Atypical Guard Duo at Heart of Bemidji Girls’ Basketball’s Hot Start to 2024-25 Season

Bemidji girls’ basketball came out of the gates hot this season and are currently sitting at 5-2. It marks the Lumberjacks’ best start since 2019, and they it owe to great defense and even better guard play, led by a pair of team captains that don’t fill your typical basketball mold.

The Jacks’ early success in 2024 is thanks in large part to a pair who’re small in stature. Senior guard Matjea Malterud and junior guard Liv Thompson, the two team captains, stand just 5′ 2″ and 5′ 1″ respectively. They’re undersized by most basketball standards, but despite lacking in height, they don’t feel short-changed.

“Sometimes before the game it does, but then when you get in the game it doesn’t,” said Malterud. “If you’re more aggressive, there’s ways around it. I feel like sometimes if they’re taller, they’re more scared of us than we’re scared of them.”

“I feel like sometimes I have an advantage over them when I’m guarding them because yeah, it’s easier to steal the ball,” said Thompson with a grin.

And they do get a lot of steals. The Lumberjacks run a full court press from tip off until the final buzzer, exhausting opponents early in the game while taking advantage of them late.

“That’s definitely our biggest strength and that’s where a lot of our points come from is just transition and getting steals,” added Thompson.

“When you watch us line up against other teams, we can be undersized at times, but we have girls who are super quick, “said head coach Darin Schultz. “A lot of them play soccer and so their endurance is through the roof and for us, we’re able to wear teams down.”

Still, some teams underestimate the duo, measuring them by size instead of fight. It’s a lesson they learn the hard way.

“They don’t realize how beastly they are,” laughed Anysia Pink, the junior forward flexing as she spoke. “They’re so fast and they’re aggressive. So I think that’s probably a good thing that [opponents] underestimate them. So then they just show up and they show off and it works out great for us.”

That’s because the two captains lead the team in steals. But, many times, they immediately feed their teammates the ball, and their teammates finish the job by scoring.

“It just comes down to wanting to get the best shot,” said Malterud. “You might have a good shot, but then [you] pass a teammate who has the better shot.”

“I think that’s something that’s really cool about this team. Like, no one’s selfish,” Thompson added. “We all want each other to get better and they know if someone else has a better shot, they’re willing to give up their shot for someone else.”

It’s the classic case of little things making a big difference, and it’s something that has rubbed off on the rest of the team as they continue into the heart of their season.

“We’re just going to stay focused on being aggressive and working our butts off in practice,” said Pink. “[We realize] that it is a team event. It’s not a selfish thing. It’s not all about ‘I,’ it’s about a team, and I think all of us want that and we want to be competitive and we want to win.”