Butte High basketball player Brady Hanson and Butte Central hoopster Luci Fantini are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.

The young honorees are showing that the future of basketball in the Mining City is bright.

Hanson, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, takes home the boys’ honor after scoring a career-high 19 points in Tuesday’s 62-54 win at Missoula Big Sky. Hanson added nine points three nights later in a Butte High loss at Missoula Sentinel.

Already the unofficial school record holder in backboard-shaking dunks, Hanson is averaging 9.4 points per game for the Bulldogs. He entered last week averaging 6.2 rebounds per contest. Hanson has been a varsity contributor for Butte High since he was in the eighth grade.

Fantini, a 5-6 eighth-grade guard, takes home the girls’ honor. That comes after she scored a career-high and team-leading 18-points in Central’s 60-42 win Saturday at Stevensville. That marked the second straight game that Fantini led the Maroons in scoring, sinking seven 3-pointers in those two games.

She has stepped up her game just in the right time for a young BC team that was hit hard by injuries.

For the fourth year, Leskovar Honda, home of the non-commission sales staff that always has your back, is teaming up with the ButteCast to honor the finest student-athletes from the Mining City to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.

The photo of Hanson courtesy Alycia Holland Photography. The photo of Samson was provided by Jacqueline Photography.