It was a week of battles for the Malad Dragon basketball team, as much off the court as on.  Between injuries and illnesses, the team only managed one varsity practice in a week of big games with all players present.  Despite the aches and pains, the MHS team stepped up to play, putting their team above their own comfort.

The Dragons were scheduled to play basketball in Soda Springs on Wednesday, January 22.  With only two varsity team members well enough to attend, the coaching staff began wondering if the game would even be possible.  “Coach Bastian and I worked with Admin to explore rescheduling the game with Soda Springs on Wednesday,” shared Head Coach Zack Beutler.  He continued, “Due to scheduling conflicts we found ourselves with two options Tuesday night- go play without any game prep with a group of guys that were on antibiotics or forfeit the game.

“We decided to have a conference call and see what the boys wanted to do. The call was filled with coughing, hoarse voices and sniffles but the guys unanimously said “let’s go compete.”

Not playing at their best, the Dragons still pushed the Cardinals through four quarters of tough basketball.  Never once did they let up, giving themselves a chance to win until the very end.

It was a quick working defense that put Malad on the scoreboard to begin the game.  Moving into Cardinal territory on a quick transition, Easton Green came up behind the dribbler, reaching out and causing him to pick up the ball.  Almost simultaneously, Zack Richardson, coming from the opposite direction, popped it out his hands.  With an open court in front of him, Richardson laid the ball in for an easy two points for Malad.  Soda Springs didn’t let the quick lead last long, taking over on the scoreboard until the first quarter ended, 11-16. 

The Dragon defense came out strong in the second quarter, allowing only 7 points.  On the other end of the court, Malad worked to read the defense to take advantage of their soft spots.

Early in the quarter, Justin Toone set the screen for Brady Showell at the free throw line.  As Showell drove off the screen, Toone rolled to the hoop, drawing the defense’s attention.  Just then, Green slipped in from the corner for the quick bounce pass and lay in.

Carter Carey tied the score at 16 points as he hit a jump shot from the elbow off a pass from Richardson on the opposite wing.  Two possessions later, the swapped places- Carey making the pass and Richardson hitting the three point shot to put them up 19-18.  The lead was short lived as Soda Springs hit two free throws.  With 44 seconds left, it was Ruger Smith with the wing shot to bring the score to 22-20.  The Cardinals responded with one last bucket, taking the lead by one point to end the first half.

The two teams continued to inch past each order as they played into the third quarter.  As they moved into the final minutes of the quarter, Soda Springs got hot on offense, hitting shots on three consecutive possessions.  While Malad had their own scoring opportunities, they simply couldn’t get the ball to fall through the net.  Despite the struggling final minutes of the third quarter, the Dragons kept the game close, finishing 35-41 before starting into the fourth quarter.

Over the final eight minutes of the game, the MHS team managed to outscore the Cardinals, holding them to only 8 points.  With less than a minute remaining, Malad set up in their trap defense following a time out.  Soda Springs brought the ball over half court, Richardson hazing the dribbler towards Green for the trap.  Getting out before Green could make his way up, the Cardinal player began moving towards the wing.  As he moved past him, Richardson reached out to tip the ball, hitting it right into Green’s hands.  

Breaking towards the hoop, Green lobbed the ball ahead to Richardson.  Richardson drove to the basket, jump-stopping to let the defense burn past him before putting up the shot.  The ball bounced off the back of the rim, looking like another Dragon shot that just couldn’t connect.  Before anyone could get a hand on it, Carey came in to tip the ball back in for the score to bring the score within four points, 44-48.

Soda Springs landed one more point in the final 30 seconds of the game as Malad attempted to foul in hopes of forcing a possession change. Although they came up short, the Dragons proved themselves over the 32 minute game.  Coach Beutler said of them, “We were very pleased with the way they played in Soda Springs. They pushed through the discomfort and gave themselves a chance to win.” 

Still not at 100%, the Dragons hosted the Declo Hornets on Friday, January 24.  While they fell 34-49, Malad played an excellent game. Looking at the stats, there was nowhere that the Hornets outpaced except in points.  The Dragon had more field goal attempts, more steals and fewer turnovers.  

“After one day of practice in a week we squared off against the #1 ranked Declo squad on and played a solid game in every category except putting the ball in the hoop.  We were equal on offensive rebounds, we had fewer turnovers and 11 more FG attempts than Declo. We held their potent attack to 49 points.  Unfortunately the ball wouldn’t drop for us. We had great looks at the hoop all night and just couldn’t get them to go.”

The Dragons will take to the road in the upcoming week, playing the Wendell Trojans on Thursday, January 30 and then Saturday, February 1.

Malad vs Soda Springs

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

1 2 3 4 T

Soda Springs  16 7 18 8 49

Malad  11 11 13 9 44

# ATHLETE PTS REB AST STL BLK

0 Carter Carey 13 3 2 0 0

1 Easton Green 6 4 2 3 0

3 Ruger Smith 3 0 0 1 0

22 Brady Showell 3 2 1 0 1

23 Brayzen Gibbs 2 5 2 0 0

24 Justin Toone 4 6 0 1 1

30 Zach Richardson 13 8 9 2 0

TEAM TOTALS 44 28 16 7 2

Malad vs Declo

Friday, January 24, 2025

1 2 3 4 T

Malad   12 7 7 8 34

Declo  11 16 10 12 49

# ATHLETE PTS REB AST STL BLK

0 Carter Carey 4 3 1 2 0

1 Easton Green 3 3 0 3 0

3 Ruger Smith 0 2 0 0 0

22 Brady Showell 5 5 0 2 0

23 Brayzen Gibbs 7 1 2 0 0

24 Justin Toone 5 4 0 0 1

30 Zach Richardson 10 3 4 3 0

TEAM TOTALS 34 21 7 10 1