Carson Towe hit a turn-around jumper in the paint that will haunt the Butte High Bulldogs for months, if not years to come.

The 6-foot-5 senior sank the shot with 12 seconds left, lifting Missoula Sentinel to a 57-56 win over Butte High in a Western AA playoff game at a jam-packed Richardson Gym.

The win sends the 11-9 Spartans to the Class AA State tournament, which begins Thursday in Bozeman. Butte High’s season closes at 13-7, and the Bulldogs will miss the State tournament for the first time since 2019.

Actually, it will be more than Towe’s shot that will keep the Bulldogs up at night. So, too, will collection off shots that seemed to go in before bouncing back out.

While the Bulldogs couldn’t buy a bounce, the Spartans lived on membership hops all night long.

After Towe’s game-winner, Butte High called time out with 10.3 seconds left. The Bulldogs raced the ball down court, and senior Tocher Lee launched a contested 3-pointer.

The hero so many times for the Bulldogs, this time’s Lee’s shot bounced away. Classmate Torre Tempel got the rebound and got off a shot that also found iron as time expired.

The loss spoiled what was a remarkable comeback for the Bulldogs, who played from behind almost all of the 32 minutes. Butte High trailed 17-7 after the first quarter and 28-23 at the half.

Sentinel opened the third quarter with seven straight points to make it 35-23. That lead was 40-30 before the Bulldogs closed the third with five straight points to cut the lead to 40-35 heading into the fourth.

The Bulldogs grabbed the lead when senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache grabbed his own rebound, put in a bucket and drew a foul. His free throw put Butte up 53-52, and it nearly blew the roof off gym.

That came with 1 minute, 13 seconds left in the game. Bache got a defensive rebound, was fouled, extending that lead to 55-52.

Sentinel, though, tied the game with 41 seconds left when senior Tyler Stanton drove for a 3-point play.

Bulldog junior Hudson Luedtke hit a free throw to put Butte High up 56-55 with 34 seconds left. Then, Towe broke the heart of Bulldog Nation.

Towe finished with a game-high 20 points. Lincoln Rogers, a 6-foot 7 junior guard, scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Kade Robinson scored eight.

Sentinel also got five points from Stanton, four from Jace Koshatka and two apiece from Beau O’Reilly and Gavin O’Reilly.

Bache scored 19 points to go along with six rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. Nine of those points came in the fourth quarter.

Luedtke tossed in 11 points. Sophomore Braylon Larson to join Lee with nine points. Larson also grabbed 10 rebounds. Senior Torre Temple scored eight points.

Senior Spencer Callaghan, junior Kendel Noctor and freshman Brady Hanson also contributed for the Bulldogs.

Lee, who season was shortened by a pair of injuries, closed his remarkable career at No. 2 on Butte High’s list of all-time games played with 83. Only Doug Edwards, who played din 90 games from 1936 through 1939 appeared in more varsity games fs for Butte High than Lee.

The future Montana Tech football player also finishes his Butte High hoops 111 made 3-poiners. Only Chad Jonart (2002 through 2004) made more threes for Butte High’s boys. Jonart finished his career with 115.

The loss also closed the career for senior Kylar Kjersten, whom coach Matt Luedke praised for his hard work and dedication.

Hudson Luedtke will leave his junior season already the No. 1 scorer in Butte High boys’ history. He has 1,169 points and counting.

MISSOULA SENTINEL (11-9) — Jace Koshatka 1 2-4 4, Lincoln Rogers 7 1-2 16, Beau O’Reilly 1 0-0 2, Kade Robinson 4 0-1 8, Carson Towe 8 0-0 20, Tyler Stanton 1 3-3 5, Gavin O’Reilly 1 0-0 2, Braydon Burke 0 0-0 0, Zeke Glidewell 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 6-10 57.
BUTTE HIGH (13-7) — Tocher Lee 3 0-0 9, Hudson Luedtke 3 5-6 11, Dylan “Bobby” Bache 7 4-5 19, Torre Tempel 3 0-0 8, Braylon Larson 4 1-4 9, Brady Hanson 0 0-0 0, Spencer Callaghan 0 0-0 0, Kendel Noctor 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 10-15 56.
Sentinel          12        11        12        17 — 57
Butte               7          16        12        21 — 56
3-point goals — Sentinel 5 (Towe 4, Rogers), Butte 6 (Lee 3, Tempel 2, Bache). Fouls — Sentinel 19, Butte 12. Fouled out — Rogers, G. O’Reilly, Robinson. Technicals — none.