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KC Spring League starts next week
The Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s Spring Basketball League will start Monday.
The league features four-man teams playing games twice a week, Monday through Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Felix Madrazo Gymnasium. The league will run 10 weeks with a double-loss tournament at the end.
Cost is $125 per team, and teams can sign up at the bar or by contacting Dan Boyle at (406) 491-2529.
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Podcast No. 248: Butte High, Central basketball coaches
Butte High’s and Butte Central’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will put their seasons on the line this week.
The Bulldog teams will host Western AA playoff games Friday night at the Richardson Gym. Butte High’s girls play Helena Capital at 6 p.m. before the boys take on Missoula Sentinel at 7:30. The winners of those games move on to the Class AA State tournament, which is next week in Bozeman.
BC’s teams will play in the Western A Divisional tournament in Whitefish. That tournament begins Thursday, with the Central girls playing at 10:30 a.m. against Bigfork. The BC boys play Columbia Falls at 6:30 p.m. The top four teams from the divisional tournament advance to the Class A State tournament next week in Billings.
All four of the head coaches — Quinn Carter, Bryan Arntson, Brodie Kelly and Matt Luedtke — have made appearances on the ButteCast in the past. Today, we bring them all on the show — one by one — as we look forward to an exciting week of hoops.
Let’s listen in to see what the coaches thinking as we take the season into March.
First up is Butte Central’s Quinn Carter, who helped lead the Maroons to the 2011 State title when she was Quinn Peoples and a senior at BC. Coach Carter then took her talents to Montana State University-Billings.
Coach Carter’s Maroons enter the divisional tournament with a 7-13 record after winning two Western A play-in games. BC throttled Stevensville 59-13 at the Maroon Activities Center on Thursday. Then they went on the road to upset Corvallis in a 44-42 thriller in the Bitterroot Valley.
While the Maroons have a losing record, they hit the road riding some serious momentum. Bigfork is 16-2 overall. The team enters the tournament riding a 15-game winning streak. Bigfork won the Northwestern A with a 12-0 record.
So, the deck is stacked against the Maroons in the first round. Of course, it was seemingly stacked against the super-young Maroons all season long.
Listen in as Coach Carter talks about her team qualifying for this tournament and what it means to the building of the third-year head coach’s program.
Note, that at the time of this conversation, Coach Carter did not have the final stats from Saturday’s game. In addition to scoring 17 points, sophomore Rylee Forbes pulled down 20 rebounds.
Second, we have Butte High girls’ coach Bryan Arntson.
Arnie is in his fourth year leading the Bulldogs. He is looking to take the Bulldogs to the Class AA State tournament for the first time since his first season in 2021-22.
Butte High is very familiar with their playoff opponent. The Bulldogs swept the regular-season matchup with the Bruins. Butte won 41-34 Feb. 1 in Butte and 36-35 this past Thursday in Helena.
At 13-6 overall and 9-5 in league play, the Bulldogs are the No. 3 seed out of the Western AA. Capital (8-11 and 5-9) is the No. 6 seed.
Butte High will be without senior starter Addie Hiatt. She suffered a season-ending knee injury in last Tuesday’s Senior Night win over Helena High. The Bulldogs, though, still have plenty of weapons, and Arntson’s team seems like it is peaking at the right time.
Butte High has won six of its last eight games.
Listen in as Coach Arntson talks about his team and what he expects in the playoff game.
Next, we have Butte Central coach Brodie Kelly, who is the longest-tenured basketball coach in town. By a long way.
Kelly is finishing up his 21st season as head coach of the Maroons. Of those previous 20 seasons, Kelly’s Maroons have qualified for the Class A State tournament 18 times.
That is an unprecedented run that Kelly says has not been easy. None of those trips to state ever came without some serious stress. That includes the state championship seasons of 2020 and 2022.
This year was a struggle from the start. After losing a key player because his family moved out of town just before the school year, the 2024-25 Maroons have also battled illness like never before.
The Maroons enter the postseason at 9-9 overall, but BC is 6-4 in conference, and Central has won five of its last seven games. As the Maroons eye Columbia Falls, Kelly said his team is healthy for the first time since early January.
At 15-3 overall and 10-2 in league, the Wildcats are the No. 2 seed from the Northwestern A. Columbia Falls beat BC 72-65 Dec. 14 at a tipoff tournament in Frenchtown.
A lot has changed since then.
Listen in to hear Coach Kelly’s take and see why he knows this divisional tournament is going to be anything but easy.
Last, but certainly not least we have Butte High boys’ coach Matt Luedtke. He is in his sixth year as head coach of the Bulldogs, and he is looking for his sixth straight trip to the Class AA State tournament.
That came after the coach won two Class B State titles in Choteau.
To get back to State, the Bulldogs have to be one tough opponent in Missoula Sentinel. That is something Butte High couldn’t do in two tries during the regular season
Sentinel came to Butte and beat the Bulldogs 53-37 Jan. 11. The Spartans completed the regular-season sweep with a 60-49 win Feb. 4 in Missoula.
Butte High has won 9 of its last 11 games, building a 13-6 overall record and 9-5 mark in conference.
Sentinel rides to town at 10-9 and 8-6.
This game promises to be a great one, and the atmosphere should be absolutely electric.
Listen in as Coach Luedtke talks about his team, which, like always, is playing its best at the right time of year.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
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Class AA administrators have turned March Madness into March Sadness
It could have almost been a scene out of a movie.
Kalispell Flathead senior Dustyn Franchini-White launched a 3-point shot at the buzzer. The ball sailed through the net, and the Braves pulled off a shocking 42-40 win over Missoula Hellgate Thursday in Kalispell.
