Maroons host Class A Duals, Vincent signs with Diggers

Butte High’s boys’ wrestling team will celebrate Senior Night Thursday night in the Butte High’s old gym.

The ceremony will take place as the Bulldog boys and girls host Missoula Sentinel in duals set to start under the spotlight at 6 p.m. The duals will mark the second-to-last home action of the season for Butte High.

Butte High’s boys advanced to the semifinals of the 17th Class AA Duals at Great Falls High, where the Bulldogs fell 64-8 to Billings West. The Golden Bears, the three-time defending Class AA State champions, defended their title at the Duals with a 47-21 victory over Gallatin in the title dual.

The Bulldogs opened with a 52-26 win over Belgrade before knocking off Billings Senior 48-31 in the quarterfinals. Butte High then beat Great Falls 43-36 in a consolation match and fell to Flathead in a 38-34 thriller. (Click here for results from the AA Duals.)

Butte High will honor their seniors and their parents as part of Senior Night. Those seniors are Bridger Brancamp, Xaiden Daly, Waylond Hicks, Keegan Hunt, Ryder McEwen, Caden Phillips, Darryn Rossiter and Joey Ward.

Butte High boys’ coach Cory Johnston said the Bulldogs are wrestling well heading into crunch time.

“We just have to stay the course and continue to be consistent,” he said.

Butte High honored its senior girls Jan. 10 when the Kalispell schools came to town. Butte’s senior girls are Allie Ballensky, Jessica Blow, Jauclynn Lansing, Peyton Liva and Mattie Stepan.

The Bulldog girls will compete at the Big Sky AA Mixer Saturday in Missoula. They will head to Dillon for a Mixon on Monday.

Gallatin and Bozeman will come to town to take on the Bulldog boys and girls on Tuesday. The divisional qualifying tournaments will be held Feb. 14 in Missoula, and the State meet is Feb. 19-21 in Billings.

Butte Central’s grapplers will compete in the Class A Duals Friday and Saturday at the Butte Civic Center. Action begins at 10 a.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The Maroons competed in mixers in Frenchtown and Great Falls last week.

Maroons eye perfect January

Butte Central’s boys’ basketball team has been on fire since the Christmas Break.

After their Dec. 23 loss to Butte High, Butte Central has rolled off six straight victories. The Maroons can close out January at 7-0 with a win over Stevensville Saturday at the Maroon Activities Center.

The Maroons and Yellowjackets will tip off at 3 p.m., the same time the girls will play in Stevensville. BC’s winning streak includes wins over Anaconda, Stevensville, Frenchtown, Hamilton, Dillon and Corvallis.

Central beat Stevensville 74-39 Jan. 10 in the Bitterroot Valley.

Junior Joshua Sutton leads the Maroons into action. He is scoring 20.5 points per game. He has made 35 of 77 3-pointers on the season. That is a clip of 45 percent.

Sophomore Jaxon Hiatt adds 10.7 points per game for BC, which is getting 8.5 points from junior GG Fantini and 8.2 from senior Ryan Peoples. Junior Cade Kelly rounds out the Maroon lineup, with freshmen Noah Sutton and Henly Mansanti coming off the bench along with junior Burkley Lakkala.

At 5-0 in Southwestern A play and 10-1 overall, the Maroons led the conference. They have a looming showdown with Frenchtown on the road next Tuesday. Stevi is 0-5 and 111 heading into Thursday’s home game against Florence.

On the girls’ side, the Maroons are trying to stop a four-game losing streak that came in a tough stretch of games. BC’s last win was a 59-23 beating of Stevensville Jan. 10 at the MAC.

It also came as the Maroons are struggling to stay healthy. They lost sophomore Natalie Osterman to an injury while getting injured classmate Kenzie McQueary back on the court. BC coach Quinn Carter, though, said McQueary is not yet 100 percent.

Eighth grader Jordyn Samson leads BC in scoring with an average of 8.6 points per game, but she missed the last game. Sophomore Zayonna Otherbull adds 8.0 points to the lineup, and junior Rylee Forbes contributes with 5.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

Sophomore Braelynn Schelin and senior Arika Stajcar started last game along with McQueary, Otherbull and Forbes. Sophomores Evny Smith and Jaedyn Maldonado, eighth grader Luci Fantini and senior Caden Tippett contribute off the bench.

The Maroons will be back at home Tuesday against Frenchtown.

Bulldogs face Spartans

Three days after going to Missoula Tuesday to pick up a win over Missoula Big Sky, the Butte High boys’ basketball team will head back to Zootown to take on Missoula Sentinel on Friday.

