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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the week of Oct. 19.
Monday
7 p.m. — Hoopballas vs. Rosary Rattlers
8 p.m. — Washington Generals vs. Blue BallsTuesday
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Jellyfam
8 p.m. — ButteSports vs. Someday Starters
9 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Rosary RattlersWednesday
7 p.m. — Someday Starters vs. Blue Balls
8 p.m. — Hoopballas vs. Washington GeneralsThursday
8 p.m. — Poi Time vs. Jellyfam
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Dogs roll to third straight victory, secure playoff berth
Butte High’s football team extended its winning streak to three games Thursday night, and they made it look easy.
Six different Bulldogs scored touchdowns, and Butte High pasted Missoula Hellgate 45-8 in a Western AA game at Naranche Stadium. (Stats)
The victory also secures a playoff spot for the Bulldogs, who can make sure that game is played at Naranche with a win in next week’s regular-season finale at Helena Capital.
The Bulldogs took the lead for good with 7 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first quarter. Brady Walsh took a reverse and ran 24 yards for a touchdown.
Bradey Doyle made it a 10-0 game with a 33-yard field goal a few minutes later.
Miner Lee scampered 16 yards for a score to make it 17-0 late in the first quarter, and Doyle broke the game open early in the second. Doyle blocked a punt, scooped the ball and returned it about 10 yards for the touchdown to make it 24-0.
Then the rest of the team got in on the action. Troy Samson hit Koda Schlleman for a 19yard touchdown, and Reece Cunneen dove in on a 1-yard-plunge. Then Samson hit Kasen Snyder for a 24yard score to make it 45-0 at halftime.
Turner Walters scored on a 5-yard run midway through the fourth quarter — with the clock rolling because of the mercy rule — to get the Knights on the board. Hayes Lewis hit Grant Liphardt for the 2-point conversion.
Schleeman and Raeder Grey each picked off a pass for the Bulldog defense. Fin Wortham and Maxximus Pearston got in on a sack.
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Houchin sixth at Gallatin Valley Invite
BOZEMAN — Sophia Houchin is apparently ready for the MHSA State Cross Country meet.
The Butte High sophomore, who battled a hip injury all summer and during the first part of the season, placed sixth at the Gallatin Valley Invitational Thursday at Gallatin High School. (Results)
Houchin finished the 5-kilometer race with a season-best time of 20 minutes, 28 seconds to lead the Bulldogs.
Phoebe Maixner of Bozeman won the race, which saw 88 girls compete, in 18:30. Natalie Rutherford of Gallatin was second, followed by Amelia Brown of Belgrade in 20:01.
Junior Penelope Luebke placed 25th for the Bulldogs in 23:08, and classmate Wakely Burleson took 30th with a time of 23:24.
The race featured varsity and junior varsity runners competing together. Cambree O’Neill (28:57), Sofia Tarabella (29:19), Lynn Wiltsie (31:19), Evelyn Hardman (31:31), Lainee Walsh-Hill (33:10) and Hayden Hiltunen (33:50) also ran for the Bulldogs.
Bozeman won the team title with 28 points. Gallatin took second at 42, and Manhattan finished third at 104. Butte High placed fifth at 126.
Bozeman’s Taylor Neil won the boys’ race with a time of 15:55. Teammate Branlin Foote took second at 16:38, and Bridger Waren of Gallatin finished third at 16:54.
Sophomore Kai Schueler paced the Bulldogs. He finished 18th out of 100 with a time of 18:26.
Senior Colton Yoakum (19:20) and sophomore Jason Real (19:57) broke the 20-minute mark for the Bulldogs. Junior Jere Moen crossed in 20:13, and junior Jack Taylor finished in 20:20.
Lyric Haston (21:18), Kaylor Smith (21:24), Zander Dent (22:51), Brian Poole (23:34), Jacob Gustavsen (25:21), Emmett Hedval (26:15), Nico Schuler (26:22), Leonardo Parada (27:45), Case Richardson (27:49) and Kyle Van Elsberg (29:52) also ran for Butte High.
With 18 points, Bozeman won the boys’ team title. Gallatin was second at 63, and Belgrade finished third in 82. Butte High finished fifth with 143 points.
The meet was the final tuneup for the Bulldogs before next Saturday’s State meet in Billings.
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Episode No. 391: Scott Meredith
Today’s guest is the vice president of sales at LLCTLC in Helena, but that has nothing to do with why he is on the ButteCast.
Scott Meredith is just one interesting guy.
