M-ettes 4-Peat the 2B Title

The Malta M-ette basketball team won their fourth straight 2B District Championship last Saturday Night in Wolf Point.

"It feels really good," sophomore Neva Jacobson said. "That is four years in a row. We just had a good environment and I think that helped us win it."

The environment was both hostile and encouraging for the M-ettes, who had nearly every team in the 2B District cheering against them.

"It kind of felt like everybody was against us except for Malta," Junior Kelbie Nelson said. "But, I am just so happy that a ton of Malta people showed up. That definitely helped."

The M-ettes, who were undefeated in conference games during the regular season, defeated the Poplar Indians 50-47 in a thriller. Jacobson hit a game-deciding mid-range jumper with 45 seconds left in regulation and hit two free throws to ice the game.

"I was just so nervous and I felt like I had to come in clutch for our team and I was crossing my fingers that it would go in and it did, thank goodness," Jacobson said of the shot. "I saw that there was three seconds left and I knew I had to shoot. There was no time for a pass, or to go into the key, but I thought I would go up confidently like our coaches tell us to and I shot it. It worked and I am thankful to them for that."

Jacobson had five rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks. Senior Elly Anderson had eight points, five rebounds, and two assists. Sophomore Denvyr Tuss had seven points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks. Kendall Clausen had three points and eight rebounds. Emree Stuart had three points. Kelbie Nelson had two points, five rebounds, and two assists.

Though both teams struggled to score early in the game, the M-ettes grabbed a 9-7 lead by the end of the first quarter, thanks to a last second half court shot made by Poplar's leading scorer Cammie Martell, who netted 19 points.

Poplar rode the momentum and energy of the crowd to a 14-11 output in the second quarter and took a 21-20 lead heading into halftime.

Malta was able to grab a 27-25 lead in the third quarter, but Poplar kept fighting and outscored Malta 16-12 in the period. The M-ettes found themselves behind 37-32 heading into the fourth quarter and eventually behind 10 in the fourth quarter.

"I think that we were just nervous most of the time because there is a lot of pressure on us, being the underdogs," Jacobson said.

Jacobson said that the team received a good pep-talk from the coaches. She was asked what words from that pep-talk stuck with her.

"Do not let the crowd get to us," Jacobson said. "Like Kelbie said, every team was cheering against us and I just feel like we got our heads under control and it was pretty fun."

Malta started their run with a pair of free throws made by Tuss, followed by a steal and layup made by Jacobson. Poplar responded with a trey by Rikki Belton. The score was 45-36.

Again, Tuss was fouled but split her free throws. Poplar again scored on the other side and had a 47-37 lead with 5:21 remaining. This was the last time Poplar would score that night.

On the next possession. Malta responded with a two-point field goal.

After a couple of possessions, Anderson was fouled, putting Malta in the double bonus with 4:38 remaining. She split the free throws.

Jacobson scored on a three point shot after an assist from Clausen. The score was 47-43.

Clausen would block a driving layup and find Jacobson for another trey at the 2:30 mark.

Both teams would fail to score for the next minute and 45 seconds.

With four seconds on the shot clock, Jacobson received a pass and was at about NBA three-point range. She dribbled around the key and set for a shot inside the perimeter with two-seconds left and sank a contested jumper. The Malta crowd erupted! Malta was up 48-47.

Poplar would eventually miss a two-point try and Jacobson was fouled. She made both free throws.

Tuss led Malta in the team's win over Fairview in the semifinals with a 18 point, 14 rebound double-double. She also had two steals. Jacobson had nine points, six rebounds, and three steals. Nelson had seven points, four rebounds, and two steals. Senior Addison Ulrich had six points. Anderson had six points, two assists, and two steals. Clausen had two points and six rebounds. Stuart had two points.

Nelson was asked what their key to victory was in their win over Fairview.

"I honestly think that we beat them before," Nelson said. "So we knew that we could do it again if we played as hard as we could. We came in confident and with a good mindset."