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Episode No. 332: Russ Cleveland returns
In episode No. 316 of the ButteCast, we introduced you to Russ Cleveland, a candidate for Montana’s First Congressional District.
Russ is a Stevensville native who is, among other things, the defensive coordinator for the St. Regis High School football team. He is also a candidate who will only accept donations from individual donors.
Russ has been traveling around the western half of the state for nearly a year running a true grassroots campaign.
He was in Butte last Tuesday night to participate in the Democratic House debate at the Motherload Theatre. The former Montana Tech football player is back in the Holey City this week to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Earlier today, I met Russ at the Knights of Columbus Hall. After he got a tour of the building and its many photos from Bernie Boyle, we sat down for a great conversation. A lot has changed in the world and in the campaign since we last talked two months ago.
Russ, though, has not.
Today’s episode of the ButteCast is presented by the Jewelry Design Center. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life. This episode is also available on YouTube:
Listen to Russ’s first appearance on the ButteCast here:
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Cadence Graham and Jaxon Hiatt
Basketball players Cadence Graham and Jaxon Hiatt are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the Butte High Bulldogs and Butte Central Maroons played in State basketball tournaments. Both teams played until Saturday morning of those tournaments.
Graham, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, takes home the girls honor after scoring 71 points in Butte High’s three games at the Class AA State tournament in Billings. That includes a 32-point performance in Butte High’s win over Helena High on Friday.
She buried five 3-poitners in that game, most of which were from well beyond the 3-point line.
In seven career State tournament games, Graham has scored 155 points, an average of 22.1 points per game. She will head into her senior season with 1,351 career points. That is 345 points shy of Lexie Nelson’s record for most points scored by a high school player in Butte.
In 21 games this season, Graham scored 445 points for an average of 21.2 points per game.
Hiatt, a 6-foot sophomore guard/forward, takes home the boys honor for his role in leading the Butte Central Maroons to the Class A State tournament in Great Falls. Hiatt is a weapon for the Maroons inside and out.
He averaged 9.9 points per game through BC’s 25 games. He also played much bigger than his roster size, leading the team with 5.8 rebounds per game.
Hiatt, who first earned a starting role during his freshman season, scored 13 points in Central’s loss to Frenchtown Saturday morning. He has also proven to be a strong defender for the Maroons.
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.
Photo of Graham courtesy Alycia Holland Photography. The photo of Hiatt provided by Jacqueline Photography.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball schedule for the week of March 16.
This is the first week of the Spring League. Teams can still sign up and play as early as this Wednesday or Thursday.
The league will run for 10 weeks an conclude with a double-elimination tournament. Games will be played Monday through Thursday nights at the Felix Madrazo Gym. After the first week, teams will be scheduled play two games per week.
Cost is $125 per team, and teams can sign up at the KC or by contacting Dan Boyle at (406) 491-2529.
Monday
7 p.m. — ButteSports vs. ParishTuesday
NO GAMESWednesday
6 p.m. — Crib Crew vs. Hoopballas
7 p.m. — Rosary Rattlers vs. Washington Generals
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State tournament scores/stats
This page will be updated with scores and stats (when available) from all State basketball tournaments in Montana through the weekend.
