Butte High’s girls and Butte Central’s boys will have early wakeup calls Thursday.

The Bulldogs open the Class AA State tournament at 9 a.m. against Billings Senior at MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings. The Maroons, meanwhile, will battle Billings Central in the Class A State tournament at 10:30 a.m. at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

(Class AA girls’ bracket; Class A boys’ bracket)

Butte High gets the early game because the bracket was flipped to accommodate the most hometown fans. Billings West and Billings Skyview are in the other side of the bracket, and Class AA rules allow the bracket swap to get more fans to attend the games.

The tournament opener will be Butte High’s first game of March. The Bulldogs last played Feb. 27, falling 47-41 to Missoula Big Sky. The Eagles (17-2) are the top seed from the Western AA, while the Bulldogs (12-7) are No. 2.

Senior beat Bozeman 54-41 in an Eastern AA playoff game last Thursday in Billings. Eva Blatchford and Balla Ferguson combined for 34 points in that win. Blatchford, a 6-foot senior, scored 18 points, and Ferguson, a 5-9 junior, tossed in 16.

Both players average in double figures scoring. Blatchford averages 14.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Ferguson adds 10.6 points to the lineup.

Abigail Madinger, a 5-8 sophomore, scores 8.0 points per game, while 6-foot junior Fayth Smith contributes with 5.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

At 8-6 in conference, the Broncs finished third in the Eastern AA, behind defending Class AA State champion Gallatin (19-0) and Billings West (17-2).

The Bulldogs went 10-4 in conference play to qualify for the State tournament for the second straight season. They did not play Senior in the regular season.

Junior guard Cadence Graham leads the Bulldogs into the tournament. She is averaging 19.7 points per game on the season. Graham also averages 6.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Graham could possibly eclipse 1,400 career points in the tournament. She heads to Billings with 1,357 career points, dating back to the 165 varsity points she scored as an eighth grader.

Only Lexie Nelson has scored more for the Butte High girls basketball team. Nelson finished her career in 2010 with 1,696 points.

In four games at State last year, Graham scored 84 points (an average of 21.0 points per game).

Junior Allie Becker averages 8.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs, whose starting lineup also includes junior Autumn Clary and seniors Franki Salusso and Emma Johnson.

Junior Kendallyn Schad and freshmen Saege Grey and Elli Graham are the first players off the bench. Elli Graham hit 30 3-pointers this season — which is second only to Cadence Graham’s 48. She is averaging 7.4 points per game.

Grey adds 6.4 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds. Grey and Elli Graham also played in junior varsity games this season.

Juniors Avery Barsness, Elli Yates and Reese Johnson also saw varsity time for the Bulldogs, as did sophomore Stella Callaghan.

The winner of the Butte-Senior game will likely play Gallatin in Friday’s 330 p.m. semifinal. Gallatin takes on Helena (11-9), the No. 4 seed from the Western AA, at 10:30.

On the bottom half of the bracket, West (17-2) battles Missoula Hellgate (13-7) at 3:30 p.m., and Big Sky faces Skyview (11-9) at 5.

Maroons face familiar foe

Butte Central and Billings Central are no strangers when it comes to the Class A State tournament.

When the teams meet in the 10:30 a.m. game Thursday at the Four Seasons Arena, it will mark the fifth time this decade that the Maroons and Rams played each other on the final week of the season.

Butte Central is 3-1 in the previous four games. The Maroons won a tournament opener over the Rams in 2020, and then beat Billings Central in Saturday loser-out games in 2023 and 2024. Billings Central beat Butte Central in the tournament opener in 2021 in Great Falls.

Billings Central, which is led by Anaconda native Jim Stergar, heads into the latest Butte Central-Billings game as the favorite on paper.

The 18-2 Rams have a decided size advantage, and they are riding a 13-game winning streak. That includes three lopsided victories on their way to the Western A Divisional championship.

Billings Central beat Glendive 67-42 in the Feb. 28 Western A Divisional championship game and have had nearly two weeks off to get ready for State.

Darcy Merchant, a 6-4 senior guard, averages 16.1 points and 3.8 rebounds to lead the Rams into the tournament.