The Flathead student section rushed the court and lifted up Franchini-White as if he was Rudy Ruettiger, and Casey Kreider got an incredible photo of the scene for The Daily Interlake.
Franchini-White’s buzzer-beater gave the Braves their first win since Dec. 20, and it snapped a 15-game losing streak. It also dropped Hellgate from No. 1 to No. 2 in the Western AA.
More importantly, the victory proved the old adage that any team can beat any team on any given day. It also should have sent the Braves to the Western AA Divisional tournament full of hope that they could shock the world.
The other seven teams in the conference should be shaking in their boots knowing that they, too, could be upset by the Braves, who seemed to play much better than their 3-16 record most of the season.
The shot should have been the start of a potentially magical Hollywood ending.
If there ever is an inspirational movie made about a Montana high school basketball team coming out of nowhere to win a state title, however, you better believe it will not come out of the Class AA.
When it comes Montana’s largest 16 schools, there will be No “Hoosiers.” No “Coach Carter.” No “Air Bud.”
(OK, so I’ve never seen Air Bud. I just wanted to go with the rules of three, and I didn’t want to go with Adam Sandler’s terrible movie “Grown Ups.”)
That is because the highly-paid school administrators of the Class AA are trying to suck the life out of sports. While the other classifications in the state celebrate March Madness, the Class AA administrators give us March Sadness.
In the Class AA, the highly-paid school administrators have decided that basketball tournaments are not important for their athletes.
That is a shame because every team should have a tournament. Every team should have the opportunity to shock the world.
Every team should have the possibility of a Cinderella story to get them through even the most difficult of seasons.
This week, though, will see Class AA basketball go back to the playoff system for the first time since 2017. The top two teams in each conference earned automatic berths into the Class AA State tournament, which is March 13-15 in Bozeman.
The middle four teams play playoff games for the right to extend their season. The bottom two teams from each conference don’t get a chance to earn a ticket to the ball.
That means the Great Falls High, Belgrade, Kalispell Glacier and Flathead boys don’t get a single postseason game. Neither do the Great Falls Russell, Belgrade, Missoula Sentinel and Flathead girls.
The students at Flathead and Belgrade are completely left out in the cold, and that is just plain wrong.
We no longer have divisional tournaments, the highly-paid school administrators say, because those tournaments lost money.
To that, I emphatically say, Bravo Sierra?
Somehow, the Class C, Class B and Class A can figure out how to pull of divisional tournaments, but the bigger schools of the Class AA cannot? The Class C and Class B can also pull off district tournaments and somehow do not go bankrupt.
You might ask, how can that be?
Well, the explanation is easy. The Class AA administrators did not want the divisional tournaments to work in the first place. They never did. So, they sabotaged them.
Before you write me off as a conspiracy theorist who claims Hilary Clinton drinks the blood of children, hear me out.
The first divisional tournaments in nearly three decades were held after the 2017-18 season. The administrators finally gave into then Butte High activities director Chuck Merrifield after he fought for divisional tournaments for the better part of two decades.
Those tournaments, after all, where a highlight of the season until the Class AA decided to go with the playoff format in 1990.
When they gave into the proposal pushed by Butte High, though, the administrators handcuffed the tournaments in an effort to ensure the tournaments would fail. That is the only possible explanation for them making a rule that arenas could not be used for divisional tournaments.
That meant places like the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, the Adams Center in Missoula, the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, the Billings Metra and Butte Civic Center were off limits.
So, when the Eastern AA tournament was held that first year in Butte, the boys played at Butte High’s Richardson Gym, and the girls played at Montana Tech.
They also included a rule that said only the home teams could have bands and cheerleaders.
This, the highly-paid administrators say, was because of money. If bands and cheerleaders from out of town were banned, then every school would save some cash.
They never do that in the Class A, B or C, by the way. Never.
Last year, the Class AA let Butte host the boys’ and girls’ Western AA tournaments at the Civic Center. It was the first time in the seven years of Class AA Divisional tournaments when an arena was used instead of a small gym.
However, the lameness of the Class AA was still on full display as the tournaments were sandwiched between the Western A Divisional tournaments and Class A State tournaments as the Mining City hosted tournaments on back-to-back-to-back weekends.
Oh, the play of the Western AA Divisional tournament was great, and the atmosphere was tremendous when Butte High was playing.
When the home team wasn’t playing, though, it was the snoozefest the administrators wanted in the first place.
Without cheerleaders, bands and halftime shows, the small Class AA crowds provided for a weekend that lacked the excitement of a travel tournament. People were literally falling asleep, and it had nothing to do with the play.
Oh, and they didn’t play third-place games. That would have meant more administrators would have had to stay in town a few hours longer.
The week before and week after, on the other hand, the tournaments were packed with action from the opening tip of the first game on Thursday morning until the final buzzer of the last game on Saturday night.
That includes the time between games and during halftimes.
The Class A usually does it right — other than when it forces some teams to win play-in games to qualify for the divisional tournaments. The Class B and Class C always do it right. The Class AA always takes the shortcut.
They cut out divisional tournaments in volleyball and softball, too, as the motto of the Class AA administrators continues to be, “We’ve got tee times, so just get it over with already.”
In doing so, they are going against everything an educator is supposed to be all about. They are taking away once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for their students and student-athletes.
They might also be hurting the chances that their student-athletes will be recruited by the many college coaches who pack divisional tournaments.
The money excuse doesn’t cut, either. There is no shortage of companies out there that would love to sponsor tournaments. There are plenty of fans ready to pay top dollar to watch a tournament that is run the way a tournament is supposed to be run.
