Taking their game on the road, the Malad Dragon basketball team split their games against conference opponents, Wendell and Aberdeen.  Dialing in as the season begins to wind down, the MHS team is proving it knows what it takes to change a close loss to a close win.

Thursday, January 30, the Dragons took the long trek to Wendell to play in their first contest against the Trojans.  The day before, Wendell had squeaked by The Ambrose School, the defending state champions, by 1 point, leaving Malad very aware of the tough game they were about to play.

They jumped out to take the lead in the first quarter, putting up 11 points to Wendell’s 6.  But the Trojans came out in the second in a big way, scoring 16 points to end the half Malad 18, Wendell 22.  Coming out fresh from the halftime break, both teams found success on offense as the Dragons scored 24 points and the Trojans 25.  Despite their best efforts, Wendell expanded their 6 point lead to 11 to win the game.  

Head Coach Zach Beutler shared, “Wendell is a disciplined team with great athletes.  Our guys did a good job competing with them.  We just came up short.  We gave up a couple key offensive rebounds, turned the ball over unforced, and didn’t shoot well from the free throw line.  The boys clean those things up a bit and the results of those close games will change.”

Just two days later, Saturday, February 1, the Dragons took on the Aberdeen Tigers in their second matchup of the season.  In their earlier game held in Malad, the MHS came up short, losing 44-46.  This second contest had the potential to prove Coach Beutler right.

The Tigers started the scoring in the opening quarter, getting up 2-7.  It wasn’t until halfway into the first quarter that Malad finally began getting into a rhythm offensively to not only put up shots but start hitting them.  Zack Richardson made a dent in the small lead, hitting a 3 pointer off the quick pass from Easton Green at the top of the key.  

Settling into their defense after the made shot, Malad baited Aberdeen into a long pass.  Anticipating the ball, Green deflected the pass.  Grabbing the loose ball, Green hit Richardson with the short pass who was then able to thread the ball through the defense into Carter Carey’s open hands down on the block for another Dragon score.  With Aberdeen unable to score again in the quarter,  Malad started the second period up 10-7.

The Dragons continued to lead as they played through the next 8 minutes, putting up 18 points, led by Richardson’s 3 outside shots.  As the two teams paused for the half, Malad led 28-19.

Malad held on to their early lead, despite the fourth quarter run the Tigers attempted.  Aberdeen began narrowing the gap on the scoreboard, scoring on 6 possessions compared to the Dragons 2.  But instead of losing their composure and their lead, Malad dialed on both offense and defense to keep control of the game.

Up now 55-50 with only 55 seconds left in the game, the Tiger’s desperation was palpable as they looked for a big score.  As Aberdeen moved the ball around the court, hoping for an opening, Malad forced rushed and hurried passes that eventually went wide and out of bounds.  On their possession, the Tigers managed a quick shot off, but the Dragons beat them to the rebound as Justin Toone held his position under the hoop and easily derailed any pickoff attempt.

20 seconds remained on the clock and the Tigers turned to fouling in hopes of forcing a possession change.  First on the line for the Dragons, Brady Showell went 1 for 2 on his free throws, followed by Toone hitting both.  The final seconds ticked off the clock as Malad claimed the win, 58-50.

“All 3 teams got the W on Saturday and that felt good,” Coach Beutler shared of their victory.  He added, “We’re hoping we are on the tail end of the sickness and injuries that have plagued us.”

After a week on the road, the Dragons will have two games at home, first against the West Side Pirates Wednesday, February 5 before playing Soda Springs on Friday, February 7.

Malad @ Wendell

Thursday, January 30

1 2 3 4 T

Wendell  6 16 25 26 73

Malad  11 7 24 20 62

# Athlete PTS TRB AST STL BLK

0 Carter Carey 15 8 3 0 0

1 Easton Green 16 2 0 2 0

3 Ruger Smith 0 0 1 0 0

22 Brady Showell 0 3 0 1 0

23 Brayzen Gibbs 5 6 3 0 0

24 Justin Toone 12 11 0 0 0

30 Zach Richardson 14 5 4 0 0

TEAM TOTALS 62 35 11 3 0

Malad @ Aberdeen

Saturday, February 1

1 2 3 4 T

Aberdeen  7 12 10 11 50

Malad  10 18 13 17 58

# Athlete PTS

0 Carter Carey 12

1 Easton Green 2

22 Brady Showell 5

23 Brayzen Gibbs 6

24 Justin Toone 10

30 Zach Richardson 23

TEAM TOTALS 58