UGF-bound Malatare ready for next step

Whitney Malatare has spent her last four basketball seasons bringing the ball upcourt for Arlee.

Next year, the all-state guard hopes to do so for the University of Great Falls.

“I can’t wait to play there,” Malatare said. “I’m really excited, actually.”

Malatare signed with the Argonauts during the season, but didn’t want to announce it until after the season to keep focus on the Scarlets’ team. She chose UGF over the University of Montana-Western.

For Malatare, basketball has been a way of life for as long as she can remember. The Arlee Little Dribblers program was run by her mother.

Her mother was an assistant coach at Arlee when Whitney was in middle school. Sometimes she would come to the gym and practice with the Scarlets.

“I spent a lot of time in these gyms,” she said.

All that practice has paid off in her high school career. Malatare was selected all-state as a junior and will likely be again after being one of Western Montana’s leading girls scorers in any classification at 16.9 points per game. First-year Arlee coach Bill Stockton said Malatare’s contributions transcend the stat book though.

“This year she had to be a leader and not just a basketball player,” Stockton said. “I think at the beginning it was tough, but the girls responded really well to her, and she really became a leader on the floor.”

Stockton also moved Malatare out of her typical point guard spot, letting sophomore Becca Whitesell take the ball upcourt in the later part of the season.

“[Malatare] could get it done with the ball in her hands or without it,” Stockton said.

A lot of teams would defend Malatare with a box-and-one, he said, and Whitesell running the point relieved some of that pressure.

“It took a lot of pressure off me,” Malatare said.

She also said it helped the young Arlee team mature better. The Scarlets had just two seniors—Malatare and Alexis Shick—and relied on freshman Alicia Camel, junior Violet Pablo and Whitney’s sister, Morgan (a sophomore) to carry much of the load.

The elder Malatare sister relished in the team learning experiences that the sport provides.

“I like basketball because you can build yourself and you can help everyone around you,” she said. “You’re not just working to make yourself better; you’re working on making everyone better.”

Stockton used that philosophy to employ her as a liaison between the team and the coaching staff.

“She helped with letting me know what the other girls were thinking, which was really good because some of the other girls weren’t as open as she was,” he said.

UGF coach Bill Himmelberg sees the same type of thing.

“She plays hard,” Himmelberg said. “It’s just all the little things she does on and off the court.”

The Argonauts have no seniors on this season’s team, though. Malatare will have to battle for her minutes next year.

Stockton doesn’t see that as an issue for his former captain.

“It’s her hard work that got her there,” he said. “It’s just nice because you preach to kids all the time that hard work pays off. … It’s just nice to see that pay off for her.”