Mustangs Fall to Havre, Down Scotties

The Malta Mustangs basketball team had the weekend off, but not before hosting a pair of home games, which were the last of their regular season.

Malta will be heading to Rocky Boy on Thursday, February 2, to face the Northern Stars at 6 p.m. They will then travel to Roundup to face the Lady Panthers at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 4.

The Mustangs started their week off with a close 71-69 loss to the Havre Blue Ponies in Tuesday, January 24. They handily defeated Glasgow 70-47 on Thursday, January 26, on a night themed "Retro Night." That night fans were encouraged to wear retro Malta gear in support of M-ette legend Skyla Sisco, who helped Malta win the Class B State Title in 1991. She went on to become a University of Montana Lady Griz standout and was named to the school's hall of fame in 2021. Sisco is currently battling breast cancer.

The M-ettes and Student Council collected bucket donations prior to Malta's varsity games against Glasgow, and the MHS students and fans wore retro Malta gear in support.

Fans were also treated to electrice halftime performances by the Malta Parks and Recreation Dance Teams led by Andrea Lein.

The night was also MHS Senior night. M-ettes Addy Anderson, Brylee French, Allison Kunze, Madison Williamson and Mustangs Kaden Bishop, Reese Brown (manager), Jared Eggebrecht, Eli Hanson, Seth Siewing, and Jon Siewing.

"It was nice to beat Glasgow on senior night," Eggebrecht said. It may be our last time playing them, so it was good to get a big win against them."

Malta led wire-to-wire in their win over Glasgow. The final score was 70-47.

Malta was led by sophomore Treyton Wilke who had 16 points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Bohdi Brenden had 15 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Eggebrecht had 13 points and four rebounds. Stockton Oxarart had 12 points and six rebounds. Hanson had four points and and nine rebounds, and Bishop had two points, four rebounds, and three steals.

Malta outscored Glasgow 27-21 in the first half, 23-17 in the third quarter, and 12-11 in the fourth quarter.

"I think that we had a good start and made a lot of shots," J. Siewing said. "We came out with a lot of intensity and had a really good first quarter and set the momentum."

Malta was 13-for-31(42%) in their two-point field goal attempts. The team was also 8-of-19 from three point range. (42%). Glasgow was 19-of-48 (40%) from two point range and 1-of-12 (8%) from three point range.

J. Siewing was asked what was the key to stopped Glasgow inside of the paint.

"We just had to help out in the post a lot," Siewing said. "They do have some pretty tall kids, so we just had to be physical with them."

Malta scored 11 points in transition, 13 points off of turnovers and the team forced 14 turnovers.

In the Mustangs' loss to Havre, Oxarart had 19 points and 11 rebounds. He knocked down five of his eight three point attempts.

Brenden had 13 points, seven assists, and two steals. Wilke had 11 points and five assists. Eggebrecht had 11 points and four rebounds. Bishop had eight points and three assists. Hanson had four points and six rebounds. S. Siewing had three points and two assists.

Though Havre led throughout the entirety of regulation, Malta kept things close throughout. Havre outscored Malta 21-12 in the first quarter. Outscoring Havre 23-18, Malta brought the game within one possession a few times in the second quarter but the team was unable to take the lead.

Havre scored 19 to Malta's 16-19 in the third period.

The team fell behind 64-52 in the fourth, but closed the period on a 15-8 run, and even had a chance to tie things or put up with a game winning shot in the last few seconds, but the team was unable to score on the last possession.

"We were playing with them through most of the game and they hit some tough shots, and at the end we could have executed a little bit better on that last possession, but it was something to learn from and next time it won't happen," Eggebrecht said.