Scott is a historian who graduated from Helena Capital and served as a teacher’s assistant under the legendary Harry Fritz in the history department at the University of Montana. His work includes a deep dive into Helena poet Robert Fletcher’s part in writing the legendary song “Don’t Fence Me In.”
He presented that to the Montana Historical Society last October. You can watch that presentation below.
Yesterday, Scott drove down from the Capital City to meet me at the Vault at the Metals Sports Bar & Grill for a fun conversation.
Listen in to how he grew up as a self-described nerd while his father, Mike, coached the Helena High boys’ basketball team. Listen as he talks about how he developed his love for history and what he is looking into today.
Listen as he talks about the great work that LLCTLC does and some of the history behind it. Listen in to hear Scott’s gift of highlighting the interesting aspects of history.
This is one you do not want to miss because, as I mentioned above, Scott is just one interesting guy.
Today’s episode is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the local’s eat.
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Thursday night lights at Naranche
Fans will get the chance to watch both high school varsity football teams play this week.
That is because Butte High will play host to Missoula Hellgate on Thursday, and Butte Central will celebrate Senior Night against Hamilton on Friday.
The Bulldogs and Maroons will also play home matches in volleyball, and the cross country teams will hit the road for one final tuneup before the MHSA State meet. Butte High’s soccer season came to an end, and the Copper Sprockets closed out the mountain bike season in Lolo.
We will look at that during this week’s lap around the Mining City prep sports scene.
Dogs eye winning streak
Raise your hand if you saw this one coming.
After near misses with Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Sentinel, Butte High’s football team ripped off back-to-back victories. That includes last Friday’s 35-7 Senior Day trouncing of Flathead at Naranche Stadium.
The Bulldogs look to officially make it a winnings streak Thursday as winless Missoula Hellgate comes to town for a Western AA game. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Naranche Stadium.
Butte High can clinch a playoff berth with a win, while Hellgate needs a victory to keep its very faint playoff hopes alive.
The 2026 campaign has not been kind to the Knights, who were hard by graduation after a playoff run a year ago. Hellgate is 0-7 overall and 0-5, and the Knights have been outscored 369-95 by their seven opponents.
After a 70-0 loss at Glacier and a 49-0 defeat to Big Sky, the Knights fell 56-26 to Helena Capital last week in Helena.
Hellgate junior quarterback Cannon Clark had a big game against the Bruins. He tossed two touchdown passes, and he ran for 162 yards and two scores in the loss. Both of his TD passes went to classmate Everett Roberts, who picked up 140 yards on five receptions.
Clark also picked off a pass and returned it 39 yards.
The Bulldogs (3-4, 2-3) enter the game full of confidence and looking to secure a home playoff game. The top six teams in the Western AA advance to the postseason. The top two teams get a bye, and the Nos. 3 and 4 teams host first-round games.
Butte High is sitting in fifth place, but the Bulldogs will pass Helena Capital for fourth place if they win Thursday and then take down the Bruins next Friday in Helena.
Things were going so well for the Bulldogs last week that the team threw a pair of touchdown passes, and neither came from senior starting quarterback Raeder Grey.
Sophomore receiver Ryan Bache tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to junior Hudson Steele on a trick play. Then junior backup quarterback Troy Samson dropped a dime to wide-open senior receiver Brady Walsh for 33-yard score.
With an offensive line made up mostly of Cooper Carter, Maxximus Pearston, Konner Hanni, Sawyer Casey, Karter Hall, Mason Swanson and Colton Nasheim, Grey and senior Miner Lee combined to run for 185 yards. Gray ran for 95 yards, while Lee broke free for 90 and a touchdown
Senior Jaeger Hansen added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
After a coaches’ review of the film, senior linebacker Finn Wortham was credited with 12 total tackles, eight of which were solo. Grey racked up seven, while Hansen, Steele and senior Reece Cunneen got in on five.
Hansen, Grey and fellow senior Koda Schleeman each picked off a pass, and junior Kodye Kjersten, senior Kasen Snyder and Cunneen caused fumbles. Casey, a junior, recovered a fumble.
Senior Brady Doyle went 5 for 5 on PATs, and junior Tegan Duffy handled the kickoff and punt duties.
BC in must-win mode vs. Hamilton
For the second straight Friday, the Butte Central football team will play host to the Broncs on the Bob Green Field.
This time, it will be the Hamilton Broncs who come to town as the Maroons celebrate Senior Night for the 7 p.m. Southwestern A game.
After last week’s 35-12 loss to defending Class A State champion Frenchtown, the Maroons are officially in must-win mode as first-place Hamilton comes to town.