CLASS AA
in Billings
BOYS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Helena High 68, Great Falls Russell 60 (OT) (Stats)
Missoula Sentinel 52, Billings Senior 41 (Stats)
Missoula Hellgate 58, Gallatin 48 (Stats)
Billings West 46, Missoula Big Sky 41 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Billings Senior 56, Great Falls Russell 55 (Stats)
Missoula Big Sky 69, Gallatin 55 (Stats)
Semifinals
Missoula Sentinel 50, Helena High 35 (Stats)
Billings West 62, Missoula Hellgate 61 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
Missoula Hellgate 55, Billings Senior 47 (Stats)
Missoula Big Sky 50, Helena High 44 (Stats)
Third place
Missoula Big Sky 55, Missoula Hellgate 53 (Stats)
Championship
Missoula Sentinel 47, Billings West 46 (OT) (Stats)GIRLS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Billing Senior 57, Butte High 50 (Stats)
Gallatin 74, Helena High 28 (Stats)
Billings West 56, Missoula Hellgate 44 (Stats)
Missoula Big Sky 57, Billings Skyview 20 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Butte High 59, Helena High 40 (Stats)
Missoula Hellgate 55, Billings Skyview 34 (Stats)
Semifinals
Gallatin 64, Billings Senior 38 (Stats)
Billings West 48, Missoula Big Sky 45 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
Missoula Big Sky 58, Butte High 29 (Scorebook)
Missoula Hellgate 54, Billings Senior 45 (Stats)
Third place
Missoula Big Sky 46, Missoula Hellgate 35 (Stats)
Championship
Gallatin 58, Billings West 41 (Stats)
CLASS A
in Great Falls
BOYS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Lockwood 65, Ronan 53 (Stats)
Billings Central 71, Butte Central 45 (Stats)
Frenchtown 62, Glendive 34 (Stats)
Dillon 48, Miles City 42 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Butte Central 55, Ronan 52 (Stats)
Glendive 50, Miles City 44 (Stats)
Semifinals
Billings Central 61, Lockwood 38 (Stats)
Dillon 56, Frenchtown 50 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
Frenchtown 65, Butte Central 51 (Stats)
Lockwood 68, Glendive 46 (Stats)
Third place
Frenchtown 53, Lockwood 45 (Stats)
Championship
Billings Central 70, Dillon 40 (Stats)GIRLS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Frenchtown 47, Hardin 46 (Stats)
Billings Central 58, Bigfork 24 (Stats)
Havre 51, Whitefish 23 (Stats)
Dillon 48, Laurel 37 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Hardin 57, Bigfork 46 (Stats)
Laurel 59, Whitefish 35 (Stats)
Semifinals
Billings Central 48, Frenchtown 40 (Stats)
Havre 40, Dillon 36 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
Hardin 56, Dillon 45 (Stats)
Frenchtown 58, Laurel 32 (Stats)
Third place
Hardin 64, Frenchtown 63 (Stats)
Championship
Havre 52, Billings Central 28 (Stats)
CLASS B
in Bozeman
BOYS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Anaconda 48, Shepherd 18 (Stats)
Lodge Grass 58, Fairfield 43 (Stats)
Harlem 76, St. Labre 64 (Stats)
Missoula Loyola 50, Three Forks 44 (Stats)
(All of Thursday’s stat sheets)
Friday
Loser Out
Shepherd 59, Fairfield 56 (Stats)
St. Labre 66, Three Forks 62 (Stats)
Semifinals
Lodge Grass 68, Anaconda 51 (Stats)
Harlem 69, Missoula Loyola 49 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
10:30 a.m. — Shepherd 63, Missoula Loyola 56 (Scorebook)
10:30 a.m. — St. Labre 82, Anaconda 54 (Stats)
Third place
St. Labre 71, Shepherd 46 (Stats)
Championship
Lodge Grass 69, Harlem 48 (Stats)GIRLS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Florence 66, Huntley Project 54 (Score book)
Baker 66, Glasgow 43 (Stats)
Malta 54, Big Timber 41 (Stats)
Missoula Loyola 54, Ennis 46 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Glasgow 48, Huntley Project 39 (Stats)
Ennis 56, Big Timber 46 (Stats)
Semifinals
Baker 69, Florence 63 (Stats)
Malta 49, Missoula Loyola 42 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
Missoula Loyola 54, Glasgow 42 (Scorebook)
Florence 67, Ennis 51 (Stats)
Third place
Missoula Loyola 61, Florence 47 (Stats)
Championship
Baker 64, Malta 51 (Stats)
CLASS C
in Missoula
BOYS
(Bracket)
Wednesday
Scobey 71, Winnett/Grass Range 45 (Stats)
Belt 62, West Yellowstone 53 (Stats)
Lustre Christian 66, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 52 (Stats)
Manhattan Christian 41, Roy/Winifred 35 (Stats)
Thursday
Loser out
Winnett/Grass Range 65, West Yellowstone 54 (Stats)
Chester-Joplin-Inverness 49, Roy-Winifred 47 (Stats)
Semifinals
Scobey 78, Belt 40 (Stats)
Lustre Christian 53, Manhattan Christian 34 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Belt 60, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 30 (Stats)
Winnett-Grass Range 55, Manhattan Christian 49 (Stats)
Third place
Belt 68, Winnett-Gras Range 62 (Stats)
Championship
Scobey 56, Lustre Christian 39 (Stats)GIRLS
(Bracket)
Thursday
Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine 38, Scobey 30 (Stats)
Chester-Joplin-Inverness 56, West Yellowstone 43 (Stats)
Circle 60, Belt 44 (Stats)
Melstone 59, Drummond 25 (Stats)
Friday
Loser Out
Scobey 41, West Yellowstone 39 (Stats)
Belt 57, Drummond 49 (Stats)
Semifinals
Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine 62, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 40 (Stats)
Circle 47, Melstone 45 (Stats)
Saturday
Loser-out
11 a.m. — Scobey 39, Melstone 33 (Stats)
Chester-Joplin-Inverness 54, Belt 49 (Stats)
Third place
Scobey 32, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 30 (Stats)
Championship
Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine 64, Circle 57 (OT) (Stats) -
Copperheads bow out at State B
BOZEMAN — An incredible run by the Anaconda Copperheads came to an end Saturday morning at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Carone Little Coyote scored 21 points to lead the way as St. Labre beat the Copperheads 82-54 in a loser-out game of the Class B State boys’ basketball tournament. (Stats)
St. Labre moves on to the third-place game to face Shepherd. The Western B champion Copperheads close the season at 20-6.
