The Lady Dragon basketball team opened up their season at the top, taking on challenges from all directions.  In their first full week of games, Malad went up against three fellow teams of the 2025 State tournament- Ririe, Melba, and Parma.  Each opponent brought with them talent, strategy, and fight but it was the Lady Dragons that came out on top as the final buzzer rang.

The week started Tuesday, November 18 as the MHS team hosted the Ririe Bulldogs in their first game of the week.  The talented Bulldog team came to Malad with three full teams of players, players that had spent hours in the off season training and playing together.  At every level you could see the time and work had paid off, but it wasn’t enough to outplay the Lady Dragons.

The opening quarter of the game was tight, the two teams going back and forth on the scoreboard and on the court.  Malad came out to take the lead but by the end of the quarter, trailed by just 1 point, 17-18.  Putting up 12 points in the second quarter while holding Ririe to just 6, gave the Lady Dragons the lead and stretched the score to 29-24.  

Malad came out in the third quarter to go on a 20-2 run against Ririe.  On their first possession, Izzy Haycock spotted up to drain a shot from the arc.  Their following trip down the court, teammate Brynnlee Jones added another three pointer for Malad.  Ririe countered with their only bucket of the quarter on the other end of the court.  Liv Nelson came down to bank in a block shot from the block after connecting with the pass from Haycock, getting open off a back pick from Mikell Keetch, making the score 37-26.

It wasn’t just Malad’s offense that was on point, but their defense challenged Ririe in ways they were unprepared for.  The Lady Dragons played a full court, high pressure defense that translated to hurried passes and rushed shots.  Once it even resulted in a 10 second back court violation, a true indication of the MHS team’s relentless lockdown defense.

The Lady Dragons ended the night up 56-26.  Keetch led the team in scoring with 17 points, also adding 5 rebounds, 1 assists, and 2 deflections.   Nelson and Jones each added 12 points, with Haycock tacking up another 11.  Nelson led in rebounds with 7.  Leading the teach with assists, Jones and Haycock both tallied 5.

Malad loaded up the bus to head to the Boise area to take on the Melba Mustangs and Parma Panthers beginning Friday night.  The trip proved a huge success for the Lady Dragons, not only the Varsity team dominating the court, but both the JV and C-teams sweeping their opponents as well.

Jones started the scoring against Melba as she rolled over the rim two free throws.  The Lady Dragons had a slower offensive start, but by the end of the quarter had made a push to get up 18-4.   Their defense kept the Mustangs from hardly settling into an offense, forcing a number of turnovers with their full court press.  Over the length of the game, Melba piled up 24 turnovers, 16 of those direct steals from Malad.  Kiley Miller led the MHS team in steals with 4, her speed and agility making her a constant threat for even the best of ball players.

The Mustangs continued to make an effort to hold back the Lady Dragons throughout the game, but the problem was, it wasn’t just one MHS player that they needed to shut down.  Across the four quarter game, 9 players contributed points to their score, pulled down rebounds, and executed near flawless offense and defense.  The combined team effort led to the Lady Dragons first victory of the weekend, winning 53-19.

The next afternoon, Malad made the quick jaunt over to the Parma Panthers in what felt like a redemptive game after the heartbreaking loss to the Panthers in the 2024 State Championship game.  The MHS team hoped to come out to make a statement that they were faster, stronger, and better than ever.  And a statement they made.

Like the night before, Jones started the team with points from the free throw line, getting fouled as she took the ball to the hoop on the right block.  Parma answered the score with one of their own on their following trip down the court.  Keetch answered that herself with a scoring drive to take the small lead for Malad.  

A forced Panther turnover turned to another scoring opportunity as Haycock dribbled to the basket and then kicked back to Jones for three points.  Miller added 2 from the elbow for the Lady Dragons, her defender cutting off Keetch’s drive.  But as a result of the help defense, Miller sank the wide open shot after connecting with the pass.  Keetch spotted up to drain another 3, Haycock finding her open on the right wing, expanding the MHS lead to 12-3.

It was difficult for Parma to shut down the Malad offense, the Lady Dragons playing an up-tempo, fast paced full court game as well as a slowed, strongly executed offense.  Going into half time, the MHS team was up 34-14, a lead they continued to expand to the end of the game.

Parma may not have been the same team Malad had faced in the state championship, but the Panther team was still made up of a number of talented players.  Returning starter, Arie Harris, came into the game averaging 25 points, a lethal player against any team they had played.  Knowing she could do real damage, the Lady Dragons defense made a concentrated effort to shut her down, largely denying her the ball throughout the night.  Of the team’s 36 points, Harris tallied only 16 points, a far cry from her average.

At the final buzzer, Malad celebrated the hard fought victory, winning 57-36.  Over the four quarter game, the Lady Dragons managed to out score their opponent in every quarter.  Not only did they outscore the Panthers, but outrebounded them, 35-29.  They also stacked up more assists (14-0), steals (16-3), and fewer turnovers (10-21) to clearly outwork them on the court.  Leading the scoring for the MHS team was Keetch with 23 points, followed by Jones with 18.  Jones also had 10 rebounds, Nelson adding 9.

Following his first full week of games, Head Coach Trevor Jones couldn’t have been more pleased with the start to the season.  He commented, “What a great week of basketball!  Our first home game the girls came out firing! Preseason polls have Ririe being one of the best teams in the state. We knew it would be a tough challenge and it started out just that way.  We made a few adjustments and the girls came out and really showed what they are made of.  They electrified the gym as they went on a 21-2 run in the 3rd! It’s so fun when these girls get going.” 

Commenting on the weekend games, he continued, “It was great to travel to the Boise area and take on some historically great programs from the west side of the state.  Against Melba the girls just came out on fire and ended the first quarter 18 to 4. It just set the tone for the rest of the game. It was great to walk out there with big varsity, JV, and C team wins. 

“Parma has a great program, too,” Coach Jones shared. “They are projected to be in their district championship and return to the state tournament again this year.  After losing a heartbreaker in the state championship game last year, that Parma game was circled on our calendar. We really wanted to go back and get a little revenge. 

“From the opening tip the girls were laser focused and went into attack mode. We got a lot of transition baskets and looked to get some easy baskets off of our press. We had several big performances and the girls just stepped up to the challenge.” 

“It really was an awesome week of basketball for our girls,” Coach Jones reflected.  “We were able to get 3 big wins for the varsity against 3 state tournament caliber teams. Also, it was great to see the improvement and development for the JV and C teams. To get 2 program sweeps this weekend made the long trip home from Boise a little more enjoyable.” 

“We are a well rounded team this year with a group that can press and run the court then, when needed, they can slow it down and execute,” he explained about his team.  He finished, “It’s still very early in the season and there are things we will need to improve on but overall a great start to the season.”