The Broncs are 5-1 overall and 3-0 in Southwestern A play. They hold a one-game edge over Frenchtown and Corvallis.
At 2-4 and 1-2, the Maroons are tied for fourth place with Dillon, and only the top three teams move on to the playoffs. That means BC needs to win out and get some help to qualify for the postseason.
That first part — beating Hamilton — will be no easy task.
The Broncs have won four straight games since their 29-28 home loss to Whitefish on Sept. 4 That includes a 41-0 win at Libby and a 46-0 home victory over Stevensville. After winning 21-20 at Frenchtown, the Broncs beat Dillon 41-21 at home last week.
Junior quarterback Cooper Weston had a huge game for the Broncs against the Beavers. In addition to passing for 201 yards, he ran 11 times for 76 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Jude Widmer ran 22 times for 171 yards and a score.
Weston has completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,176 yards. He’s thrown seven touchdowns compared to just one pick. Widmer is averaging 7.6 yards per carry. He’s racked up 651 yards and 10 touchdowns, matching Weston on the season.
Senior Easton Hollis is the top receiver. He has hauled in 24 passes for 296 yards and two touchdowns. Trevyn Bakken and Widmer follow with 13 and 12 receptions. Senior Kaeden Gum has 11 catches. Bakken is averaging 20.4 yards per catch.
The score last week does not indicate how close the BC game with Frenchtown was. Sophomore quarterback Noah Sutton hit senior GG Fantini for a 42-yard touchdown pass, and the Maroons trailed just 14-6 at the half. Fantini added an 87-yar kickoff return for a score at the end of the game.
Sutton passed for 237 yards in the loss. Junior Jaxon Hiatt caught two passes for 84 yards, while Fantini racked up seven receptions for 60. Senior Joshua Sutton grabbed four catches for 594 yards, and senior Grady Button caught one pass for 39 yards.
Sophomore Henly Mansanti added an explosive play, picking up 43 yards on one carry.
Central will honor its seniors and their parents before the game. Those seniors are Joshua Sutton, Button, Fantini, Teghan Sparks, Cade Kelly, Danny McCarthy, Bobby McCarthy, Burkley Lakkala, Gunnar O’Brien and Jack Nylund.
The Maroons close out the regular season next Friday at Dillon.
Pirates win Blocktober Classic
The Polson Pirates were the last of 26 teams standing after the 15th Annual Blocktober Classic at the Maroon Activities Center and Butte Civic Center. (Results)
Polson beat Columbia Falls 25-18, 25-15 in the championship match at the Civic Center Saturday evening.
Host Butte Central went 1-7 in pool play. Then on Saturday, BC fell 25-15, 25-16 in the first round of the Copper Bracket. Central dropped out of the tournament with a 25-20, 25-18 loss to Anaconda.
The Maroons start a stretch of five Southwestern A matches in 13 days Thursday when the take on Frenchtown Thursday at the Maroon Activities Center. BC will play at Corvallis at 3 p.m. Saturday before heading to Stevensville Oct. 22.
Central will close out the season with two matches at home — oct. 24 against Hamilton and Oct. 27 against Dillon.
Bulldog spikers host matinee
With school out because of the MFPE Educator Conference, Butte High’s volleyball team will play a matinee Thursday at the Richardson Gym. The Bulldogs will take on Helena High at 3 p.m.
That comes after the Bulldogs have been showing signs of getting hot at the right time of the season.
Butte High split five-set weekend matches with the Kalispell schools before picking up a Western AA victory over Helena High on Tuesday night. The win lifted Butte High to 4-6 in conference play.
On Friday, Butte High beat Flathead 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-9. (Stats)
Seniors Allie Becker and Cadence Graham combined for 38 of Butte High’s 54 kills in that win. Becker tallied 21, and Graham spiked 17.
Sophomore Elli Graham led the backcourt with 23 digs. Senior Ellie Yates added 18, and Cadence Graham dug 11. The younger of the Graham sisters served up 42 assists to run the Bulldog attack.
Less than 24 hours later, the Bulldogs came out on the wrong side of a 23-25, 17-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-8 thriller with Glacier. (Stats)
Becker again led the Bulldogs with 16 kills. Cadence Graham spiked 11, while junior Stella Callaghan added nine, and senior Brittyn Klima tallied eight.
Elli Graham added three aces, 42 assists and 18 digs.
Cadence Graham’s 20 digs led the back court. Elli Graham (18), Yates (17), Callaghan (15) and Becker (13) also reached double figures in digs.
