and Tenley Lien. 2nd Grade Boys- Colt Hudyma, Beckett Doorneck, Saunten Gamas, and Asher Wersal. 2nd Grade Girls- Amanda Horn, Brooklyn Simanton, Tessa Simanton, and Skye Love. 3rd Grade Girls- Blair Keller, Hadley Hammond, Sienna Simanton, and Ainsley Erickson. 3rd Grade Boys: Jace Tollefson, Grey Wipplinger, Dax Math, Titus Weiderrick, and Cade Bleth.