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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.
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Sutton turns three, Maroons stay alive
GREAT FALLS — Joshua Sutton went coast to coast and turned an old-fashioned three-point play with 2 seconds left Saturday to keep Butte Central’s season alive.
The bucket and free throw gave Butte Central a 55-52 win over Ronan Friday morning at the Class A boys’ basketball tournament at the Four Seasons Arena. (Stats)
The Maroons will play a loser-out game again 9 a.m.
A win tomorrow morning would send the Maroons to the third-place game at 3:30 p.m.
The Maroons outscored Ronan 19-12 in the fourth quarter to avenge a loss to the Chiefs in the semifinals of last week’s Western A Divisional tournament in Hamilton.
Sutton, a junior, finished the game with 12 points.
Senior Ryan Poeples scored a team-leading 23 points for the second straight game to lead BC in the win. The Maroons got six from Jaxon Hiatt, five from Cade Kelly and four from Noah Sutton. The Sutton brothers and Hiatt each handed out three assists.
Hiatt grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Henly Mansanti, GG Fantini and Burkley Lakkala also contributed for the Maroons, who improved to 18-6.
Siouxpixm Qualtier scored 17 points to lead four Chiefs in double figures. Kolby Finley scored 14, Matiya Nenemay tossed in 11, and Jhett McDonald scored 10.
Finley also pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out 10 assists.
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Copperheads advance to Class B semis
BOZEMAN — Anaconda’s magical postseason run continued today at the Class B State boys’ basketball tournament.
Three Copperheads scored in double figures as Anaconda opened the tournament with a 48-43 win over Shepherd at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. (Stats)
The victory sends the Copperheads to Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal. (Bracket)
Ryder Anderson scored 12 points to lead the way, while Brody Galle and Travis Dye each scored 10 points. Shane Shalk added eight points for the balanced Copperhead attack that also got six from Jesse Jones.
Kyson Patrick scored two points, while Treyton Patrick and Carson Lacey also contributed to the Anaconda win.
Brayden Cook scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Mustangs. Hudson Handerson scored eight.
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Second half dooms Maroons
GREAT FALLS — At halftime, it looked like a trip to the semifinals of the Class A State boys’ basketball tournament was on the table for the Butte Central Maroons.
Billings Central, though, had other things to say in the second half.
The Rams outscored the Maroons 42-17 after the break, turning a one-point game into a 71-45 victory at Four Seasons Arena. (Stats)
Billings Central will head to the semifinals to take on Lockwood, which beat Ronan 65053 in the first game of the tournament. The Maroons will battle Ronan in a 9 a.m. loser-out game on Friday.
Darcy Merchant Jr. and Toby Stewart each scored 20 points to lead the Rams (19-2), who won their 14th straight game. Howie Martin and Will Snell each scored eight points, and Paxton Prill tossed in six.
Senior Ryan Peoples scored 23 points to lead the Maroons, who fell to 17-6. Joshua Sutton scored 16.
Butte Central also got three points from Jaxon Hiatt, two from Noah Sutton and one from GG Fantini. Cade Kelly, Henly Mansanti and Burkley Lakkala played for BC, too.
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Broncs top Bulldogs in morning opener
BILLINGS — Butte High made a bigtime comeback against Billings Senior Thursday morning in the first game of the Class AA State girls’ basketball tournament at the Metra.
Butte used a 12-0 run to erase an 11-point fourth quarter deficit and take the lead.
However, a couple of huge 3-pointers by Senior’s Bella Ferguson proved to be too costly for the Bulldogs, and Butte High was sent to loser-out play with a 57-50 loss. (Stats)
Senior advances to the semifinals to battle defending champion Gallatin, which beat Hellena High 74-28 after the Bulldog-Senior game.
Butte High will set its sights on third place. The Bulldogs will take on Helena High at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Ferguson hit five 3-pointers and scored 18 points to lead the Broncs, who improved to 14-7. Eva Blatchford scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Abigail Madinger added nine points, and Payton Tryan tossed in eight.
Junior Cadence Graham hit four 3-pointers and poured in 29 points to lead the Bulldogs, who fell to 12-8.
Freshman Ellie Graham scored eight points, that includes a 3-pointer from well beyond NBA range during Butte High’s fourth quarter run.
Allie Becker added five points, while Saege Grey scored four, and Franki Salusso and Emma Johnson each scored two.
Autum Clary and Kendallyn Schad also competed for the Bulldogs.
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Bulldog girls, BC boys head to State
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)nelson
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.
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.