Butte High needed just four sets to beat Capital in Helena. The Bulldogs won 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17. (Stats)
Becker led three Bulldogs in double figures in kills with 16. Becker killed 12, and senior Avery Barsness spiked 10. Klima was next at eight.
Junior Kalee Wright served four aces in the win. Elli Graham dished 46 assists, and Yates had a huge match in the backcourt with 25 digs. Cadence Graham (14), Becker (12) and Elli Graham (10) joined Yates in double figures in digs.
The Bulldogs will be back at home Tuesday to celebrate Senior Night against Missoula Big Sky. They will honor their seniors and parents before the match.
Runners get one more tuneup
Butte High and Butte Central’s runners will get one final tuneup before next week’s MHSA State Cross Country Meet.
Butte High will run Thursday at the Gallatin Valley Invitational at Gallatin High School in Bozeman. The girls’ junior varsity and varsity will run at 11:30 a.m. The boys’ JV and varsity run at 12:15 p.m.
Butte Central will run Friday at the Western A Fall Classic at Wrangler Springs Ranch in Bigfork.
State is a week from Saturday in Billings.
Bulldog soccer season ends
Butte High’s soccer season came to an end with a pair of losses Tuesday at Missoula Hellgate. The powerful Knights won 10-0 in each match.
That came after the Bulldogs dropped a pair of matches to the Helena schools last week.
Butte High’s boys fell 9-0 last Thursday at Helena High. The Bulldogs dropped an 8-0 decision at home Saturday to Capital.
On the girls’ side, Butte High fell 10-0 at Helena before dropping a 10-1 decision Saturday at home.
That Senior Day loss included Butte High’s first goal of the season. That came on a penalty kick by sophomore Elsa Thieszen.
Butte High’s teams did not qualify for the playoffs.
Sprockets land in Lolo
The Montana NICA cycling series came to an end Saturday at the Lolo Final Landing. (Results)
Renzy LeProwse led the Butte Copper Sprockets. He won the JV1 boys’ race to secure the season title in the division.
Sprocket Paisley Jaksha took fourth in the JV3 girls’ race. She ended the season second overall in her division.
In the JV2 boys’ division, Copper Sprocket Luke Renouard took fourth to finish the season in fifth place.
A handful of Copper Sprockets also finished the season in the top five of the event. Paker Sullivan took third place in the fifth-grade girls’ race, finishing one spot ahead of teammate Addalin Hubbard.
Torsten Thieszen placed fourth in the sixth-grade boys’ race. Elise Walsh took fifth in the eight-grade girls’ race, and Kaspain Lutke placed fifth in the JV2 boys’ event.
The series began with two races in Bozeman Sept. 5-6. It also included stops in Kalispell and Butte.
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Frazee caps league with perfect score
Rigby, Clark, White are high guns
Stephen Frazee broke all 50 targets to highlight shooting during Week 6 of the Butte Trap Club’s fall league. (Results)
John Lerum, Mark Hislop, Kale Anzik and Garrett St. Clair each posted a score of 49 on the last night of the season, while Ryan Miller, Tim Cassidy and Jake Taverna each shot a 48.
Jen Hislop led women shooters at 44, beating Anna Ledden by one. Michele Andrene and Andrea Largent each shot a 37. Dean Vesco and Chase White led wobble shooting at 45.
Riley Rigby captured the high gun male award, breaking 291 out of 300 targets on the season. He topped runner up Dave Vicevich by one. Gillian Clarkwon the high gun female award at 273, and Chase White captured the high junior honor with 267.
Triple S Construction won the Class AA team title. That team is made up of Rigby, Miller, Lane St. Clair, Garrett St. Clari and Bryce Thomas.
Lost Art Builders won the Class C crown. Rank Rascals topped the Class B field, Archibald Co. won the Class C, and Super Mario Bros. won the Class D.
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When that Ditka Christmas present becomes your daughter’s ugly sweater
Her eyes lit up as she looked through my closet and excitedly pulled out my old sweater.
My oldest daughter, who was a freshman or sophomore in high school at the time, stumbled upon my favorite Christmas present from my Grandma Jean, and it immediately brought me back to Christmas Eve of 1986 or 1987.
After all the presents were opened, my grandma let me in on a secret. The present she got me was something she had run out and get in the last second. That is because she figured the first present she ordered for me was too big, and she was going to send it back.
But she let me check it out anyway.