It would be nice if we could find a sports-minded lawyer to get a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the Class AA students. It would be even nicer if Class AA schools would start hiring better administrators.
Until then, call or email your student’s Class AA superintendent, principal and activities director. Ask them why they are holding back your students. Ask them to support going back to divisional tournaments next year.
Tell them their laziness and shortsightedness are doing damage that can never be undone.
Let them know that you would have loved to have seen if Dustyn Franchini-White and his Flathead Braves had a real Hollywood ending up their sleeves.
— Bill Foley, who now feels obligated to watch “Air Bud,” 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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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Addie Hiatt and Dylan Bache
Butte High senior basketball players Addie Hiatt and Dylan “Bobby” Bache are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come as the Bulldogs conclude the regular-season and head to home playoff games.
Hiatt takes home the girls’ honor after she helped the Bulldogs roll to a 67-43 Senior Night win over Helena High at the Richardson Gym.
Unfortunately, Hiatt suffered a season-ending knee injury while heading to the basket on a fast break late in the victory. She finished the game with three points.
Hiatt, who did not play basketball in eighth and ninth grade, emerged as a key contributor for the Bulldogs as a senior. She broke into the starting lineup and gave coach Bryan Arntson effort and determination that cannot be counted in a boxscore.
“She has been awesome,” Arntson said. “It will be hard to replace her toughness.”
Bache takes the boys’ honor for the second time this season. He scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the way as the Bulldogs pulled away for a 65-50 Senior Night win over Helena Capital Thursday at the Richardson Gym.
Bache scored inside and out. He sank four 3-pointers, and only one of his points came from the free throw line.
Two nights earlier, Bache scored a team-leading 18 points as the Bulldogs dropped a 76-51 decision at Helena High.
On the season, Bache is averaging 14.3 points and nearly 9 rebounds per game. He has been a key varsity player for four seasons.
For the third year, Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, is teaming up with the ButteCast to honor the finest student-athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photos of Hiatt and Bache courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography.
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Central girls edge Blue Devils to advance to Divisional tournament
CORVALLIS — Butte Central’s girls’ basketball team will be heading to the Western A Divisional tournament next Thursday in Whitefish.
The Maroons will hit the road with some momentum on their side, too.
Butte Central knocked off Corvallis 44-42 Saturday afternoon in a Western A play-in game. The victory came less than 48 hours after the Maroons beat Stevensville 59-13 in another play-in game at the Maroon Activities Center.
The win also avenged two regular-season losses BC suffered at hands of the Blue Devils. That includes a 34-34 decision a week ago at the MAC.
The Maroons battled back from a 19-9 deficit to take a quick lead before the Blue Devils took a 24-23 advantage into halftime. Central led 32-31 after three quarters, and the second half featured a handful of lead changes.
After Rylee Forbes hit one of two free throws to put the Maroons up two in the final seconds, Corvallsi’ Taryn Hochhalter got off a three-quarter shot that appeared to catch the rim at the buzzer.
Forbes, a sophomore, finished with a game-high 17 points to pace the Maroons in the huge victory. Zayonna Otherbull scored nine points, while fellow freshman Kenzie McQueary scored eight. BC also got six points — on a pair of threes — from freshman Braelynn Schelin and four from junior Arika Stajcar.
Hochhalter and Ella Varner each scored 14 to pace the Blue Devils. Ava Loran tossed in 11.
Central heads to Whitefish with a 7-3 record. The Blue Devils close the season at 7-12.
BUTTE CENTRAL (7-13) — Evyn Smith 0 0-0 0, Kenzie McQueary 2 4-6 8, Zayonna Otherbull 3 2-4 9, Rylee Forbes 6 5-6 17, Arika Stajcar 2 0-0 4, Braelynn Schelin 2 0-0 6, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 0-0 0. Total 15 11-16 44.
CORVALLIS (7-12) — Ava Loran 5 0-0 11, Ella Varner 4 1-5 14, Kate Allen 0 0-0 0, Autumn Benson 1 1-2 3, Kaia Benson 1 1-2 3, Shaylee Weidow 0 0-0 0, Taryn Hochhalter 6 2-3 14. Totals 17 4-10 42.
Central 9 14 9 12 — 44
Corvallis 17 7 7 11 — 42
3-poing goals — BC 3 (Schelin 2, Otherbull), Corvallis 4 (Varner 3, Loran). Fouls — BC12, Corvallis 15. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none. -
Podcast No. 247: Rachel D’Amico and Jeff Dennehy
Rachel (Worrell) D’Amico and Jeff Dennehy know a little bit about youth sports, to say the least.
Rachel was a standout pitcher for the Butte High softball team. She led the Bulldogs to a third-place finish at the 2000 Class AA State softball tournament in Helena. Then she took her talents to Porterville College in Porterville, California.
Jeff was a standout hockey player in Butte, helping the Mining City capture a handful of state championships. He recently coached the Copper City Kings 12U-B team to a state championship.
Now, they are teaming up to start a new youth lacrosse program in Butte. The Ridge Top Renegades is the name of the new organization that is looking for boys and girls of all ages to play.
They actually started with some “open fields” last year, and ended up with about 30 young lacrosse players showing up to play. They are hoping to expand that number this year
An in-person registration will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 23 at the Butte Community Ice Center.
Players will need a USA Lacrosse number and lacrosse equipment. The registration fee is $40.
The league will focus on teaching the young players the game. They are also anticipating competing in some tournaments around the state during the season.
For more information, click the link below or message the league on its Facebook page.
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BC girls roll, Dogs sweep past Bruins
Thursday was a very good night for high school basketball in the Mining City.
Butte Central’s girls’ basketball team kept its season alive with a 59-13 win over Stevensville in a Western AA play-in game at the Maroon Activities Center.
