Cadence Graham joins exclusive club

Butte boys off to best start in decades, wrestlers dominate

When Montana Tech hired Jeff Graham to coach its women’s basketball team in August of 2022, we had no idea it would have such a major impact on Butte High’s girls’ basketball program.

Graham and his wife Megan (Schmitz), a Montana Western Hall of Famer, moved to town with their four children. They came from Belt, where Jeff led highly-successful runs for the high school football and girls’ basketball teams.

About 3 and a half years later, their daughter, Cadence Graham, has joined some exclusive company in Mining City sports. The 5-foot-7 junior guard scored 12 points in Butte High’s 68-47 non-conference loss to defending Class AA State champion Gallatin Friday night at the Butte Civic Center.

That put Graham at 1,001 career varsity points. She is now one of just two Butte High girls to enter the 1,000-point club. The other is the great Lexie Nelson, a 2010 Bulldog graduate who scored 1,696 career points.

Graham is one of nine girls in Mining City high school history with 1,000 points. Seven of them are from Butte Central. The Maroons in the club are Kellie Johnson (1,530), Brooke Badovinac (1,330), Quinn (Peoples) Carter (1,224), Mollie (Peoples) McCamley (1,199), Kloie Thatcher (1,172), Emily St. John (1,073) and Meg (Haran) Murphy (1,048).

All seven of those BC players went on to standout careers in college. Badovinac is currently playing for Montana Tech. Johnson and Murphy are Butte Sports Hall of Famers.

Graham first started playing varsity for the Bulldogs as an eighth grader during the 2022-23 season. That was the first year eighth graders were eligible to play varsity sports, and she split time between the varsity and junior varsity teams.

Graham first made a name for herself in Butte when she scored a game-high 18 points as Butte High beat Butte Central 62-32 Jan. 31, 2023 at the Butte Civic Center. Big game after big game followed that performance.

Last season, Graham averaged 18.0 points and 3.2 assists per game in the regular season, and then helped lead the Bulldogs to the third-place game of the Class AA State tournament in Bozeman.

Graham’s 443 points last season ranked fifth all time for the Bulldogs, and it left her with 905 career points at the end of the campaign. She has scored 96 points through five games this season, including a 38-point performance in a season-opening win at Bozeman.

Sammy McGree ranks third on Butte High’s all-time scoring list with 936 points. Ally Cleverly (892), Brityn Stewart (838) and Butte Sports Hall of Famer Anna (Fabatz) Keltner (817) are the only other Bulldogs to score more than 800 points their career.

Graham will look to add onto that total Friday and Saturday when the Bulldogs play Flathead and Glacier in Kalispell. The Butte High boys will also be on the trip.

On Friday, the girls play at 6 p.m., and the boys will play at 7:30. The doubleheader starts with the girls play at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The boys’ play at 3.

Butte High’s girls will take a 2-3 record on the road after a brutal early-season schedule. The Bulldog boys are riding high at 5-0.

Dogs off to hot start

The last time Butte High’s boys’ basketball team started the season at 5-0, Curtis Smith was running the point.

Butte High is undefeated after five games for the first time since the 1989-90 campaign that saw the Bulldogs fall in the Class AA State championship game for the second straight year.

Only one of those games was decided by less than 10 points, too. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by an average of nearly 20 points, 64.8 to 45.2.

Of course, a big reason the Bulldogs are off to the hot start is senior guard Hudson Luedtke. He led the Class AA in scoring and assists last season, and he is on pace to do it again this year. Through five games, Luedtke is averaging 28.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.

Another big reason for the hot start is 6-foot-9 sophomore Brady Hanson.

Can you name the last Butte High player to have four dunks in his career? It’s been a while. Hanson had four dunks in Friday’s 75-60 win over Gallatin at the Butte Civic Center alone.

All four of those dunks were two handed slams that left the backboard and shot clock rocking. One came on a pass off the glass from Luedtke on a fast break. Luedtke registered eight assists to go along with 22 points in that win.

Hanson scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. In addition to all the dunks, he sank a 3-pointer.

Senior Rhett Arntson also put together the biggest game of his varsity career in the win over Galatin. He sank five 3-pointers and scored 19 points in the win. The return of seniors Mitch Verlanic and Cayde Stajcar have also had a huge impact on the Bulldog team, particularly on defense.

