Following the Thanksgiving break the Lady Dragon basketball team competed in the annual 2025 Ririe Bulldog Shootout, playing three days of basketball against over a long weekend of basketball.  The teams they faced were challenging, but no opponent was able to keep pace with the MHS team on the court or on the scoreboard.  Malad came home with a shutout record, improving their season to 7-0.

Originally set as a bracketed tournament, conflicts forced the Ririe hosting school to adapt the weekend of games to scheduled head to head matches.  The Lady Dragons were first pitted against the 3A Firth Cougars.  Malad jumped to a big lead in the opening quarter, going up 15-9.  The Cougars cut the lead in the second to just 2 points going into the half, 27-25.

But the Lady Dragons broke open the lead as they played through the third quarter as they outscored the Cougars 19-4.  In Malad’s first possession of the game, Mikell Keetch hustled the ball down the court for a fast break, dribbling between defenders to the left side of the court.  Keetch found Kiley Miller open on the left elbow, who kicked it out to Brynlee Jones on the opposite arc, jumping into the shot to sink an easy three.  

Miller tallied another assist on the next MHS trip down the court as Keetch hit a shot from the deep corner arc to expand their lead from 2 to 8 points in just over a minute of play.  It wasn’t just the guards hitting shots from the outside, senior post Liv Nelson took advantage of a stand off defender as she drained a third three pointer for the Lady Dragons.  Still focusing on guarding the inside shot, Keetch found another opportunity to drop another three pointer as the Lady Dragons made the most out of a sideline inbound play.

Firth adapted their defense in an attempt to shut down the outside but Malad was just as quick to take advantage of the more open key.  Keetch, Jones, and Nelson each to an opportunity to make a move to the basket, adding points to the MHS scoring and drawing fouls from the Cougars in the process.

It wasn’t just the fired up offense that kept the FHS team at bay, but the solid defense Malad played to nearly shut them out in the third quarter.  Firth only managed 4 points in the 8 minute period, 1 from a made free throw, the final 3 off a contested shot on the arc.  Together the team had less than 10 attempts at the hoop and even those came at a price.  

The Cougars made a small comeback attempt in the fourth quarter but only managed to cut the lead by 4 points, ending the game 57-44.  Always looking for the best team shot, Miller totalled 8 assists to lead the team against Firth.  Defensively she also led in steals with 3.  Keetch and Paityn Ward led in scoring, each adding 14 points to the MHS total.  Ward also led in rebounds with 8, closely followed by Nelson with 7.  

Day two of the shootout found Malad facing The Ambrose school, a matchup they were happy to take on.  In the first minutes of the game, the teams played a fast paced, back and forth game down the court with little scoring opportunities.  With just under 2 minutes of the game played, the score was tied at 3.  Then Malad took advantage of a loosely organized full court press, zipping the ball down the court to Nelson ready to lay the ball in for an easy 2 points.

Forcing a turnover with their own press, the Lady Dragons took possession of the ball, scoring another lay in, this time from Mady Vanbebber made open off the screen by Nelson at the high post.  Another turnover from their defensive press turned to another basket, Vanbebber with the steal and Keetch with the outside shot for three.  

Ambrose was able to break through the press and responded with a three pointer of their own.  But it did little to deter Malad’s offensive run.  After quickly inbounding the ball, Miller dribbled the ball down the court, drawing the defense to her and leaving Vanbebber open on the block.  Sending the bounce pass down, Vanbebber banked in the lefthanded shot to put them up 12-6.

After a slow minute without any scoring, the Lady Dragons pushed the ball again to finish out the quarter with a 22-11 lead.  Vanbebber hit a free throw, shortly followed by a rebound and putback by Nelson.  

Ward added two more as she attacked the basket, driving from the left arc to the right block for the layup.  Izzy Haycock, who has been mending an old volleyball ankle injury, dropped a block shot in the brief minutes she played.  With 10 seconds left, Nelson drained a 3 pointer, a shot unanswered by the Archers before the buzzer signaled the end of the quarter.

The second quarter MHS defense proved brutal for The Ambrose School, the Lady Dragons only allowing 2 points off a drive to the basket just one and half minutes into the quarter.  The final 6+ minutes were totally dominated by Malad as they went on a 15 point run to end the half 37-13.

The Archers came out renewed and determined as they played out the second half of the game, outsourcing the Lady Dragons the 35-28.  Fortunately the early lead was more than enough for the MHS to claim the victory 65-48.

The West Jefferson Panthers was Malad’s final opponent of the weekend shootout, playing them Saturday afternoon.  Having previously scouted the Lady Dragons, the Panthers came out to deny Jones in the opening possessions of the game.  They extended their denial defense to include Keetch as well, playing a triangle and 2 defense.  Taking advantage of that Miller went on a scoring run to put Malad up 6-0.

As Keetch brought the ball down the court she eyed Miller sitting open inside the left wing.  Catching the long pass, Miller put up a quick 2 point.  On their next possession, Miller started at the point, passing to Ward on her left.  Cutting through the key, Miller caught the pass in the corner for another easy 2.  Running nearly the same motion, Miller caught the pass from Ward on the wing, hitting a three this time.  Little did it matter what defense they were set in when the Lady Dragons went down for two scoring fast break possessions, made by Jones and Keetch.

Ward opened the scoring in the second hitting a three off the fastbreak kickout by Miller.  She and her teammates went on to outscore West Jefferson 17-3 in the second quarter, ending the first half 32-10.

Consistently, the Lady Dragons put up another 17 points after coming out of the halftime break.  Playing at a team, one of the many strengths of this team, the scoring was spread across six MHS players on the floor.  Making the most of every fast break, executed play, and second chance shoot, Malad was up 49-21 going into the fourth quarter.  

It didn’t take long for the Lady Dragons to add one more scoring basket to the total to tip them over the 30+ lead, resulting in a running clock for the remainder of the fourth quarter.  Despite the short-lived period, Malad still added 6 more points by Keetch, Vanbebber and Jette Nelson to finish the game 57-30.

Head Coach Trevor Jones was happy to comment on the games, saying, “It was another great week of basketball for the girls. It is always nice to get tournament style games in, where we get to play 3,back to back to back games. It definitely helps us down the road where we play a-lot of basketball in a short amount of time. 

“These tournaments make you adjust quickly and the girls were able to adjust to different teams and playing styles without our usual scouting and preparation. Firth, Ambrose and West Jefferson gave us a lot of different looks and opportunities to see what we could do and the girls shined each time. Different girls stepped up in each of the games.”

He continued, “All weekend we had great team efforts, it really was wonderful to see them rise to the different challenges. Ririe puts on a great tournament. It was our goal to go there and come out with 3 wins and we did that for the third year in a row.” 

Speaking of his team he concluded, “We are proud of the girls and the way they compete but also grateful for them as people.  They are enjoying the journey, making memories, traditions and cheering each other on along the way.”

It was a big weekend of basketball for the Lady Dragons as they played teams outside their district, far and near.  The series of games also proved a good chance for the team to mix up the lineup and adjust both their offense and defense.  In the end, what they learned is that alongside talent, chemistry, and grit, this MHS has a large stock of perseverance. 

Malad will next play at home as they host the 4A Bear Lake Bears on Thursday, December 11 before playing their first district game on the road at West Side High School against the Pirates on Saturday.