Butte High swept Western AA games against Helena Capital. The Bulldog girls won a 36-35 thriller in Helena, while the Butte High boys pulled away for a 65-50 win in front of a large crowd at the Richardson Gym.
The Maroons advance to a play-in game at 4 p.m. Saturday at Corvallis. The winner of that game advances to the Western A Divisional tournament next week in Whitefish.
Butte High’s teams will both host Class AA playoff games next week. The dates and opponents for those games have yet to be set.
Freshman Kinzey McQueary sank four 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead the Maroons, who took control early and never looked back. Classmate Zayonna Otherbull added 10 points, while freshmen Rylee Forbes, Natalie Osterman and Braelynn Schelin each scored six. Also, junior Arika Stajcar tossed in five, and freshmen Evyn Smith and Jaedyn Maldonado each tossed in two.
In a physical win that Bulldog coach Bryan Arntson compared to a hockey game, sophomore Cadence Graham came through in the clutch from the free throw line for the Butte High girls. She hit two huge free throws to tie the game late, then buried two more to put the Dogs up by one point with 2.8 seconds left.
Graham finished with 10 points, while seniors Dylann Bartoletti and Brityn Stewart each scored nine points.
At the Richardson Gym, senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache and junior Hudson Luedtke each had a huge game to lead the Bulldogs to the bounce-back win. Bache scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the way to the Senior Night win.
Luedtke contributed with another triple-double, scoring 18 points to go along with 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore Braylon Larson scored nine points.
Before the game, the Bulldogs honored seniors Bache, Tocher Lee, Klyar Kjersten, Spencer Callaghan,Torre Tempel and their parents. Lee played in his 82nd varsity game for the Bulldogs, tying Jeff Edwards for No. 2 all time for the Butte High boys.
GIRLS
Butte Central 59, Stevensville 13
STEVENSVILLE (0-19) — Emma Tan 2 0-0 4, Kayden Tolley 0 2-4 2, Emma McKoy 0 2-4 2, Harley Gilleard 1 0-0 2, Olivia Hanson 1 0-0 2, Avery Raszler 0 0-0 0, Hadlie Leonard 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Meeder 0 0-0 0, Maddix Yaeger 0 0-0 0, Bella Raszler 0 1-2 1. Totals 4 5-10 13.
BUTTE CENTRAL (6-13) — Evyn Smith 2 0-0 4, Kenzie McQUeary 7 2-2 20, Zayonna Otherbull 5 0-2 10, Rylee Forbes 3 0-0 6, Arika Stajcar 2 1-1 5, Marly Mansanti 0 0-0 0, Braelynn Schelin 2 0-0 6, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 2-2 2, Meika Boyer 0 0-0 0, Natalie Osterman 2 0-0 6, Caden Tippett 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-7 59.
Stevensville 2 8 1 2 — 13
Central 19 14 18 8 — 59
3-point goals — Stevi 0, BC 8 (McQueary 4, Osterman 2, Schelin 2). Fouls — Stevi 9, BC 15. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.Butte High 36, Helena Capital 35
BUTTE HIGH (13-6, 9-5) — Dylann Bartoletti 3 2-4 9, Cadence Graham 1 8-8 10, Sidney Whitaker 1 0-0 3, Brityn Stewart 3 1-2 9, Franki Salusso 0 0-0 0, Ellison Graham 1 0-0 3, Allie Becker 1 0-2 2, Emma Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 11-16 36.
HELENA CAPITAL (8-11, 5-9) — Eva Dahlquist 4 2-3 13, Ali Miller 2 2–6 6, Madi Emmert 5 0-2 12, Kate Drynan 0 0-0 0, Taylor Zanot 0 0-0 0, Jaci Lyman 0 0-0 0, Chloe Lafromboise 0 0-0 0, Jaiden Grooms 0 0-0 0, Cailin Mohar 2 00 4, Greta Hageman 0 0-0 0, Brynn Lawler 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-11 35.
Butte 6 11 13 6 — 36
Capital 7 8 12 8 — 35
3-point goals — Butte (Stewart 2, Bartoletti, E. Graham, Whitaker), Capital 5 (Dahlquist 3, Emmert 2). Fouls — Butte 16, Capital 17. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.BOYS
Butte High 65, Helena Capital 50
HELENA CAPITAL (10-9, 9-5) — Merek Mihelish 3 2-2 9, Connor Toivonen 5 0-1 10, Dylan Almquist 2 0-3 4, Landon Levang 3 1-1 8, Benton Belzer 3 0-0 6, Kyle Bachmeier 1 0-0 2, Kobe Gamradt 0 0-0 0, Joey Mergenthaler 0 0-0 0, Drew Almquist 3 0-1 6, Brett Buehler 1 1-1 3, Will Spotorno 0 0-0 0, Carson Toivonen 1 0-1 2, Drew Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 4-10 50.
BUTTE HIGH (13-6, 9-5) — Tocher Lee 1 0-0 3, Dylan “Bobby” Bache 10 1-1 25, Torre Tempel 1 3-3 6, Hudson Luedtke 6 3-3 18, Braylon Larson 4 1-2 9, Kyler Kjersten 0 2-2 2, Spencer Callaghan 0 0-0 0, Brady Hanson 1 0-0 2, Kendal Noctor 0 0-0 0, Rhett Arntson 0 0-0 0, Raeder Grey 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-11 65.
Capital 13 10 15 12 — 50
Butte 13 18 18 16 — 65
3-point goals — Capital 2 (Mihelish, Levang), Butte 9 (Bache 4, Luedtke 3, Lee, Tempel). Fouls — Capital 10, Butte 9. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.
