Bulldog girls will honor seniors

MetraPark Arena in Billings will be wrestling central the next three days as the Magic City hosts the Montana High School Association All-Class Wrestling Tournament.

Action begins at 3 p.m. Thursday with first-round boys’ matches and first- and second-round girls’ bouts. Champions will be crowned following the Parade of Finalists at 3 p.m. on Saturday. (AA boys’ brackets; A boys’ brackets; girls’ brackets.)

Butte High will send 15 boys and 10 girls to battle. Butte Central will send three boys and one girl.

Two Bulldogs — senior Keegan Hunt and junior Bode Hazlett — are looking for back-to-back championships, but in different weights.

Hunt won the title at 103 pounds a year ago. Last week he won the Western AA Divisional title at 110 pounds in Missoula. Hazlett won the crown at 144 last year. This time around, he is No. 2 seed from the West at 157 pounds.

The Bulldog boys have four divisional title winners heading to Billings. Eighth grader Crew O’Connor won at 103 pounds, senior Ryder McEwen took the title at 150, and junior Bridger Garrison won at 165.

Other Bulldog boys competing at State will be seniors Darryn Rossiter (126 pounds), Bridger Brancamp (215) and Waylond Hicks (285 max); juniors Aiden Maesar (118), Bradey Doyle (132) and Kasen O’Kefe (175); sophomores Kuley Queer (110), Reveles McEwen (118) and Blaise  Perez (138); and freshman Renzy LeProwse (103).

LeProwse, Doyle and the McEwen brothers all placed at State last year as Butte High finished just four points out of third place. Ryder McEwen too fourth at 138, and Doyle placed fourth at 118. Reveles McEwen took fifth at 118.

The Bulldog girls have a pair of divisional champs in senior Mattie Stepan and eighth grader Adalie Hazlett. Hazlett took the top spot at 125 pounds, while Stepan is making yet another trip to State after winning the 155-pound division.

Stepan placed fourth at 145 last year. Senior Peyton Liva took second at 100 pounds last week. She placed sixth in that weight class last State a year ago.

Eighth grader Loretta Matteson also made her Bulldog debut season an impressive one. She will be the No. 2 seed from the West at 140 pounds.

Also competing for the Butte High girls are seniors Jessica Blow (125 pounds) and Allie Ballensky (235 max), junior Rylee Radcliff (170), sophomores Lilyi Malone (110) and Chaynne Robinson (235 max); and freshman Sage Queer (145).

Butte Centra junior Amira Gonzales is back at State to once again compete at 125 pounds for the Maroon girls. She placed fourth at the Western A Divisional in Dillon.

The Maroons will send three boys to Billings, led by eighth grader Jampel Hanley. He placed second at 103 pounds at the divisional tournament.

Also making the trip to the big stage for BC are junior Jack Holmes (132) and eighth grader Braydon Armstrong (118).

Billings West enters the tournament as the four-time defending champ in the Class AA boys.  Laurel is the defending champ in Class AA boys. Billings Senior won the last three Class AA girls titles, while Miles City is the reigning champion in Class A girls.

Bulldog girls host Senior Night

Thursday night will be Senior Night as the Butte High girls’ basketball team plays host to Missoula Hellgate at the Ross J. Richardson Gymnasium.

Game time is 7 p.m. for the rematch between the Bulldogs and Knights. Hellgate topped the Dogs 58-47 Jan. 22 in Missoula.

The Bulldogs enter the game at 10-6 overall and tied for second place in the Western AA with the Knights at 8-3. Hellgate is 11-4 overall. With the top two teams automatically qualifying for the Class AA State tournament, this game is a big one.

The Bulldogs will be honoring seniors Franki Salusso and Emma Johnson, and their parents, before tipoff. Both have been multi-year contributors for the Bulldog varsity team.

Junior Cadence Graham and freshman Elli Graham combined to score 33 points to lead the Bulldogs last time out. Elli Graham scored 17, and Cadence Graham added 16 in a 63-47 win over Helena High Saturday at the Richardson Gym.

Junior Allie Becker joins Cadence Graham, Salusso, Johnson and junior Autumn Clary in the starting lineup. Clary, though, did not play in Saturday’s win over Capital. Elli Graham started in her place.

Fellow freshman Saege Grey is usually quickly off the bench, along with junior Kendallyn Schad.

