Wrestling

The Malad Dragon Wrestling team made a statement as they moved through their second week of the regular season.  Despite having four back to back days of duals and tournaments, the Dragon wrestlers hit the mats aggressive and ready to wrestle with each match.  After the many hours spent traveling and competing, the MHS wrestling team finished their busy week with a perfect record in team duals, taking their record to 14-0.

The Dragons kicked off their week competing against Skyline and Green Canyon High Schools on Wednesday, December 6, winning both duals against the Utah teams.  Malad first wrestled Skyline, winning the dual 51-36 with nine of the thirteen wrestlers winning their matches.  The Dragons ended the night wrestling Green Canyon, winning the dual 48-29, winning out on eight of the fourteen matches.

The following day, the MHS wrestlers traveled to Rupert to dual against Declo and Minico High Schools. Once again, the Dragons dominated on the mat taking down both teams, easily handling the Hornets 67-12 and narrowly taking the win over the highly competitive Minico team, 44-39.

To finish out the wrestling week, the Dragons competed in Marsh Valley’s two day tournament.  The tournament featured both a varsity and JV tournament, as well as a girl’s tournament.  Malad competed against other teams from southeastern Idaho and northern Utah. 

The Dragons wrestled well across all three tournaments with four wrestlers going undefeated,  Caleb Matthews and Drake Morrison in the Varsity brackets and Kimball Carter and Caden Jeppson in the JV brackets.

Commenting on the team's great week of wrestling Head Coach Devin Morrison shared, “We asked a lot of these kids this week.  They wrestled a lot of matches against some tough wrestlers and they did extremely well.  The team is putting in the work and it is paying off.”

After a busy week away, the Dragons next look to wrestle at home Tuesday, December 12 in the annual Cal Willie Memorial Dual.  The night will begin at 5pm as they pay tribute to a member of the Dragon wrestling family gone too soon.  They will also host the Malad two day tournament on Friday, beginning at 3 pm, and Saturday, beginning at 9 am.  

All-State Volleyball

The Idaho All-State Volleyball Team for the 2A class was just recently released and included some of Malad’s own Lady Dragon volleyball players.  Senior outside hitter Hallie Horsley was named on the first team with Senior setter, Adley Kimberling named to the second team. Sophomores Olivia Nelson, middle blocker, and Izzy Haycock, opposite hitter, were each given honorable mentions.  A full list of the 2A All-State is as follows:

Player of the Year 

Tariah Carter, Jr., OH, Melba

Coach of the Year: Curtis Johnson, Melba

First team

Maddie Cheney, Sr., RS/OPP/MB, Kellogg

Karly Clark, Sr., OH, Cole Valley Christian

Hadley Fraas, Sr., MH, Cole Valley Christian

Hallie Horsley, Sr., OH, Malad

Ellie Johnson, So., S, Melba

Joelle Kelly, Fr., OH, Melba

Ella Stosich, Sr., L/DS, Melba

Second team

Brynlee Birch, Jr., OH, Bear Lake

Alexis Douthit, Jr., S/DS, Nampa Christian

Tayla Ewell, Sr., L, Declo

Alyssa Gregory, Sr., OH, Nampa Christian

Adley Kimberling, Sr., S, Malad

Saydee Shaul, Jr., L, Bear Lake

Brynn Silcock, Sr., S, Declo

Honorable mention

Hanna Bailey, Jr., OH/RS/MH, Sun Valley Community

Izzy Haycock, So., OPP, Malad

Rachel Jacobsen, Sr., S, Firth

Olivia Nelson, So., MB, Malad

Brooklyn Sawyer, Jr., OH/OPP, Ambrose School

Jessica Tackett, Sr., MH, Melba

Halle Wells, Fr., MB, Bear Lake

Boys Basketball 

Competing in the Boys Ririe Bulldog Shootout Tournament, the Malad Dragons put up three games in three days, going up against some truly challenging teams as they played the Teton Timberwolves, the Firth Cougars and the South Fremont Cougars.  Malad faced challenges of their own coming into and throughout the tournament as players suffered from illnesses and injuries.

 The Dragons came out strong in their first game against Teton, a strong 3A team.  Coming into half time, Malad was keeping pace and only trailing by five points on the scoreboard.  Teton’s depth won out playing into the second half as they were able to keep highly skilled and adept shooters in the game.  Expanding the lead over the last two quarters, the Timberwolves won the game 49-71.

In their Friday game, the Dragons played Firth who they had just gone up against and beaten the week previously.  Unfortunately, Malad came into the game lacking the energy they needed to outplay the Cougars once against.  Head Coach Zach Beutler said, “The boys did their best to navigate not feeling well along with an ankle injury that made the game all the more challenging.”  Playing far from their best, Firth won the matchup 38-66.

The Dragons took on the South Fremont Cougars on their final day of the tournament.  Taking a slow start to the game, Malad was up 12-11 at the end of the first quarter after hitting one of two free throws.  The Cougars temporarily took the lead over as they played through the second quarter, but the Dragons tied the game back up before the half ended, 25-25.

Bringing more energy in the third quarter, the Dragons took control of the game on the court and the game on the scoreboard.  Their offense patiently worked the ball around, passing until they found an open man ready for the shot.  

