Mustangs Basketball 2020-21

At long last, the basketball season has began in the State of Montana, and the Mustangs have returned plenty of talent for their 2020-21 campaign.

The team has a total of 18 athletes this season, which included a group of six freshmen.

The team will be without Tanner Smith and Ben Costin, who both graduated last year. The duo had provided leadership to the Mustangs last season, according to Coach Costin.

"Obviously, we lost some offensive production from those two," Malta Head Coach David Costin said. "Ben was a pretty good defender for us, Tanner was very good on the boards and those are things we are looking to replace with this new group."

The Mustangs have returned a few starters from last season, including senior Kooper Oxarart, and juniors Rex Williamson and Connor Tuss.

"Kooper scored the ball well for us," Coach Costin said. "He had 29 against Harlem Saturday morning (in the 2020 Northern B Divisional Tourney)."

Last season, Williamson missed several games due to leg injury, but he returned in the divisional tournament, playing hard-nosed defense at the guard position.

As Williamson returned from injury last year, Tuss suffered an injury and was unable to play in Malta's last two games. Tuss was a reliable scorer and defender last season.

"Those are three solid returners," Coach Costin said.

Senior Pierce Mortenson provided sparks plays on both sides of the ball last season off of the bench. Coach Costin has been happy with how Mortensen and Oxarart have been leading the team during the first month of practices.

"I think we are seeing what we want," Coach Costin said. "Pierce and Kooper, our seniors, are showing good leadership. The chemistry looks good right now."

Coach Costin does believe that the team could be in better shape and he is worried about foul trouble, but he said that those are typical concerns at the start of the season.

Coach Costin has been happy with how junior David Pittman has been training during practice.

"He has been coming along pretty well," Coach Costin said.

Kaden Bishop, Jared Eggebrecht, Seth Siewing, Jonathan Siewing, and Reese Brown make up the team's sophomore group, a group that has also caught the attention of Coach Costin.

"They are actually playing pretty well," Coach Costin said. "It's just going to be a matter of sorting things out."

The team welcomes six freshmen this season, but they will see most of their minutes at the sub-varsity level.

"They are a little raw," Coach Costin said. "But we have some good athletes there."

In Malta's first game of the season last Saturday in Glasgow, the Mustangs defeated Glasgow 57-40.

The Mustangs were led by Oxarart, who had 15 points. Tuss had 12 points, and Williamson added 11. Kaden Bishop had 7, Darrow Messerly had five points, Seth Seiwing had three points, and Jared Eggebrecht had three points.