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Bulldogs, Maroons eye postseason; Henderson shines; Kings hoist trophy
Central girls put season on the line
The season hangs in the balance for the Butte Central girls’ basketball team Thursday. That is when the Maroons host Stevensville in a Western A Divisional play-in game at 6 p.m. at the Maroon Activities Center.
The winner advances to Saturday’s play-in game at Corvallis for the right to play in next week’s Western A Divisional tournament in Whitefish.
BC (5-13, 3-7) beat the winless Yellowjackets (0-18, 0-10) twice in the regular season, and neither game was close. The Maroons rolled to a 66-22 win Jan. 18 in Stevensville. BC completed the regular-season sweep of Stevi with a 43-17 win Feb. 8 in Butte.
The Maroons won that second game despite being very shorthanded because of illness.
Corvallis (7-11, 4-6) topped the Maroons 34-30 this past Saturday in Butte to lock up a bye to Saturday’s home play-in game. The Maroons lost both games to Corvallis in the regular-season, and both were four-point games.
Frenchtown, Dillon and Hamilton all earned berths into the Divisional tournament with their regular-season records.
Central enters the postseason battle with what just might be the youngest high school roster on the planet. The BC regular varsity roster includes freshman Evyn Smith, Kenzie McQueary, Zayonna Otherbull, Braelynn Schelin and Jaedyn Maldonado. Freshman Natalie Osterman scored her first varsity points Tuesday in Dylan, and eight grader Evyn Tippett has seen varsity time this season.
Others on the BC girls’ varsity roster are sophomores Marly Mansanti, Rylee Forbes and Meika Boyer, and juniors Caden Tippett and Arika Stajcar. Coach Quinn Carter’s Maroons do not have a senior.
BC is looking to snap a four game after Tuesday’s 65-27 loss at Dillon. Kylie Konen and Kenleigh Graham each scored 17 points to lead the Beavers, who used 10 3-pointers to roll their record to 17-1 overall and 9-1 in conference play.
Otherbull scored 11 points to lead the Maroons.
Beavers pull away from BC boys
The defending Class A State champion Dillon Beavers used a late run to pull away from the Maroons for a 62-45 victory Tuesday night at the B.W. Lodge Gymnasium.
Dillon ran its record to 17-1 overall and 10-0 in Southwestern A play. The Beavers’ lone loss came in an 80-47 home decision Dec. 17 against Class AA Butte High.
The Beavers will take a 15-game winning streak to Whitefish for the Divisional tournament.
The Maroons will be one of the eight teams at that tournament, too. Despite closing the regular season with the loss to Dillon, BC secured a trip to Saturday with an 80-50 rout of the Blue Devils in Corvallis.
Sophomore Joshua Sutton scored 21 points to lead the Maroons in that win. Senior Owen McPartland and Ryan Peoples each scored 15 points, and freshman Jaxon Hiatt tossed in 10.
Central also got six points from eighth grader Noah Sutton, four from senior Justus McGree and two apiece from junior Zander Strand and senior Patrick Stimatz.
Carter Curnow poured in 19 points, and Kyler Engellant followed with 17 to lead Dillon past BC. Braxton Turney added 12 points.
McPartland scored 25 to lead Central. Peoples hit four 3-pointers and scored 12.
Despite the loss, the Maroons have clearly have been playing their best ball at the end of the season. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for BC, which is 5-2 in February.
That includes a 5-1 mark against Southwestern A opponents.
Butte High girls honor seniors, rout Bengals
The Bulldog girls sent out their seniors in style Tuesday night with a 67-43 rout of Helena High in a Western AA game at the Richardson Gym.
The victory also clinched a home playoff game for the Bulldogs (12-6 overall and 8-5 in conference), who will most likely be the No. 3 seed entering the postseason. The top two teams move on without a playoff game. The bottom two teams do not get a playoff.
The Nos. 3 and 4 sees host playoff games.
Eight Bulldogs scored points in Tuesday’s win. That includes all four of the team’s seniors — Dylann Bartoletti, Sidney Whitaker, Brityn Stewart and Addelei Hiatt.
The Bulldogs sank eight 3-point goals in the win, but the story of the game was the Butte High defense. The Dogs held the Bengals to 14 first half points, taking a 35-14 advantage into halftime.
Sophomore Cadence Graham hit three threes and scored a game-high 19 points. Stewart scored 12, while Bartoletti and juniors Franki Salusso and Emma Johnson each scored eight.
Sophomore Allie Becker scored six points, and Whitaker tossed in a three.
Eighth graders Ellison Graham and Saege Grey, sophomore Autumn Clary and junior Gracie Jonart also contributed in the win.
Madi Todorovich scored 10 points to lead the Bengals. McKenna Pipinich added eight.
The victory was a bounce back for the Bulldogs, who fell 43-35 Friday at Missoula Big Sky. Cadence Graham’s 13 points led the Dogs in that game. Kenzie Schmitz’s 10 points led the Eagles, who got nine apiece from Kyler Latrielle and Kadynce Courture.
Bulldogs lack bite in Helena
Butte High’s boys’ basketball team did pretty much the opposite of the girls in the last week.
After picking up a huge win at Missoula Big Sky that likely secured a home playoff game for the Bulldogs, Butte High went on the road and fell 76-51 at Helena High Tuesday night.
“I didn’t do a good job of preparing the boys,” Bulldog coach Matt Luedtke said. “We needed a little more fight.”
Jaxan Lieberg scored 25 points, and Tevin Wetzel added 22 to lead the Bengals, who avenged their 74-73 Jan. 30 loss to the Bulldogs in Butte. Wetzel did not play in that game.
Senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs. That included three 3-pointers. Classmate Tocher Lee also drained three 3-poitners. He finished with 11 points.
Junior Hudson Luedtke scored 10 points, while sophomore Braylon Larson scored seven, junior Rhett Arntson came off the bench to hit a three, and senior Torre Tempel scored two.
Seniors Kyler Kjersten and Spencer Callaghan, junior Kendel Noctor, sophomores Koda Schleeman and Raeder Grey and freshman Brady Hanson also contributed for the Bulldogs.
The loss came four nights after Butte High grabbed a huge 54-47 victory at Big Sky. Larson and Luedtke each scored 15 points in that win. Tempel and Bache each scored eight, Lee tossed in six, and junior Caleb Celli scored his first two varsity points.
While Butte High’s girls close the regular season Thursday at Helena Capital, the Bulldog boys will honor their seniors as they host the Bruins at the Richardson Gym.
In that game, Lee will play in his 82nd varsity game for the Bulldogs. That will tie hm with Jeff Edwards (2004-07) for second all time in Butte High boys’ history.
Lee missed eight games because of injury this season. He missed three while recovering from foot surgery. He suffered that injury early in the football season. Lee then missed five games after suffering a concussion in Butte High’s Jan. 2 win over Bozeman.
So, Lee will not have enough games to pass Doug Edwards, who played 90 games from the Bulldogs from 1936 through 1939.
With 107 career 3-pointers, though, Lee can still pass Chad Jonart’s record of 115. Jonart played from 2002 through 2004.
Henderson has huge day at Simplot
Sam Henderson once again showed why the Montana Grizzlies made the right move in signing the Butte High senior.
Henderson put up another huge weekend while competing at the prestigious Simplot Games at the Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. He excelled in the high jump, triple jump and 60-meter hurdles.
In the high jump, Henderson posted a personal record by clearing 6 feet, 8 inches to claim second place. He also took second in the triple jump with a leap of 46-1 ¼. He rounded out the day with an impressive time of 8.33 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles. That time was just off the PR of 8.29 that he set in mid-January.
Bulldog junior Camden Houchin, meanwhile, competed in the West Coast Championships in Spokane.
Houchin raced to an incredible 26 second PR in the 3,000-meter race. He completed the race in 9 minutes, 13 seconds, which placed him 41st out of 87 runners in this event.
Next, Houchin competed in the 800 meters on Sunday morning. He broke his PR by 8 seconds, finishing 26th out of 130 racers with a time of 2:03.9.
“It was another great weekend for Bulldog athletes,” Butte High cross country and assistant track coach Guy Wadas said.
Cleveland taking talents to Dickinson
Butte High senior Jaycee Cleveland’s remarkable volleyball career is not over.
The 5-foot-8 setter will sign an NAIA National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Dickinson State at 8 a.m. Friday at Butte High’s Richardson Gym.
Cleveland was a four-year varsity player for the Bulldogs. This past season, she led the Bulldogs with a .234 hitting percentage, 59 aces, .7 aces per set and 566 assists.
The Bulldogs went 11-15 overall on the season. That includes a 9-5 record in the Western AA. That was the best league mark posted by the Bulldogs in many years, according to Bulldog coach Shane Jorgenson.
Dickinson State is a member of the North Star Athletic Association. Under first-year head coach Stormy Siemion, the Blue Hawks went 5-21 overall and 1-9 in league play last season.
The state champion Copper City Kings are shown in this courtesy photo Copper City Kings win state title
Butte’s Copper City Kings brought home a state title from the 12U-B State Tournament over the weekend in Bozeman.
Team members are Ryan Ferriter, Hailey Dale, Kenzie Evans, Nick D’Amico, Kelton Dennehy, Tristan Borwn, Kaden Malkovich, Ryan Byrne, Ryan McCarthy, Brayton Burleson, Vera Peterson, Maverick White, Charlee Bogert, Calvin Johnson, Eric Schroeder, Knox Markovich and Corbin Roberts. The team is coached by Jeff Dennehy, Zach Woods, Jason Brown and Cory Markovich.
The Butte team beat Miles City 3-1 in the championship game. On the way to the chipper, Copper City beat the Salmon Rapids 7-4, topped the Bozeman Icedogs 5-2, and downed Miles City 6-1. The Kings also tied the Helena Bighorns at 3-all, finishing the tournament at 4-0-1.
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Butte High, BC boxscores
Butte High’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams split Western AA games with Helena High Tuesday night.
Butte High’s girls rolled to a 67-43 Senior night win over the Bengals at the Richardson Gym. The victory came after the Bulldogs honored seniors Dylann Bartoletti, Sidney Whitaker, Brityn Stewart and Addelei Hiatt and their parents.
All four seniors scored in the win.
In Helena, the Bengals avenged an earlier loss to Butte High’s boys with a 76-51 victory over the Bulldogs.
In Dillon, the Beavers swept a Southwestern A doubleheader with Butte Central. The twin bill closed the regular season for both teams. The Dillon boys won 62-45 before the Beavers completed the sweep with a 65-27 victory in the girls’ game.
BOYS
BUTTE HIGH (12-6, 8-5) — Tocher Lee 4 0-0 11, Dylan “Bobby” Bache 5 5-6 18, Torre Tempel 1 0-0 2, Hudson Luedtke 2 6-7 10, Braylon Larson 3 1-3 7, Brady Hanson 0 0-0 0, Spencer Callaghan 0 0-0 0, Kyler Kjersten 0 0-0 0, Rhett Arntson 1 0-0 3, Koda Schleeman 0 0-0 0, Raeder Grey 0 0-0 0, Kendel Noctor 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-16 51.