My eyes lit up as I saw the navy-blue sweater with “Bears” written across the front of it in white. It had orange stripes on top and on the bottom of the Bears. It also had orange and white stripes around the sleeves.
It was the sweater that Mike Ditka wore as the Bears destroyed the Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. Well, it was almost the one that Ditka wore. This one had sleeves, while Da Coach wore a sweater vest.
His assistants, though, wore the exact same sweater my grandma was showing me. That includes defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, the architect of the famed 46 Defense.
My grandma let me try the sweater on. It was a little big, but it was close enough. I gave my grandma the biggest hug of my life when she told me I got to keep it.
I wore it that night when we went to my other grandparents’ house. I wore it the next day, and the next and maybe even the next.
That sweater did not just come to mind because Ditka passed away just a few days shy of his 87th birthday last Friday. I was thinking about that sweater a few weeks ago when my youngest daughter, who is now a junior in high school, asked me why I care so much about the Chicago Bears.
We are not from Chicago, and we have no family from that area.
Logically, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense how so much of my life can revolve around a football team, especially when I literally never met a single player on the team. It is silly that my day can be ruined by a loss, especially one like Sunday in Lambeau Field.
I told her that my bond with the Bears goes well beyond any geographical connection. Being a Bears fan is woven so deeply into my identity. It has been for as long as I can remember.
The Bears are my team because they are my dad’s team. Even when the Bears were horrible when I picked them sometime in the 1970s, the Bears were our special bond. They still are.
I loved cheering for the same team as my dad — on that rare occasion they were on television. It was better than cheering for a winning team like the Cowboys, as my front-running older brother did.
I loved the color combination of the Bears. I loved the name of the city. I loved the picture of the bear mascot. More than anything, I loved Walter Payton, and I loved his No. 34. It didn’t matter if they were no good, the Bears were my team for life.
Then the 1985 Bears happened. The team shuffled to the Super Bowl victory behind a cast of characters that quarterback Jim McMahon compared to the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
In addition to the incomparable Payton and the Punky QB, the Bears had a cast of characters that included Steve “Mongo” Michael, William “The Refrigerator” Perry and “Samari” Mike Singletary. They beat the heck out of everybody, and they had fun doing it.
That cast was held together by “Iron” Mike Ditka, the hard-nosed, non-nonsense coach whose team won despite a whole lot of nonsense, like recording a rap video about winning the Super Bowl in early December.
That team meant so much to me. Not only did they beat the Cowboys, giving me my first victory over my older brother, they humiliated them 44-0 in Dallas.
The 1985 Bears represented everything I wanted to be. I wanted to be humble like Payton, but I also wanted to never be afraid to speak my mind like McMahon and Ditka.
McMahon taught me to never give a rip what others think about me, and Ditka introduced me to the song “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. That’s how I wanted to live. My way.
For 41 years, I have been chasing the feeling that the 1985 Bears gave me. Those 41 years featured a whole lot more humiliation and heartbreak than they did good times, but I still watch each and every week.
Most of those games were watched with my dad or while talking to him on the phone for most of the game.
We still live and die with the team even after idiot Michael McCaskey fired Ditka in January of 1993. That felt like a close family member died.
Those years with Ditka — and the decades after him —always provided a conversation starter between my dad and me. When we got into a fight and didn’t talk for a few days, the impasse never ended with an apology or an “I love you.”
It usually ended with a sentence like, “Who do the Bears play this week?” If it was in the offseason, it might start with, “Did you see who the Bears signed?”
Sentences like that could usually be directly translated into “I’m sorry” and “I love you,” and we both understood that.
Good or bad, the Bears always give my dad and me something to talk about. They healed a lot of wounds that might not have been healed otherwise. The Bears are a part of us.
Last Friday, I called to tell my dad to tell him some bad news. Ditka passed away, and that one really stung both of us. He was a central figure in our lives, even if we never met him.
Ditka had not coached in Chicago since the 1992 season, but he still represents everything that is good about the Chicago Bears. He always will.
He was the tough-as-nails Hall of Fame tight end for Papa Bear Hallas, helping deliver the 1963 NFL title. He was the unapologetic coach who later took the franchise from the outhouse to the penthouse.
Iron Mike embodied the ‘City of Big Shoulders,” and he is the reason so many of us who never lived in Chicago still cheer for the Bears, even if we cannot convince our daughters that we are not just lunatics.
All of that pretty much fell on deaf ears for my youngest daughter, who could not possibly care less about football or any other sport. We will never bond over the Bears like her brother and I do, and that is fine. We have a lot of other close connections.
