M-ettes Run Ends in Consolation Semifinals

The season came to an end for the Malta M-ettes last Saturday, March 11, in a 63-46 loss to the Baker Spartans in the 2023 State B Tournament's second round of consolation games.

The M-ettes' journey at state started with a quarterfinal win over the Columbus Lady Cougars on Thursday, March 9. The score was 46-38. Malta went on to lose their semifinal game 45-43 to the Big Timber Herders who went on to lose the State Championship to the Bigfork Valkyries 49-37 on Saturday night. Baker went on to take third place at state after defeating the Huntley Project Red Devils 70-68 in the Consolation Finals on Saturday afternoon.

After the tournament, the 2023 District 2B All-Conference List was released. Seniors Allison Kunze and Madison Williamson earned All-State honors as well as First Team honors. Senior Addy Anderson was a Second Team selection.

In Malta's quarterfinal win over Columbus, the M-ettes were led by Anderson who had 21 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Anderson was 4-for-6 from three point range.

Kunze had nine points, nine rebounds, three steals, and one block. Freshman Denvyr Tuss had six points, eight rebounds, three steals, and one block. Senior Brylee French had three points, six rebounds, and one steal. Freshman Neva Jacobson had three points, five rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Sophomore Kelbie Nelson had one rebound and one steal.

"We were kind of grinding," Malta Head Coach Nate Hammond said after the win. "Both teams were struggling to get baskets. I think both teams played pretty darn good defense and it was a low scoring affair in that first half. It was probably as many points as there were turnovers and we just hung in there and made some big shots, and Addy had a monster game. She hit four threes. It was so hard to get anything inside with the way that they play defense. They are big. They are smart and we got a chance to make some shots and grab a few rebounds. Denvyr and Allison were in there battling and it was enough to win."

Both teams scored eight points in the first quarter. Malta outscored the Lady Cougars in the second quarter 10-6, the third quarter 15-14, and the fourth quarter 12-10.

The M-ettes were 17-of-48 (35%) from the field, 4-of-12 from three point range (33%), and 7-of-17 (41%) from the free throw line.

The M-ettes led by as much as nine points in the third quarter.

Williamson was asked what the key to their win was.

"I think the key to our win was that we were playing together really well," Williamson said. "We took a couple of hard fouls but that did not stop us. We didn't give up when we were down."

The M-ettes did have a couple of weeks off after winning the 2023 Northern B Divisional title, something that may not have helped them.

"I think that maybe at the beginning, we were a little rusty," Williamson said. "We haven't played for a while, but once we got into the groove a little bit, we were doing better."

In their semifinal loss to Big Timber, Malta was led by Tuss who had 14 points, nine rebounds, and one steal.

Kunze had an 11 point, 10 rebound double-double, as well as five steals, and assists, and one block. Williamson had nine points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Anderson had three points, three assists, and three steals. French had three points and two assists. Jacobson had three points and three steals.

The M-ettes were 6-of-19 (31%) from the free throw line, 18-of-46 (39%) from the field, and 1-of-11 from three point range. Big Timber was 15-of-38 (39%) from the floor, 7-of-19 from three point range, and 8-of-17 from the free throw line.

Malta fell behind 12-6 in the first quarter, but fought back in the second quarter, outscoring Big Timber 14-8 to tie the game 20-20 at halftime. Malta was outscored 11-10 in the third quarter and 14-13 in the fourth quarter. The M-ettes made 5-of-15 free throws in the second half.

In Malta's elimination loss to Baker, Williamson led the M-ettes with 15 points, seven steals, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.

Kunze had nine points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and one block. Tuss had eight points, seven rebounds, four blocks, and two assists. Jacobson had eight points and two steals. A. Anderson had four points, three rebounds, three steals, and one assist. E. Anderson had two points and French had one point.

Malta was 18-of-54 (33%) from the field and made 2-of-18 (11%) of their three point shot attempts. The M-ettes were outrebounded 45-30. Malta did have 15 steals, but only scored 10 points off of the 22 turnovers that they forced. Baker forced the M-ettes to turn the ball over 25 times.

Baker outscored Malta 18-10 in the first quarter and 17-10 in the second quarter. The third quarter was M-ettes' highest scoring quarter of the tournament and they outscored Baker 18-15, but Baker stopped Malta's comeback attempt, outscoring Malta 13-9.