HELENA HIGH (14-4, 10-3) — Jaxan Lieberg 9 3-3 25, Madden Spaulding 3 0-0 6, Eli Peterson 2 2-2 6, Tevin Wetzel 7 4-4 22, Dylan Mosness 2 1-2 5, Mase Spaulding 2 0-0 5, Pacer Lybbert 1 0-0 2, Cameron Bullock 0 0-0 0, Gracen Silvonen 0 0-0 0, CJ Danforth 1 0-0 3, Titus Wetzel 1 0-0 2, Reece Silvonen 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 10-11 76
Butte 23 7 10 11 — 51
Helena 20 15 17 24 — 76
3-ponit goals — Butte 7 (Lee 3, Bache 3, Arntson 1), Helena 10 (Lieberg 4, Te. Wetzel 4, Spaulding, Danforth). Fouls — Butte 13, Helena 17. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.Dillon 62, Butte Central 45
BUTTE CENTRAL (9-9, 6-5) — Ryan Peoples 4 0-0 12, Joshua Sutton 1 0-0 3, GG Fantini 0 0-0 0, Jaxon Hiatt 0 0-0 0, Owen McPartland 7 7-7 24, Patrick Stimatz 0 0-0 0, Noah Sutton 1 3-3 6, Cade Kelly 0 0-2 0, Justus McGee 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 10-12 45.
DILLON (17-1, 10-0) — Carter Curnow 8 2-2 19, Braxton Turney 5 2-3 12, Kyler Engellant 8 0-0 17, Cohen Hartman 1 0-0 2, Gabe Lemelin 2 0-0 6, Ian Singleton 0 0-0 0, Sam Davis 1 0-0 2, Will Hansen 2 0-0 4, Aason Muday 0 0-0 0, Taylor Handlos 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 4-5 62.
Butte Central 11 8 14 12 — 45
Dillon 21 6 15 20 — 62
3-point goals — BC 9 (Peoples 4, McPartland 3, N. Sutton, J. Sutton), Dillon Dillon 4 (Lemelin 2, Curnow, Engellant). Fouls — BC 14, Dillon 11. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.
GIRLS
Butte High 67, Helena High 43
HELENA HIGH (11-7, 8-5) — Addi Roush 1 0-1 2, Madi Todorovich 4 1-3 10, McKenna Pipinich 2 3-4 8, Cassidy Smith 2 1-4 5, Grace Murgel 1 0-0 3, Morgan Koch 1 2-2 4, Kortney McKay 1 0-0 2, Emma Bermingham 0 0-0 0, Lillia Keller 0 0-0 0, Dakota Lieberg 1 1-2 4, Laruyn Lieberg 2 0-0 5. Totals 25 8-17 43.
BUTTE HIGH (12-6, 8-5) — Dylann Bartoletti 3 2-3 8, Cadence Graham 6 4-7 19, Sidney Whitaker 1 0-0 3, Brityn Stewart 4 4-5 12, Addelei Hiatt 1 1-2 3, Franki Salusso 4 0-0 8, Emma Johnson 3 0-0 8, Allie Becker 2 0-0 6, Gracie Jonart 0 0-0 0, Autumn Clary 0 0-0 0, Saege Grey 0 0-0 0, Ellison Graham 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 11-17 67.
Helena 8 6 17 12 — 43
Butte 19 16 18 14 — 67
3-point goals — Helena 5 (Todorovich, Pipinich, D. Lieberg, L. Lieberg, , Murgel), Butte 8 C. Graham 3, Becker 2, Johnson 2, Whitaker). Fouls — Helena 16, Butte 16. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.Dillon 65, Butte Central 27
BUTTE CENTRAL (5-13, 3-7) — Evyn Smith 0 1-3 1, Kenzie McQueary 1 3-6 5, Zayonna Otherbull 3 4-4 11, Rylee Forbes 0 0-0 0, Natalie Osterman 1 1-3 3, Braelynn Schelin 2 0-0 4, Arika Stajcar 1 0-0 3. Totals 8 9-16 27.
DILLON (17-1, 9-1) — Kinzy Creighton 2 0-0 5, Josie Robbins 3 0-0 8, Kylie Konen 8 0-0 17, Kenleigh Graham 6 3-4 17, Sage Tash 0 0-0 0, Cassie Keller 2 0-0 6, Kena Sampson 1 0-0 2, Landri Hartman 2 0-0 6, Tess Tash 2 0-0 4, Quincy Hansen 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Konen 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 3-4 65.
Butte Central 5 5 8 9 — 27
Dillon 22 19 17 7 — 65
3-point goals — BC 2 (Otherbull, Stajcar), Dillon 10 (Robbins 2, Graham 2, Keller 2, Hartman 2, Creighton, Konen). Fouls — BC 2, Dillon 10. Fouled out — none. Techncials — none. -
Coach Salo was no ordinary coach
When Nick Haynes was down in the dumps, Coach Greg Salo made sure it did not last for long.
A large crowd packed Bulldog Memorial Stadium on Friday, Aug. 26, 2005 to watch Butte High open the football season against defending state champion Great Falls Russell, and Haynes fumbled a punt return as the Bulldogs and Rustlers were tied at 7 in the third quarter.
He actually fumbled twice on the same play, and it almost spelled disaster for the Bulldogs.
Haynes, though, got a reprieve when the Rustlers were whistled for an illegal formation on the play, and CMR had to punt the ball again.
Some coaches would have changed punt returners after seeing the ball hit the ground twice on one play. Some coaches would have lost faith in the player who fumbled.
Coach Salo, though, was not some coaches.