For a moment, though, I thought I had her older sister when she pulled out that old Ditka sweater.
“I have to go to a Christmas party,” she said. “Can I wear this?”
“Of course,” I said, beaming that my daughter seemed to love the sweater as much as I did when I first saw it. Then she added one more sentence that broke my heart in two.
“It’s an ugly sweater party.”
— This Bill Foley, who can still sing every word of the Super Bowl Shuffle, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74 or Bluesky at @foles74.bsky.social. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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Elks Hoop Shoot set for Nov. 7
The Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot Contest will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Maroon Activity Center. The registration deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The age groups are 8 and 9 years old, 10 and 11 years old, and 12 and 13 years old. The shooter’s age group is determined by their age on April 1, 2027. There are separate contests for boys and girls.
The competition will start at 10 a.m. The detailed schedule will be published after entries are finalized. To enter, call or text Don Foley at (406) 490-8668 or email him at dfoley71@yahoo.com. Include the shooter’s name, gender, school, birthday, and parent/guardian contact information when registering.
Click her for more general information about the Elks Hoop Shoot program.
Rules Summary
1. Each shooter gets 25 free throws, split between two rounds. This will be 10 in the first round with up to 5 warmup shots, and 15 in the second round with no warmup shots.
2. All shooters will use a 28.5-inch ball, except for 12-13 Boys, who will use a 29.5-inch ball.
3. The 8-9 age group will shoot from a line 4 feet in front of the free throw line.
4. A shooter has ten seconds to shoot the ball after the line judges give it to them.
5. Age groups are determined by a players age on April 1, 2027. So, all shooters must be born between April 2, 2013 and April 1, 2019.
6. Age group winners will advance to the district contest in Dillon in January.
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Episode No. 390: Alani Bankhead
Alani Bankhead makes her return to the ButteCast today. This time, she is appearing in person.
The Democratic nominee to represent Montana in the United States Senate was in the Mining City Monday for a campaign event. First, she stopped by the Metals Sports Bar & Grill for a conversation in the vault.
Alani is in the middle of one of the weirdest races in Montana political history. She is the Democratic candidate, but so many of the Democratic old guard is supporting a supposed independent candidate in the race. So, she is facing attacks from all directions as she runs to represent the people of her adopted home state.
No, Alani is not a Montana native. She hasn’t lived her for a very long time. But Montana is the first place this decorated Air Force veteran chose to live.
Yes, Alani is pro-choice, and yes, she says no to data centers in Montana. Actually, she says hell no.
As I was leaving Metals following this conversation, I spoke with a tried -and-true Democrat who said she was voting for the independent candidate. She said thought Alani was bought and paid for by MAGA.
That made me laugh out loud because nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t listen to the silly attack adds brought to you by dark money. Don’t believe the writing on the dozen or so mailers we get every single day. This is your chance to listen to the candidate directly as we talk about the issues.
Today’s episode is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Hansen, McGee, Grochowski
Butte High seniors Jaeger Hansen, Madi McGee and Alaina Grochowski are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
Hansen, a 6-foot, 180-pound running back and linebacker, takes home the boys’ honor. That comes after Hansen put up a huge performance on both sides of the ball to help lead the Bulldogs to a 35-7 Senior Night victory over Flathead Friday at Naranche Stadium.
On defense, Hansen registered three tackles for a loss, and he picked off a pass. He returned the interception, which came deep in Bulldog territory, 24 yards. Hansen also punched in touchdowns of 2 and 6 yards in the fourth quarter to help the Bulldogs put the victory to bed.
In addition to his strong senior season in football, Hansen is also a threat to win the javelin for the Bulldog track team. He took second in the event as a sophomore.
Soccer players McGee and Grochowski share the girls’ accolades after being nominated by their head coach, Geno Liva.
McGee is a battle-tested goal keeper for the Bulldogs. She has put together a solid season, helping keep Butte High in many games.
“Madi has stepped up in the goal including stopping a penalty kick in our last game,” Liva said. “She had made some amazing saves.”
Grochowski, a standout swimmer for the Bulldogs, has had a strong senior season playing center back.
“Alaina has shown her talent and speed,” Liva said. “She has the ability to run plays down and cover the entire defensive third.”
McGee and Grochowski played their last home games on Saturday. The Bulldogs close their season Tuesday at Missoula Hellgate.
Since the beginning of 2023, Leskovar Honda, home of the non-commission sales staff that always has your back, has teamed 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.
Photo of Hansen, McGee and Grochowski provided by Alycia Holland Photography.