With just a minute left on the clock in the third quarter, Ryan Hubbard grabbed an offensive rebound, kicking it out to Carter Carey near the free throw line.  He faked a drive to the hoop before passing out behind him to Ben Peterson on the three point line to hit the shot.  Seconds left before the buzzer would end the quarter, Malad quickly inbounded the ball after a made Cougar basket, sending the ball down the court to Braylin Tripp who effortlessly laid the ball in despite two defenders on him.  The 18 point push over the quarter helped Malad pull ahead 43-34 at the end of the third quarter. 

Starting into the final quarter, the team put all their efforts onto the floor to secure their lead and end the tournament with a win.  To begin the fourth quarter, Carey put up a three pointer from the left corner after a pass from Hubbard off of an offensive rebound. On their next possession, Coach Beutler called for a timeout, setting up a play inbounded from the sideline.  Tripp took the ball out, passing it into Carey who then passed to Peterson.  Far behind the three point line, Peterson looked to shoot the ball but in actuality sent the ball up in an alley-oop for Tripp.  After slipping in from the sideline, Tripp drifted down to the corner, rushing the basket as Peterson sent up the pass, putting a perfect finish on the play with a dunk for two points.

On their next possession, Zach Richardson hit a big three, making the score 51-39.  Carey got the assist on their next trip down the court as he set the ball up for Tripp to easily lay in for another Dragon score.  Settling into a rhythm where their defense would make a stop and the offense would convert it to points on the board, Malad went on a 20-9 run over the last quarter, besting South Fremont 63-43.

Coach Beutler said about the Dragons final game, “We finally settled in and played ball the second half of the game.  The boys weren’t 100% back to themselves but they were feeling much better than they had been the first two days.  It was a good way to end the weekend.” 

The Dragons will spend the week playing on the road, first against the American Falls Beavers on Tuesday, December 12.  Thursday they will travel to Bancroft to take on the North Gem Cowboys and end the week in Ririe to take on the Bulldogs Saturday, December 16.

Girls Basketball

The Lady Dragons took to their home court after nearly a three week hiatus as they took their game on the road.  The MHS team had great success as they hosted the Firth Cougars on Tuesday, December 5 and the North Fremont Huskies on Saturday, December 8.  Taking the win after both games, the Lady Dragons extended their winning record to 8-0.  

In response to their winning record, Head Coach Trevor Jones says, “We are having a great start to the season, for sure.  But it’s just that, a start.  We can’t let up now and get complacent after a little success.  We have to come to the gym and to practice with a purpose every time- to improve, to get better, to fine tune those weak areas.  There is still a lot of season ahead of us.”

  As the Lady Dragons hosted the Cougars, it was their third matchup in a short 17 days.  While Firth might have had hopes of overtaking Malad after their first two losses, the MHS basketball team was not about to let them win out, especially on their home court.  Having seen both the Cougar offense and defense, the Lady Dragons were well prepared for a full four quarters of basketball.  

  In just over two minutes, the Lady Dragons jumped to a quick lead as Brynnlee Jones put up two three pointers followed by two quick shots from Hallie Horsley, making the score 10-0.  The Malad defense did well to shut down both the successful shooting and driving play that Firth relies on, as well as their fast paced full court transition game.  Finding the basket only a few times over the quarter, the Cougars found themselves down 23-12 at the end of the quarter.

 The Lady Dragons were relentless in their play, looking down the floor for fast break opportunities, knocking down shots from the inside and out, as well as dominating the rebounds.  Over the game, Malad tallied up 43 rebounds, outdoing Firth by 13.  Olivia Nelson led the Lady Dragons with rebounds with 16, followed by Horsley with 9, Jones with 6, and Izzy Haycock and Oaklie Hebdon adding 4 each.  

The offense was led by Horsley with a season high of 23 points, with Jones and Hebdon adding 16 and 14 points, respectively.  Adding significantly to both offense and defense was Mikell Keetch from off the bench, adding 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  

Playing hungry for the game in each minute, the Lady Dragons never let up, converting every open opportunity to points on the scoreboard.  As the final moments ticked down, Hebdon and Keetch each added a scoring drive to make the final score 75-55, tying the record for the most points scored in a MHS girl’s basketball game.

In a contrast to the fast paced, full court play against Firth, the Lady Dragons took down North Fremont in a slow, more physical, inside game.  The Huskies took a short lead to begin the game, but outside shooter Hebdon put an end to that as she sunk a three pointer from the right wing with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.

Despite winning throughout the first half, the slow pace of the game was largely controlled by the Huskies.  Ready to play their game at their pace, the Lady Dragons came out in the third quarter with more energy, intensity and aggressiveness.  Over the last two quarters, they forced 7 of North Fremont’s 11 turnovers.  They began running the floor more, finding fast break opportunities that they could turn into scoring plays.

Outsourcing the Huskies quarter after quarter, the Lady Dragons kept their lead throughout the game, to come out ahead 48-34.  Hebdon, Nelson and Horsley led their team with points added mostly from inside the paint as they battled it out on the block, scored on second chance shots and drives to the hoop.

Jones and Haycock put stats up across the board having rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and points.  Jones tallied up 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 points,  Haycock added 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2, steals, 1 block and 6 points.

“It was another good week of basketball,” shared Coach Jones. “There are always things we can work on and we are, but we are proud of the effort and commitment these girls are putting in every day.  We want to be more consistent not only from game to game but from quarter to quarter and minute to minute in each game.  These girls can do that, we know it!”

The Lady Dragons will play their first conference games this week as they host Aberdeen on Wednesday, December 13 and play in West Side on Friday, December 15.