Jared Killsback and Peyton Killsnight each added 14 points for St. Labre in the win. Morgan Hugs tossed in 12.
Travis Dye closed his prep hoops career with a big game. The future Montana Tech football player scored 17 points, sinking three 3-pointers.
Brody Galle scored 10 points, and Kyson Patrick and Ryder Anderson each scored eight points for the Copperheads. Shane Schalk and Treyton Patrick each scored four, Carson Lacey tossed in two and Rory Browning tossed in one.
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Eagles clip Bulldogs in loser-out game
BILLINGS — Avery DeCoite and Kenzi Schmitz combined for 39 points Saturday morning, and Missoula Big Sky ended Butte High’s season with a 58-29 win at the Class AA girls’ basketball tournament.
DeCoite scored 21 points, while Schmitz tossed in 18 in the game that was played at Billings Skyview, the alternate site.
Big Sky (19-3) jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter, and the Eagles did not look back in beating the Bulldogs for the third time this season. Tanya Kirilovich added nine points for the Eagles. Mya Hubbard netted four, while Lillian Johnson and Zoe Boone each scored three.
Cadence Graham scored 10 points to lead the cold-shooting Bulldogs, who close the season at 13-8. Allie Becker and Elli Graham each scored five points in the loss. Saege Grey and Stella Callaghan both tossed in three, Autumn Clary scored two, and Kendallyn Schad scored one.
Franki Salusso, Emma Johnson, Ellie Yates, Reese Johnson and Avery also contributed for the Bulldogs. The loss closes the solid high school hoops career for the two Butte High seniors — Salusso and Johnson.
Cadence Graham closes the season with 1,351 career points with one season left. She scored 71 points in the three State tournament games.
She seems to play her best when the games are the biggest, scoring 155 points in her seven career State tournament games. That’s an average of 22.1 points per game.
The tournament officials did not keep a full stat sheet for the games at the alternate site.
BUTTE HIGH (13-8) — Allie Becker 2 0-0 5, Cadence Graham 2 4-4 10, Autumn Clary 1 0-2 2, Emma Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ellie Graham 2 0-0 5, Saege Grey 1 1-2 3, Kendallyn Schad 0 1-2 1, Avery Barsness 0 0-0 0, Stella Callaghan 1 0-0 3, Ellie Yates 0 0-0 0, Reese Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 6-10 29.
MISSOULA BIG SKY (19-3) — Avory DeCoite 8 2-2 21, Lillian Johnson 1 0-0 3, Tanya Kirilovich 2 1-2 9, Mya Hubbard 2 0-1 4, Kenzi Schmitz 5 7-8 18, Peyton Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Addisyn Martin 0 0-0 0, Zoe Boone 1 1-1 3. Totals 20 11-14 58.
Butte 4 10 8 7 — 29
Big Sky 14 10 19 15 — 58
3-point goals — Butte 5 (C. Graham 2, E. Graham, Becker, Callaghan), Big Sky 7 (DeCoite 3, Kirilovich 2, Johnson). Fouls — Butte 14, Big Sky 12. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none. -
Broncs top BC boys, will play for third
GREAT FALLS — Butte Central’s season ended this morning at the Four Seasons Arena.
Frenchtown used a 20-9 run in the second quarter to take the lead for good and top the Maroons 65-51 in a loser-out game of the Class A State boys’ basketball tournament. (Stats)
The Broncs advance to the third-place game this afternoon. The Maroons close the season at 18-7.
Frenchtown junior Hank Smith had yet another remarkable game against the Maroons. The 6-foot-6 Smith scored 25 points and pulled down 18 rebounds to lead the Broncs to the win. Frenchtown won the battle of the boards 39-18.
