M-Ettes run away from Ponies on opening night

There was an electric atmosphere for the Havre Blue Ponies first home game since winning the Class A state girls basketball championship last season. And while the Ponies were hoping to open their title defense with a win, the Malta M-Ettes had something else in mind.

Thanks in large part to a suffocating defense, the M-Ettes, Class B state runner-up to Fairfield a season ago, made a statement on the opening night of the 2014-15 season by upending the Ponies 62-41 at the HHS gymnasium Friday night.

“Malta is a really nice team,” HHS head coach Dustin Kraske said. “They are better than us right now at this point in the season. I thought our kids played with decent energy, we just have a lot of little things that we need to do better. Not quite being ready to catch and score is an example.  I think we had some kids that had some jitters.”

Havre got off to a promising start after Dani Wagner scored twice in the first 1:12 to give the Ponies a 4-0 lead, but Malta responded with 3-pointer from Rebecca Smith that pulled the M-Ettes within one. It also sparked an 11-2 run that included six points from Sophia Stiles, giving Malta the early 11-6 edge.

The M-Ettes led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter and pushed the lead to 21-12 early in the second but after a 6-0 run by Havre that featured baskets by Morgan Mazurkiewicz and Lindsey Kudrna, as well as two three throws from Naomi Terry. Yet, the M-Ettes answered by making seven of eight free-throw attempts during a 7-2 run that helped them take a 30-22 halftime lead.

Malta quickly pushed the lead to double digits after a three baskets by Darby Schye in the first 2:45 of the third quarter and suddenly, the Ponies found themselves trailing 38-25. But HHS refused to go without a fight and following a lay up by Wagner, Morgan Mazurkiewicz scored five straight points, including a three-pointer with 4:12 left in the third that trimmed the deficit to 38-32.

That was as close as the Ponies would get.

Schye answered with her fourth bucket of the quarter. Then, Malta got three free throws from Marley Manoukian and that propelled the M-Ettes to a 43-33 lead going into the final stanza.

From there, the Malta defense took over. After holding the Ponies without a field goal for the final 4:12 of the third, the M-Ettes held HHS to just one field goal in the fourth quarter and that came with less than two minutes to play, when the outcome was already decided.

By the time it was all said and done, Malta held the defending class A state champs without a field goal for over 10 minutes. And in the end, the M-Ette defense was the difference.

"We were hanging around and we had a chance going into the fourth," Kraske said. "We just couldn't score. The coaching probably could have been a little bit better. I thought our kids just lacked a little momentum and that will come as the season progresses."

Hailey Nicholson put forth a fantastic effort in the win for Malta, scoring a team-high 20 points on 10 made field goals. Stiles also had a solid outing with 12 points, eight of which came in the opening stanza. Schye added 10 points.

Despite the loss, Morgan Mazurkiewicz put together a 20-point performance for Havre that included going 10-for-10 from the foul line. Wagner pitched in with 10 points and Kudrna contributed with six.

"I think our kids just need to get some more confidence and that will come," Kraske said. "We can't focus on the last ten shots that we missed but on the next shots that we are going to make."

The Ponies were scheduled to take on CMR in Great Falls on Saturday but due to the diagnosis of whooping cough with some Rustler players, the game was postponed. It will be rescheduled at a later date.

HHS will be back in action this week and will get right into Central A conference play with back-to-back road games against Belgrade and Livingston. Havre will travel to Belgrade this Friday and then to Livingston Saturday.

Malta 62, Havre 41

Malta 17 13 13 19 – 62

Havre 10 12 11 8 – 41

Malta - Marley Manoukian 0 5-7 5, Sophia Stiles 4 4-4 12, Markelle Lett 1 3-4 5, Hailey Nicholson 10 0-0 20, Jada Nicholson 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Smith 0 1-2 1, Kelsey Kuehn 1 4-4 6, Rebecca Smith 1 0-0 3, Adrianna Bibeau 0 0-0 0, Darby Schye 5 0-1 10. Total 22 17-24 62.

Havre - Ceyara Plante 0 1-2 1, Dani Wagner 4 2-5 10, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 4 10-10 20, Tori Mazurkiewicz 0 2-4 2, Naomi Terry 0 2-2 2, Rachel Majeres 0 0-0 0, Lindsey Kudrna 3 0-0 6. Total 11 17-23 41.

3-point goals – Malta 1 (R. Smith), Havre 2 (M. Mazurkiewicz). Fouled out – Kudrna. Technical fouls – None.