M-ettes Defeat Fairview, Fall to Roy-Winifred

The Malta M-ettes basketball teams split a pair of games last week and are 2-2 heading into Christmas break.

The M-ettes posted a dominant 62-39 win over the Fairview Lady Warriors on Friday, December 22, at Malta High School. It was their first and only home game of the 2023-24 season.

"It's a great way to head into break," senior Giona Lamb said.

The M-ettes fell to the Roy-Winifred Lady Outlaws on Thursday, December 21, in Winifred. The score was 51-42.

The M-ettes will see action on Thursday, January 4, as they host the Havre Blue Ponies. The event starts with a junior varsity game at 3:30 p.m.

In Malta's win over Fairview, sophomore Neva Jacobson led with 20 points, six assists and two steals. Senior Elly Anderson had nine points and two assists.

"I think we just came out with good energy and intensity," Anderson said. "Last night we lost, so we wanted to come out today and do a lot better."

She also said that there was a big crowd out including former M-ettes who were in the crowd for winter break.

"It felt really good knowing that they still wanted to support us, even though they aren't here anymore," Senior Addison Ulrich said.

Sophomore Kendall Clausen had nine points. Sophomore Denvyr Tuss had eight points and five rebounds. Junior Kelbie Nelson had eight points, four rebounds, and two steals. Junior Caitlyn Wilson had five points. Sophomore Emree Stuart had two points and Kylie Bishop, also a sophomore, had one point.

Malta outscored Fairview in each of the first three quarters; 20-11 in the first, 18-5 in the second, and 15-9 in the third. Fairview outscored Malta 14-9 in the fourth quarter.

In Malta's loss to Roy-Winifred, the M-ettes were led by Jacobson who had 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Anderson had seven points. Clausen had six points and five steals. Nelson had five points and seven rebounds. Tuss had three points and four assists. Lamb had two points and four rebounds.

The M-ettes were tasked with facing Isabelle Heggem, who is listed at 6'4" and scored 18 points. Lamb was asked what it was like going against Heggem, whose stature appears to be taller than her listing.

"It was pretty tough but all I had to do was try to find her, box her out and if she got a rebound over me, I had to put my hands straight up and try not to swat," Lamb said.

The team is heading into break, but has an idea of things they want to work on.

"I think that we need to work on communicating a little better," Ulrich said. "We need to get better at working as a team. There are a lot of new, young players on the team."

Though Malta has pulled up a couple of eighth graders, they do not have enough practices at this time. Still, Malta saw some minutes from a few younger players in their win over Fairview.

"They are doing good," Anderson said. "I think that we have good chemistry with them already because they are pretty confident."