M-ettes sweep Northern Stars

The Malta M-ettes Basketball team defeated the Rocky Boy Northern Stars 46-36 at the Malta High Gymnasium on Friday, February 7.

"We tried hustling for all of the loose balls," M-ette captain Erica Smith told the PCN. "We played good defense for the most part. The only problem was at the end, shots were not falling very well."

Though the game was only a ten point game, the M-ettes lead didn't seem in doubt as the team's defense was dominant out rebounding Rocky Boy 39 to 26, and turning Rocky Boy over 15 times, while only turning the ball over six times.

"We just hustled, boxed out well, and we were just aggressive the whole game," M-ette captain Carly Garfield said.

One reason the game was close was due to the team's shooting percentage. Malta was 17-of-62 (27 percent) from the field, while Rocky Boy was 13-of-31 (41 percent).

Malta was led in scoring by senior Kelbee Denham, who had 11 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Denham had two treys in the first quarter. Allie Kunze had eight points and seven rebounds. Kylee Nelson had seven points and seven rebounds.

The M-ettes were off to a great start in the first, forcing several turnovers, while outscoring Rocky Boy 16-4. The Northern Stars outscored Malta 12-11 in the second period and 13-12 in the third. Both teams added seven points in the fourth quarter.

Rocky Boy's bench outscored Malta's bench 17 to 9. Malta had ten second chance points, while Rocky Boy only scored two.

The win over Rocky Boy gave the M-ettes a 2-0 sweep of the season series.

The M-ettes were scheduled to travel to Roundup to face the Lady Panthers for the second time this season, but the game was cancelled due to travelling concerns with a snow storm blowing over most of the eastern part of Montana.

In their last weekend of the regular season, the M-ettes are scheduled to face the Glasgow Lady Scotties, who defeated Malta 56-40 in Glasgow on Friday, January 17. The game against Glasgow will be Malta's Senior Night and will start on Friday, February 14, at 6 p.m. The team will then travel to Shelby to take on the Shelby Coyotes, who Malta defeated 51-33 in Malta on Saturday, January 18, in Malta. The clash against Shelby is scheduled for Saturday, February 15 at 4 p.m.

"We just have to play well together and keep our intensity," Garfield said. "He have to always hustle and be aggressive."