Thursday was a very good night for high school basketball in the Mining City.

Butte Central’s girls’ basketball team kept its season alive with a 59-13 win over Stevensville in a Western AA play-in game at the Maroon Activities Center.

Butte High swept Western AA games against Helena Capital. The Bulldog girls won a 36-35 thriller in Helena, while the Butte High boys pulled away for a 65-50 win in front of a large crowd at the Richardson Gym.

The Maroons advance to a play-in game at 4 p.m. Saturday at Corvallis. The winner of that game advances to the Western A Divisional tournament next week in Whitefish.

Butte High’s teams will both host Class AA playoff games next week. The dates and opponents for those games have yet to be set.

Freshman Kinzey McQueary sank four 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead the Maroons, who took control early and never looked back.  Classmate Zayonna Otherbull added 10 points, while freshmen Rylee Forbes, Natalie Osterman and Braelynn Schelin each scored six. Also, junior Arika Stajcar tossed in five, and freshmen Evyn Smith and Jaedyn Maldonado each tossed in two.

In a physical win that Bulldog coach Bryan Arntson compared to a hockey game, sophomore Cadence Graham came through in the clutch from the free throw line for the Butte High girls. She hit two huge free throws to tie the game late, then buried two more to put the Dogs up by one point with 2.8 seconds left.

Graham finished with 10 points, while seniors Dylann Bartoletti and Brityn Stewart each scored nine points.

At the Richardson Gym, senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache and junior Hudson Luedtke each had a huge game to lead the Bulldogs to the bounce-back win. Bache scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the way to the Senior Night win.

Luedtke contributed with another triple-double, scoring 18 points to go along with 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Braylon Larson scored nine points.

Before the game, the Bulldogs honored seniors Bache, Tocher Lee, Klyar Kjersten, Spencer Callaghan,Torre Tempel and their parents. Lee played in his 82nd varsity game for the Bulldogs, tying Jeff Edwards for No. 2 all time for the Butte High boys.

GIRLS
Butte Central 59, Stevensville 13
STEVENSVILLE (0-19) — Emma Tan 2 0-0 4, Kayden Tolley 0 2-4 2, Emma McKoy 0 2-4 2, Harley Gilleard 1 0-0 2, Olivia Hanson 1 0-0 2, Avery Raszler 0 0-0 0, Hadlie Leonard 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Meeder 0 0-0 0, Maddix Yaeger 0 0-0 0, Bella Raszler 0 1-2 1. Totals 4 5-10 13.
BUTTE CENTRAL (6-13) — Evyn Smith 2 0-0 4, Kenzie McQUeary 7 2-2 20, Zayonna Otherbull 5 0-2 10, Rylee Forbes 3 0-0 6, Arika Stajcar 2 1-1 5, Marly Mansanti 0 0-0 0, Braelynn Schelin 2 0-0 6, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 2-2 2, Meika Boyer 0 0-0 0, Natalie Osterman 2 0-0 6, Caden Tippett 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-7 59.
Stevensville                2          8          1          2 — 13
Central                       19        14        18        8 — 59
3-point goals — Stevi 0, BC 8 (McQueary 4, Osterman 2, Schelin 2). Fouls — Stevi 9, BC 15. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.

Butte High 36, Helena Capital 35
BUTTE HIGH (13-6, 9-5) — Dylann Bartoletti 3 2-4 9, Cadence Graham 1 8-8 10, Sidney Whitaker 1 0-0 3, Brityn Stewart 3 1-2 9, Franki Salusso 0 0-0 0, Ellison Graham 1 0-0 3, Allie Becker 1 0-2 2, Emma Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 11-16 36.
HELENA CAPITAL (8-11, 5-9) — Eva Dahlquist 4 2-3 13, Ali Miller 2 2–6 6, Madi Emmert 5 0-2 12, Kate Drynan 0 0-0 0, Taylor Zanot 0 0-0 0, Jaci Lyman 0 0-0 0, Chloe Lafromboise 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Grooms 0 0-0 0, Cailin Mohar 2 00 4, Greta Hageman 0 0-0 0, Brynn Lawler 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-11 35.
Butte                           6          11        13        6 — 36
Capital                       7          8          12        8 — 35
3-point goals — Butte  (Stewart 2, Bartoletti, E. Graham, Whitaker), Capital 5 (Dahlquist 3, Emmert 2). Fouls — Butte 16, Capital 17. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.

BOYS
Butte High 65, Helena Capital 50
HELENA CAPITAL (10-9, 9-5) — Merek Mihelish 3 2-2 9, Connor Toivonen 5 0-1 10, Dylan Almquist 2 0-3 4, Landon Levang 3 1-1 8, Benton Belzer 3 0-0 6, Kyle Bachmeier 1 0-0 2, Kobe Gamradt 0 0-0 0, Joey Mergenthaler 0 0-0 0, Drew Almquist 3 0-1 6, Brett Buehler 1 1-1 3, Will Spotorno 0 0-0 0, Carson Toivonen 1 0-1 2, Drew Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 4-10 50.
BUTTE HIGH (13-6, 9-5) — Tocher Lee 1 0-0 3, Dylan “Bobby” Bache 10 1-1 25, Torre Tempel 1 3-3 6, Hudson Luedtke 6 3-3 18, Braylon Larson 4 1-2 9, Kyler Kjersten 0 2-2 2, Spencer Callaghan 0 0-0 0, Brady Hanson 1 0-0 2, Kendal Noctor 0 0-0 0, Rhett Arntson 0 0-0 0, Raeder Grey 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-11 65.
Capital           13        10        15        12 — 50
Butte               13        18        18        16 — 65
3-point goals — Capital 2 (Mihelish, Levang), Butte 9 (Bache 4, Luedtke 3, Lee, Tempel). Fouls — Capital 10, Butte 9. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.