Cooper Michaud added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Broncs (19-6), who won the season series against BC 3-1. Brooks Day scored eight points, while Henry Griffin tossed in seve, Trevor Smith netted six, Cle Pfahler tossed in three, and Brayden Ricci scored two.
Joshua Sutton scored 21 points to pace the Maroons. He was one of three BC players in double figures. Jaxon Hiatt scored 13, and senior Ryan Peoples closed his prep hoops career with 10.
Peoples, a future Montana Tech football player, scored 56 total points in the three tournament games.
Central got five points from Cade Kelly and two from Burkley Lakkala. GG Fantini dished out five assists and matched Hiatt with four rebounds.
Noah Sutton also contributed for the Maroons.
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Lodge Grass stops Anaconda boys
BOZEMAN — The Anaconda Copperheads will not bring home the state title from the Class B State boys’ basketball tournament at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
JJ Bends scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Lodge Grass to a 68-51 win over the Western B champion Copperheads in Friday night’s semifinals. (Stats)
Colvin Wyles added 13 points, and TJ Gros Ventre tossed in 13 in the win. Trestib Cole added six points and 11 rebounds.
Shane Shalk scored 18 points to pace the Copperheads. The senior also grabbed eight rebounds.
Ryder Anderson contributed with 14 points, while Kyson Patrick scored eight, and Tretyon Patrich tossed in six.
Anaconda can still bring home some hardware from the tournament, however.
The Copperheads will play St. Labre in a 10:30 a.m. loser-out game on Saturday. The winner of that game will head to the 5 p.m. third-place game.
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Episode No. 331: Nina G
Today’s guest comes to us from Alameda, California. Next week, she will be performing in the Mining City.
Nina G and the Comedians with Disabilities Act will be performing at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 21 at the Covellite Theatre in Uptown Butte.
The show costs just $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Here’s some links to buy your tickets: March 21 Butte show; March 20 Missoula show.
Nina is a comedian, international keynote speaker and author. She is known as the stuttering comedian who raises awareness by promoting acceptance and cross disability collaboration.
More than anything, she is funny as heck. Check out her 2023 special and see what I mean:
Nina will be performing along with host Michael Beers of Missoula, Loren Kraut and Adam Keyes. The show will be headlined by Mean Dave, and Nina says that is not just a clever name.
The show will be part of the Comedians with Disabilities comedy tour and documentary film.
The Comedians with Disabilities Act is a California-based troupe that is billed as representing a comedic perspective that can’t be found anywhere else. Since 2010, the troupe has taken many forms and performed for thousands of audiences of all abilities — at colleges, comedy clubs, corporate events, and the occasional dive bar.
Listen in to this episode to hear why you want to get your ticket now to check out the hilarious Nina G and the Comedians with Disabilities Act.
Today’s episode is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the local’s eat.
Watch the episode on YouTube:
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Graham scores 32, Bulldogs move on
BILLINGS — There’s nothing quite like Cadence Graham when her team’s season is on the line.
The Butte High junior sank five 3-pointers and scored 32 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 59-40 win over Helena High in a loser-out game of the Class AA State girls’ basketball tournament Saturday at the Metra. (Stats)
The win sends the Bulldogs to a 9 a.m. loser-out game Saturday morning at a yet-to-be-announced location.
Helena’s McKenna Pipinich stole the ball and took it for the distance for a 2-0 lead. That, though, was the end of the good news for the Bengals.
Elli Graham hit 3-point shot from beyond NBA range to put the Bulldogs on top shortly later, and Butte High never trailed again. The Bulldogs led 18-5 after one quarter and 32-14 at the half. That lead was extended to 46-20 after three.
Cadence Graham, who hit nine points and scored 35 points in a loser-out game at State last year, now has 1,341 points on her career. A math error by the ButteCast led to her going over 1,400 points, and that was reported on over the NFHS Network and KBOW broadcasts.
The older of the “Fearless Graham Sisters” also pulled down nine rebounds, dished out four assists and collected four steals. She has a career-best 445 points on the season.
Senior Franki Salusso scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds. Allie Becker scored seven points, Elli Graham finished with six, and senior Emma Johnson tossed in four.
Autumn Clary, Saege Grey, Kendallyn Schad, Avery Barsness and Reese Johnson also contributed for the Bulldogs, who improved to 13-8 on the season.
Pipinich and Lauryn Lieberg each scored 14 points to pace the Bengals, who fell to the Bulldogs for the third time this season. Cassidy Smith scored five points, Alexa Lundstrom tossed in three, and Greta Petersen scored two.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 