Thursday night did not belong to the Bulldogs.

Missoula Big Sky used an 18-0 run that spanned over the third and fourth quarters, and the Eagles left the Ross J. Richardson Gymnasium with a 53-38 Western AA playoff win over Butte High.

The win sends the Eagles to next week’s Class AA State tournament in Billings. The Bulldogs end their season with a home playoff for the second straight season.

Butte High struggled scoring throughout the night. But things finally looked to turn the Bulldogs’ way when senior Hudson Luedtke hit a contested 3-pointer to put Butte High up 32-31 with 2 minutes, 2 seconds left in the third quarter. The near capacity crowd was feeling good.

Butte High, however, did not score again until 7 minutes, 55 seconds of game clock ticked off.

That score came when sophomore Brady Hanson threw down a two-handed dunk with 2:07 left in the fourth quarter. In between the Butte buckets, the Eagles ran off 18 points, putting the game out of reach.

Another Bucket from Luedtke and a free throw from reserve senior Kaleb Cellie were the only other points the Bulldogs scored the rest of the way.

Freshman Jack McGowan scored 16 points to lead the Eagles, who head to Billings at 9-11 on the season. Sophomore Bryson Schultz added 11 points for the Eagles, who saw nine different players score.

Josiah Boone and Cormack Batt each scored six points for Big Sky, which got four from Blake Williams, three apiece from Eli Kasberg and Cole Silberstein, and two from Maron Fines and Brady Williams.

Luedtke scored 18 to pace the Bulldogs, who finish the season at 15-5. He closes his high school career as the Butte High boys’ all-time leading scorer with 1,658 points.

Hanson finished with eight points, and senior Rhett Arntson came off the bench to score seven. Seniors Josh Liston and Cayde Stajcar each scored two, and Celli had one.

Senior Mitch Verlanic started and contributed for the Bulldogs, while seniors Kendel Noctor, Jaxon Williamson, Ryan Hanson and James Pearston saw time off the bench.

Junior Raeder Grey also contributed for the Bulldogs, whose 15 regular-season wins were the most by a Butte High team since 2007.

MISSOULA BIG SKY (9-11) — Mason Ramos 0 0-2 0, Eli Kasberg 1 1-2 3, Cole Silberstein 1 0-0 3, Josiah Boone 3 0-0 6, Jack McGowan 6 4-4 16, Cormack Batt 2 1-2 6, Brady Williams 1 0-2 2, Blake Williams 0 4-4 4, Bryson Schultz 5 0-0 11. Totals 20 10-16 53.
BUTTE HIGH (15-5) — Cayde Stajcar 1 0-0 2, Hudson Luedtke 6 4-7 18, Mitch Verlanic 0 0-0 0, Josh Liston 1 0-2 2, Brady Hanson 4 0-1 8, Rhett Arntson 2 2-2 7, Kendel Noctor 0 0-0 0, Raeder Grey 0 0-0 0, Ryan Hanson 0 0-0 0, James Pearston 0 0-0 0, Jaxon Williamson 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Celli 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-14 38.
Big Sky           10        13        14        16 — 53
Butte               10        12        10          6 — 38
3-point goals — Big Sky 3 (McGowan, Silberstein, Schultz), Butte 3 (Luedtke 2, Arntson). Fouls — Big Sky 13, Butte 15. Fouled out — none. Technical — Blake Williams.