Toby Stewart, a 6-foot senior, averages 10.3 points, while 6-4 junior Gunnar Larsen scores 9.3 points and 4.5 rebounds to the lineup.

Also, 6-4 senior Howie Martin averages 8.3 points, and 6-foot junior guard Cy Hanson scores 7.9 points per game.

Junior guard Joshua Sutton averages 19.4 points per game to lead the 17-5 Maroons. He can take the ball to the hoop, and he hit 68 3-pointers on the season.

Sutton joined BC’s 1,000-point club last week at the Western A Divisional tournament in Drummond. He passed BC legends and state champions Tom Kenney, Marc Murphy and the late Ryan Murphy in doing so. With 1,041 career points, only Justin Thatcher (1,117), Jonathan Richards (1,118), Joe Devich (1,364), “Jumpin’” Joe Kelly (1,404) and Dougie Peoples (1,683) have scored more in a BC uniform.

Unlike the others on BC’s all-time list, Sutton played some varsity as an eighth grader. That season, though, only netted him 34 points.

Ryan Peoples is the only senior on the team, and he has been on fire over the last few weeks. He averages 12.8 points per game on the campaign. He scored 31 as BC beat Columbia Falls in a loser-out game Saturday morning.

Sophomore Jaxon Hiatt adds 10.3 points per game to the starting lineup that includes juniors GG Fantini and Cade Kelly.

Junior Burkley Lakkala and freshmen Noah Sutton and Henly Mansanti are the first off the bench for the Maroons. Juniors Gunnar O’Brien, Grady Button and Teghan Sparks have also contributed for the Maroons this season.

The winner of the BC vs. BC game will face Ronan (17-4) and Lockwood (20-2) in Friday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal. Ronan and Lockwood play at 9 a.m.

The bottom of the bracket will see Thursday games between Glendive (15-5) and Frenchtown (17-5) at 3:30 p.m. and defending champion Dillon (15-6) vs. Miles City (12-10) at 5.

Track athletes tune up with PRs

Butte High athletes competed in three indoor track meets in Bozeman and Spokane in February and March.

Butte sent athletes to the All-Commers meet in Bozeman on Feb. 7, the STCU West Coast Indoor Championships Feb. 20-22 in Spokane, and the MSU High School Invite this past Saturday.

At the All-Comers in Bozeman (results), Ryan Hanson placed second in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 2 inches. That was the highest place winner for Butte.

Levi Wiltsie placed 10th in the 3,200-meter race, finishing in 10 minutes, 45.78 seconds. It was one of two personal best (PB) performances for Wiltsie, who finished the 1,600 in 4:54.85 for 33rd place.

Camden Houchin took 18th in the 1,600 with a PB of 5:42.11. Colton Yoakum also posted a PB in that event in 5:22.29. Kai Schuler, Lyric Haston and Kyle Van Elsbert also ran the 1,600. Van Elsbert posted a personal best.

Yoakum and Van Elsberg posted PBs in the 800 meters, Charles Kellebrew posted a PB in the 400 meters, and Chase Choquette ran a personal best in the 60 meters.

Cohen Andrews jumped 19-8 ¼ in the long jump.

Wiltsie and Houchin had a big performance against some top competition at the meet in Spokane. (Results)

Both posted personal-best times in the 3,000-meter race. Houchin placed 16th in 9:07.97, while Wiltsie took 52nde in 9:47.11.

Houchin placed 23rd in the 800 with a time of 2:03.64, and Wiltsie ran the mile in 5:02.26, placing 126th.

Hanson placed second in the high jump, clearing a personal-best 6-4, to lead the Butte athletes at the MSH High School Invite Saturday. (Results).

Andrews placed seventh in the long jump, leaping 19-9 ¾, and Wiltsie took ninth in the 3,200 in 10:47.

Killebrew ran to 18th with a PB of 2:13.77 in the 800, and Yoakkum, Schuler and Emmett Hedval each posted a personal-best time in the 1,600.

The Bulldogs will begin practicing for the high school season on Monday. They open the season March 31 in Missoula, and the first home meet is set for April 10.

Practice for baseball, softball and tennis also begin on Monday.