Juniors Ellie Yates, Reese Johnson and Avery Barsness also see lots of varsity time along with sophomore Stella Callaghan.

Hellgate beat Helena Capital 41-14 Saturday in Missoula. Paisley Johnson, a 5-foot-10 junior leads the Knights with an average of 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

Elly Reed, a 6-foot 23nior, contributes with 8.6 points, 6.1 boards and 3.5 assists per game. Gianna Passuccio, a 5-9 senior, scored 17 points to lead the Knights last time against Butte High. Freshman Texas Gilman added 12 points.

Boys head to Hellgate

Butte High’s boys’ hit the road to take on Hellgate in the 7 p.m. game in Missoula.

The Bulldogs are in must-win mode if they want to avoid a playoff game and qualify for State with the No. 2 seed. Butte High is 13-3 overall and 8-3 in conference play. Hellgate is 12-3 overall and is holding onto second place at 9-2.

Hellgate beat the Bulldogs 50-38 Jan. 22 in Butte. Zane Gillhouse, a 6-5, senior scored 15 points in that win, while 6-3 classmate Spencer Wayland tossed in 14.

The Knights have won five straight and six out of seven after Saturday’s 55-51 win at Helena Capital. Gillhouse scored 16 to lead the way, while 6-7 sophomore Liam Dick added 14.

Hellgate is 6-2 at home, with losses to Missoula Sentinel and Billings West.

The Bulldogs are riding a four-game winning streak, and senior guard Hudson Luedtke scored points in that stretch. That’s an average of 28.8 points per game.

The impressive run lifted Luedtke to 1,568 points on his career. He is just 129 points shy of passing Bulldog great Lexie Nelson’s city high school record of 1,696 points. Luedtke became the all-time leading scorer in the Bulldog boys’ program midway through his junior season.

Luedtke is joined in the starting lineup by classmates Cayde Stajcar, Mitch Verlanic and Josh Liston and sophomore Brady Hanson. Seniors Rhett Arntson and Kendel Noctor are the first players off the bench. Seniors James Pearston and Ryan Hanson also contribute in a reserve role.

Juniors Raeder Grey, Brady Walsh and Koda Schleeman have also seen varsity time along with sophomores Kodye Kjersten and Noah Powers.

Butte High’s final two games will be at home. They play Missoula Sentinel next Tuesday before celebrating Senior Night next Thursday against Missoula Big Sky.

Peoples heating up

Junior guard Joshua Sutton has led the Maroons in scoring all season long.

He is averaging 20.9 points per game this season, and his 334 points through 16 games this season has him closing on joining the 1,000-point club. With two games left in the regular season, Sutton has 949 career points.

Since Sutton has gone over 30 points multiple times this season, it is not out of the question that he joins that club before the postseason begins.

At 14-2 overall and 7-1 in Southwestern A play, the Maroons have already secured an automatic berth into the Western A Divisional tournament, which is March 5-7 in Hamilton.

The top teams automatically move on.

Another player to watch for the Maroons is senior Ryan Peoples. The future Montana Tech football player has heated up as we head to crunch time. Peoples is averaging 11.4 points per game through 16 games. Over the last five games, though, Peoples is scoring at an 18.6 points-per-game clip.

That includes 29 points from Peoples in Tuesday’s 71-69 non-conference overtime win at East Helena.

Traditionally, Peoples has relied on the 3-point shot when he went big scoring. Tuesday’s performance did not include a single made 3-poitner. He missed both of his attempts behind the arc.

Peoples is still second to Sutton on the team with 21 made 3-pointers.

The Maroons will play at home at 3 p.m. Saturday against Corvallis. Central’s girls will play at Corvallis on Saturday.

The BC girls are 5-11 overall and 2-6 in conference. They sit in fifth place in the Southwestern A. They will have to win their last two regular-season games and get some help if they want to host the divisional play-in game.

Otherwise, BC will host Stevensville in the No. 5 vs. No. 6 play-in game. The winner of that game would go to Hamilton, most likely, for one game to go to divisionals.

Central will close the regular season Tuesday with a doubleheader against Dillon at the Maroon Activities Center. The BC boys and girls will both host Senior Parent Night.

Peoples is the lone senior on the boys’ team. The girls’ team includes seniors Arika Stajcar and Caden Tippett.