Butte High’s girls, meanwhile, will be back at the Richardson Gym looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s tough home loss to Big Sky when they take on the Spartans. Both Western AA games tip off at 7 p.m.

On the boys’ side, the Spartans ride into the battle with a nine-game winning streak. Sentinel is 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the Western AA after Tuesday’s 53-43 win at Missoula Hellgate.

Lincoln Rogers, a 6-foot-8 senior, poured in 22 points to lead the Spartans in that win. Classmate Zeke Gildewell added 14 for Sentinel, which has not lost since it fell 49-42 at home to Billings West on Dec. 13.

Each win since that loss has been by double digits. The latest win came over a Hellgate team that beat Butte High 50-38 five days earlier in the Mining City.

The Bulldogs are 9-2 and 4-2 after Tuesday’s 62-54 win at Big Sky. Brady Hanson, a 6-9 sophomore, scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Bulldogs in the win. Senior Hudson Luedtke added 18 points.

Senior Josh Liston had his best game since returning to the lineup after a toe injury. He sank four 3-pointers and scored 12 points. Senior Cayde Stajcar tossed in seven.

Senior Mitch Verlanic joins Hanson, Luedtke, Liston and Stajcar in the starting lineup. Senior Rhett Arntson adds some punch off the bench. James Pearston, Kendel Noctor and Ryan Hanson have appeared in most of Butte High’s game.

Kaleb Celli, Raeder Grey, Koda Schleeman, Brady Walsh, Kodye Kjersten and Noah Powers have also seen varsity time.

Butte High’s girls are still smarting from Tuesday’s rough-and-tumble 61-53 loss to the Eagles.

Butte High fell to 6-5 overall and 4-2 in conference, but the Bulldogs did not go down without a fight.

Junior Cadence Graham scored 15 points, and freshman Elli Graham came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers and scored 14. Junior Allie Becker scored six.

The Butte High starting lineup generally consists of Cadence Graham, Becker, junior Autumn Clary and seniors Franki Salusso and Emma Johnson.

Freshman Saege Grey and junior Kendallyn Schad have contributed in every Bulldog game. Juniors Reese Johnson, Avery Barsness and Ellie Yates and sophomore Stella Callaghan have also seen key time for the Bulldogs.

Sentinel is 5-6 and 2-4 after Tuesday’s 44-39 loss to Hellgate. Lucy Pfahler, a 5-11 senior, scored 12 points to lead the Spartans in that loss. Andrin Reimers, a 6-1 junior, added 10.

The Bulldog boys and girls will be back at home next Friday and Saturday to take on Kalispell Glacier and Flathead in doubleheaders. The varsity games will be played at the Butte Civic Center.

Those games will mark the last scheduled high school varsity games on the new Civic Center floor this season.

YMCA hosts swim meet

Butte High and Butte Central swimmers will be back in action in Butte Friday for a meet at the YMC. Action is set to begin at noon.

It will mark the first of back-to-back meets for the Bulldogs, who are scheduled to head to Missoula for a meet on Saturday.

Butte High’s boys placed fifth and the girls took sixth at Saturday’s Montana Classic at the YMCA.

Nathan Stone, Gage Plum, Tucker Kissell, Ayvahn Mann and Gunnar Benson placed in the top 10 in individual events on the boys’ side. Connor Hardy did the same for Butte Central.

On the girls’ side, the Bulldogs got individual place showings from Olivia Thurmond, Tatum Trefts, Alaina Grochowski, Bryher Fitzpatrick and Bella Corrales. Tessa Ganzenmueller, Morgan Hardy and Tia Thompson placed for the BC girls.

This weekend will provide the final tune up for — and last chance to qualify for — the State meet, which is Feb. 12-14 in Great Falls.

Vincent takes talents to Tech

Montana Tech’s football team will have yet another Vincent on its roster.

Butte High senior Brooks Vincent signed an NAIA National Letter of Intent to play football for the Orediggers during a signing ceremony Tuesday morning at Butte High. He signed while sitting between his mother Janelle and his father Josh.

Josh Vincent was a fullback for the Orediggers when the team advanced to the NAIA national championship game in 1996. He was also a member of Butte High’s 1991 state championship football team.

Vincent’s uncle, Matt Vincent, was also a standout for the Bulldogs and Orediggers.

Brooks Vincent started the season at quarterback for the Bulldogs. He moved to receiver early in the season. He will play tight end for the Orediggers.