TWO EAGLE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Beasts of the East

BILLINGS - Against top-flight competition, Two Eagle won two

games convincingly at the Southern Classic last weekend in

Billings.

In their Friday game, the Eagles posted a 64-46 victory over

Northern Cheyenne, a team that qualified for the Class C Montana

State Tournament last year and posted 20 wins.

BILLINGS - Against top-flight competition, Two Eagle won two games convincingly at the Southern Classic last weekend in Billings.

In their Friday game, the Eagles posted a 64-46 victory over Northern Cheyenne, a team that qualified for the Class C Montana State Tournament last year and posted 20 wins.

"The boys were really talking about the team making the state tournament last year so I was pretty excited with how they came out," Two Eagle head coach Clayton Malatare said. "They played tough defense and they were dominant in the first half."

The Eagles notched 39 points before halftime and cruised to victory. Artie Mendoza led the team in scoring with 19, Marcus Brown added 14 and Skylar Rossbach scored 12.

With a big lead, Two Eagle was able to get plenty of production from all their players.

"I think the team was pretty focused," Malatare said. "The boys were pretty excited."

Cole Noble added nine and four other Eagles scored points to show a solid balance of scoring.

On Saturday, the Eagles upended St. Stephens from Wyoming 62-46. St. Stephens, a class 1A team in their state, was another state tournament qualifier and finished with 18 wins a season ago.

"St. Stephens was a pretty rough, physical team," Malatare said. "We got to play them last year and came in pretty nervous. This year we just wanted to come out and show them we could play with them."

Two Eagle could certainly do that, going into halftime with a 31-23 lead before they put on some solid defense in the third quarter, holding St. Stephens to seven points.

The Eagles scored 22 in the fourth quarter en route to victory.

Mendoza was again the leading scorer with 17 points, while Brown added 12 and Rossbach scored 11.

"Our overall defense is great," Malatare said. "It has been wonderful so far."

Point guard Clayton Malatare, Malatare's son, had double digit assists in both games and helped run an offense that was ahead in terms of shooting percentage when it cames to opening season tournaments.

"I was worried about the shooting since it was the beginning of the year but the kids came out and just were ready to play," Malatare said.

Two Eagle will play at Hot Springs on Thursday and then host a very tough Noxon team on Saturday.

"I feel Noxon is if not the top team in the district, they're one of the top teams in it," Malatare said. "I think the Noxon game could come down to the last minute."

The coach also added he'd like to see his team work on being a little more physical in practices this week and work more on rebounding, which was something they did well at the Southern Classic.

"We have to concentrate and have our heads on the big picture," Malatare said. "We have to look at each individual game."