The win, which came in Butte High’s first action since their Dec. 23 victory over Butte Central, had Bulldog fans dreaming big as they left the Civic Center.

That home crowd won’t get the chance to see the Bulldogs play again until they take on Jan. 17 when they play host to Helena High at the Richardson Gym. The next Civic Center game for the Bulldogs is Feb. 6 against Glacier.

Maroons head to Snake Pit

The Maroons had a longer break than usual this holiday season. BC hasn’t played since their Dec. 23 losses to Butte High.

Their first games back will also figure to be intense battles with a long-time rival as the BC’s boys’ and girls’ teams head to the Smelter City to take on the Anaconda Copperheads in a non-conference doubleheader with the Copperheads at the Snake Pit.

The girls play at 6 p.m., and the boys will tip off about 7:30.

Central’s teams have not played since they took on Butte High Dec. 23 at the Butte Civic Center.

On the boys’ side, the Maroons roll into action at 4-1 after the loss to the Bulldogs. Junior Joshua Sutton enters the game averaging a team-best 21.2 points per game. He is one of three Bulldogs averaging in double figures. Sophomore Jaxon Hiatt is scoring 10.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while junior GG Fantini is averaging 10.2 points and 6.0 boards

Senior Ryan Peoples and junior Cade Kelly round out the starting lineup for the Maroons. Freshmen Noah Sutton and Henly Mansanti and junior Burkley Lakkala are the first players off the bench.

The Maroons will take on a Copperhead team that is looking tough, winning five of its first six games.

Central’s girls are 1-4 heading into the new year. The Copperheads are 1-5.

Eighth grader Jordyn Samson and sophomore Zayonna Otherbull lead the Maroons in scoring. Samson is averaging 9.5 points per game, while Otherbull adds 9.0 points and 5.0 rebounds to the BC lineup.

That starting lineup also included juniors Marly Mansanti and Rylee Forbes and sophomore Braelynn Schelin with sophomore Kenzie McQueary out with an injury.

Eighth Grader Lucy Fantini, sophomore Natalie Osterman, and senior Arika Stajcar have appeared in every BC game so far. Senior Caden Tippett, sophomore Jaedyn Maldonado and eighth grader Mila Carriger have also contributed for the Maroons.

Central will open Southwestern A play Saturday against. The BC girls will be at home, while the boys will hit the road.

Dogs stick Eagles, Knights

Butte High’s boys’ and girls’ wrestling teams rolled to dual victories over Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Hellgate Tuesday night at Butte High’s old gym.

The Bulldog boys, who saw six players place at the Tom LeProwse Invitational in Bozeman three days earlier, beat Big Sky 53-24 and Hellgate 60-12.

Against Big Sky, the Bulldogs got victories by way of the pin from Keegan Hunt, Reveles McEwen, Ryder McEwen, Bridger Garrison and Kasen O’Keefe. Crew O’Connor won by technical fall, Bradey Doyle and Renzy LeProwse won by decision, and Darryn Rossiter grabbed a forfeit victory.

Butte High was the beneficiary of six forfeits against Hellgate. They went to Darian Findlay, Jeff Nichols, Kuley Queer, Garrison, Phillips and Ryder Henry. Doyle, Andrew Baca, O’Keefe and Ryder McEwen pinned their opponents.

Butte High’s girls beat Big Sky 42-36 and pasted Hellgate 54-12.

Against Big Sky, Butte High’s Adalie Hazlett and Jessica Blow won by forfeit. The other five Bulldog wins came by forfeit. Brooklyn Hettick, Brooke Johnson, Mattie Stepan, Matti Neighbor and Peyton Liva all checked in to pick up wins.

Liva, Hazlett, Blow and Johnson pinned their Hellgate opponents. Hettick, Loretta Matteson, Stepan, Neighbor and Chyanne Robinson won by forfeit.

The Bulldogs will take on Glacier and Flathead Saturday at the old Gym. Action begins at noon, and the Bulldogs will be celebrating Senior Day.

Seniors for the Butte High boys are Bridger Brancamp, Zaiden Daly, Waylond Hicks, Hunt, Ryder McEwen, Phillips, Rossiter and Joey Ward. Seniors on the girls’ squad are Allie Ballensky, Blow, Jauclynn Lansing, Liva and Stepan.

For more detail on Tuesday’s duals, check out Bruce Sayler’s story on ButteSports.com.