Bryan Porch is not from Butte. But every basketball fan in town knows him well. Every fan in the state does, too.

That is because Porch has been among the very best at his craft for a very long time.

For 40 years, Bryan has worked high school games in Montana. The Florence native works out of the Missoula pool, and he has refereed more state tournaments and more state championship games than he can remember.

He is in town this week for his final tournament, the Class A State boys’ tournament at the Butte Civic Center. Porch is retiring from officiating after a remarkable 40-year run.

That run has seen Porch referee big games both on the high school level and in the Frontier Conference. One time, he even got to officiate the NAIA national championship game.

It will be hard to imagine high school basketball in Montana without Porch in the stripes for the biggest game.

His final game will be the third-place game on Saturday. You just know he will treat that game like it is the championship game.

He says the State tournament is the Super Bowl for officials, but he knows that every game is the biggest game to someone.

Listen in to hear Porch talk about his remarkable career.

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