TERS BB: Finishing on a high note

MISSOULA - Clayton Malatare came into the season wanting to be a

point guard in the purest sense. While his scoring numbers haven't

been as high this season, his assists have been through the roof.

Two weeks ago he set the all-class state record for number of

assists in a single game with 23 against St. Regis and has the

state season record in his sights.

MISSOULA - Clayton Malatare came into the season wanting to be a point guard in the purest sense. While his scoring numbers haven't been as high this season, his assists have been through the roof. Two weeks ago he set the all-class state record for number of assists in a single game with 23 against St. Regis and has the state season record in his sights.

Last week? He notched 23 assists in two games and helped his team with his three-point shooting to down two tough opponents.

On Thursday night, Two Eagle picked up their first victory against Arlee since Malatare's dad, Clayton, has been head coach.

"I think a lot them really wanted to win it," Malatare said. "It was a pretty big deal and our guys want to finish out the season with some wins going into the tournament."

The Eagles pulled out the 59-51 victory but it certainly wasn't easy. Both teams were tied 12-12 after the first quarter before Two Eagle went on a 9-3 run at the beginning of the second quarter.

Arlee would fire back with a 12-3 run of its own to end the half with a 30-28 lead thanks to a buzzer beater by Junior Sansavere.

In the third quarter, the Eagles made another run to begin the period, outscoring Arlee 11-3, and would eventually lead the Warriors 47-41 going into the fourth quarter. That was largely sparked by two three-pointers by Malatare including one from the suburbs of Two Eagle's home court.

"Clay hit a three from the volleyball line and it seemed like we stepped it up another gear," Malatare said.

That was a lead they would maintain, hitting six free-throw shots in the final period. The win improved their district record to 7-5.

On Saturday night, Two Eagle had another tough opponent in Valley Christian, playing on their home court for senior night. It was also when Malatare stepped up and nailed six three-pointers in the game.

"They were all key threes in key moments," Malatare said.

Those threes proved to be important since Two Eagle won narrowly 59-57. After jumping out to a 16-8 lead in the first quarter, Valley Christian battled back for the 28-27 lead.

"They came out fired up and played hard the whole entire game," coach Malatare said of Valley Christian. "We told the boys that they were going to come ready to play."

In the second half, Two Eagle went on a 20-13 run in the third quarter to retake the lead and held on in the fourth quarter for the win.

Three different Eagles finished in double digits, Malatare scored 19, Artie Mendoza put in 15 points and Marcus Brown notched 14.

Malatare said that he called a timeout during the game to refocus the team and they told him "don't worry about it, we've got it."

Two Eagle finished the season 12-6 overall and will now focus on the 14-C "Super" District Tournament in Ronan this weekend.

"We told the boys that you've got to look at games in the tournament as a home game," Malatare said. "We only lost one game at home and the tournament is close by. Some of our players do the open gyms in Ronan."

Malatare also wanted to express his appreciation for the Two Eagle JV girls basketball team. The team played their last game of the season last Thursday night and worked hard all year.

He also said that having the girls team was a lot of fun and it added a lot of excitement to the season.

Two Eagle will have a girls varsity squad next year, according to Malatare.

TERS @ V.C

TERS - 16 - 11 - 20 - 12 - 59

Valley C. - 8 - 20 - 13 - 16 - 57

Eagles scoring - Marcus Brown 14, Cole Noble 4, Skylar Rossbach 7, Artie Mendoza 15, Clay Malatare 19

ARLEE @ TERS

Arlee - 12 - 16 - 13 - 10 - 51

TERS - 12 - 18 - 17 - 12 - 59

Eagles scoring - Marcus Brown 11, Cole Noble 11, Jaylen Ducharme 4, Skyler Rossbach 13, Artie Mendoza 10, Clayton Malatare 10