The coach sent Haynes right back out into the burning-hot spotlight, and his budding star delivered in a very big way.
Undoubtedly buoyed by his coach’s confidence and encouragement, Haynes did not fumble the second time. Instead, he did something great. Haynes caught the ball near the same part of the field where he had just dropped it, and he broke free for a 69-yard touchdown that proved to be the difference in a 14-9 Bulldog victory.
The Butte High win broke CMR’s 11-game winning streak, and it made legendary coach Jack Johnson wait a little longer to pick up his 300th win.
After the game, Coach Salo explained why he did not hesitate to stick with Haynes.
“What they don’t know about Haynesey, that we do, is he’s a very tough kid,” the coach said. “He’s competitive. So, I knew he was mad at himself for the time before.”
The coach also knew that he was sending an incredibly talented player back out to field that punt.
“When he gets in the open field, he’s fast,” Coach Salo said. “He was one of our better track kids this year. So, I knew when he broke it out there that they weren’t going to catch him.”
The game-winning score came with 7 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third quarter. It sent the Bulldog players and crowd into delirium.
“I screwed up once and I wanted to make a big play,” Haynes said. “I just went out there and gave it all I could.”
Salo said the win was perhaps the biggest by the Bulldogs since they won the Class AA State title in 1991.
“I was really proud of the way the kids played,” he said. “They carried over some of the momentum that we had last year to this year. They kept their composer really well, and they believed in themselves and the guy next to him.”
Salo knew a thing or two about big Butte High victories, too.
Coach Salo was an All-State player as the Bulldogs won back-to-back state title in 1967 and 1968. He was All-State and All-American in 1969.
As a senior, Coach Salo lettered in football, basketball, track and golf. In the spring of 1970, he took home the school’s Harry “Swede” Dahlberg Outstanding Athlete Award.
Coach Salo accepted a scholarship to play football at UCLA before he eventually transferred to play at the University of Montana. He picked UCLA over about 30 other schools that were wooing the Bulldog standout.
Before coaching the Bulldogs for six seasons from 2002 through 2007, Coach Salo spent a decade with the Montana State Bobcats, where he served as defensive coordinator.
When I heard that Coach Salo, who suffered a stroke late last year, passed away at the age of 72 on Feb. 12, I thought back to that late August night of 2005 at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. It was the only Butte High game I got to cover for The Montana Standard when Coach Salo was in charge, but I had seen enough to know Coach Salo was no ordinary coach.
He was where the old school met the new. He could chew out a player for making a mistake, then he would put his arm around him and build him back up better than ever.
Just ask Nick Haynes, who went on to earn an All-State honorable mention as a junior before being named first-team All-State at safety in 2006.
Coach Salo during his September appearance on the ButteCast. He was one of a handful of players who went on to play college football from Salo’s 2005 Butte High team, and that was no accident. Haynes played for the University of Montana, and Casey Dennehy went to Montana State. A.J. Konen and Matt Doble became Montana Tech Orediggers.
I’m sure I’m missing some college players from that team, too. Ryan Pollock probably could have played college football, but he played college baseball instead.
The boys who did not go onto the next level left the Bulldog program as better men.
Coach Salo also coached a future NFL player. Colt Anderson, now a member of the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff, was a member of Butte High’s 0-9 team in 2003, and you better believe that Anderson credits Coach Salo for helping him along his journey.
While that winless season was the first for Butte High since the Bulldogs went 0-0-1 in 1902, Coach Salo’s true character shined through all the way. The Bulldogs had several close calls that year, and a team from Canada decided to cancel a game that Butte High surely would have won.
Throughout the season, Coach Salo remained remarkably optimistic. Week after week, he stood up and faced the media. He praised his players for every small step, and he shouldered the blame for each agonizing loss.
While the team did not win, the coach still built character in his players. He also showed us the kind of character he possessed himself.
The next year, Coach Salo’s steady hand paid off when the Bulldogs made their first playoff appearance in 13 years. His Bulldogs were back in the dance in 2006 and 2007, as well.
In 2007, the Bulldogs went 7-2 in the regular season to earn the No. 4 seed and a home playoff game. Butte High fell 28-14 to sophomore star quarterback Brock Osweiller and Kalispell Flathead in that playoff game at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.
Osweiller, of course, went on to play seven seasons in the NFL for the Broncos, Texans and Dolphins.
After that loss, in typical Coach Salo fashion, the coach praised his players.
“I’m proud of the kids,” he said. “They stuck together all year, through all the adversity.”
A little more than a year later, Coach Salo was dismissed as coach of the Bulldogs. Even though the dismissal was unceremonious and not completely fair, Coach Salo took the high road.
“Thank you to the Butte School District for the opportunity to coach the Bulldogs for the last six years,” he said after the board voted to not renew his contract. “I enjoyed every minute of it.”
It was easy to see that Coach Salo did love his job. The man was born coach. He was born to lead.
While that decision stung Coach Salo for the rest of his life, he never showed that he was bitter. Rather, he was still always a No. 1 cheerleader for all athletes from Butte.
He was the No. 1 cheerleader for people in general. Whether he was watching a football game somewhere, playing golf, dealing with a troubled kid as the counselor at Whitter Elementary, appearing on my podcast or paying his water bill, Coach Salo treated every single person he encountered like gold.
He made people feel as though he was the lucky one to encounter them that day, even though it was undoubtedly the other way around.
If you were down in the dumps, he could always make sure it didn’t last long. Even off the field, he had a way of lifting people up.
When Coach Salo was around, we all certainly enjoyed every minute of it.
— Bill Foley, who certainly enjoyed every minute he was lucky enough to spend with Coach Salo, 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.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 
