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Even from up high, Skyla was the best
We were relegated to the Bob Uecker seats when No. 1-ranked Tennessee came to town to play the University of Montana in a women’s basketball game on Dec. 19, 1994.
Part of that was that we made a rookie mistake and did not get to the game 2 hours before tipoff like the students who did get to sit in the student section. Part of it was the fact that our school cut the number of student seats in more than half so they could sell them to the public with the best team in the nation coming to town.
That was the night I first took notice of No. 12 on the Lady Griz. Even from those seats way up high, I knew I was watching greatness.
She was a spunky, little redshirt-freshman guard from Malta named Skyla Sisco. In high school, I did not pay a whole lot of attention to girls’ high school basketball, so I did not know her name before that season.
I did not know Skyla came from the basketball factory that was Malta High School, winner of six Class B State titles from 1991 through 2000. I did not know the 5-foot-7 Skyla was a sophomore on the team that won the first those titles in 1991.
I did not even know where Malta was. I just knew that I liked Skyla’s style from the second she first stepped on the court. Even though she came off the bench because she had been nursing an ankle injury, Skyla was, in my mind, the best point guard on the court that night.
That is a claim I would make for every game I watched her player over the next four years.
She scored 11 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out four assists. She also turned the ball over six times, thanks to her bravado that made her think she could do anything with a basketball.
Skyla played against coach Pat Summitt’s Volunteers the same way should would have played in a pickup game in her driveway. The fans knew Tennessee was a powerhouse, but Skyla apparently did not know, or she did not care.
If she was intimidated by the great coach and the team that was in the middle of a run of six national championships in 11 years, she certainly did not show it in the slightest.
The Volunteers escaped Missoula with a 66-61 win that night, but you better believe they knew they were in a fight. You better believe Summitt knew the name of No. 12 for the Lady Griz.
I was hardly the only fan impressed by Skyla’s play that night. A large group of students lucky enough to sit in the abbreviated student section kept giving Skyla the Waynes World “we’re not worthy” as they bowed up and down whenever she scored a basket, set up a teammate to score a basket, grabbed a rebound or stole the ball.
In just her fourth or fifth home game as a member of the Lady Griz, Skyla already had a fan club.
That club had to be worn out by the end of the game because Skyla gave us all a whole bunch of “wow” moments that night. She gave us thousands of those in her four-year career with the Lady Griz.
There was just something about Skyla that made her easy to root for. It wasn’t just that Skyla was really good at basketball. Coach Robin Selvig’s Lady Griz roster was full of really good basketball players.
It was the way she was good at basketball that drew so much attention to that feisty blonde. Skyla was fearless and electrifying with or without the basketball. She was the very definition of spunk.
When she had the ball, watch out. Something good was about to happen. When she was guarding the player with the ball, watch out. That ball was about to be a part of a Lady Griz fastbreak.
It did not matter if the Lady Griz were playing the No. 1 ranked Volunteers from the Southeastern Conference or the last place team from the Big Sky Conference, Skyla played the same way every game.
She wanted to win every game, and she nearly did. During her four years with the team, the Lady Griz went 99-22 overall and 56-4 in the Big Sky Conference play.
In her years with the Lady Griz, Montana won four Big Sky titles and qualified for four NCAA Tournaments. They advanced to the second round with an upset win over No. 5 San Diego in 1995.
Skyla was voted MVP of the Big Sky in 1998, and she was an honorable mention All-American selection. She was one of just a handful of players to ever be selected All-Big Sky four times. She scored 1,248 career points, and she tied for second in Lady Griz history with 587 assists. She ranked fourth with 235 steals.
Skyla went to training camp with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA before playing professionally overseas.
Two years after the Volunteers came to town, I started covering the Lady Griz for The Montana Kaimin, the University of Montana school newspaper. It did not take me long to realize that as fun as Skyla was to watch, she was twice as fun to interview.
Skyla oozed confidence, but she was classy. She tried really hard to not come across as being cocky. Of course, that only made her sound cocky. Then she would try to correct herself, and sometimes that made her sound even more cocky.
As a young, ambitious reporter, I went to the Lady Griz practice at least a couple of times each week. I would talk with Selvig and his players so I could have information for preview stories, notebooks and features.
One time, I was working on a preview story about a game against St. Mary’s, which beat the Lady Griz 57-50 the year before. Selvig scoffed when I asked about the “revenge factor” heading into the game. He assured me that his team was not thinking about the previous year’s game at all. In fact, he said most probably do not even remember that game.
A minute or two later, Skyla came walking over.
“Hey Skyla,” I said. “Big game coming up.”
Within earshot of her head coach, Skyla said, “Yeah. There’s a little revenge in the air.”
Of course, that was the quote that I led the story with, much to the chagrin of Selvig.
That was the difference between “coach speak” and “real speak.” Skyla was nothing if not real. She was the genuine article at all times. She could not be phony even if she wanted to. She was as awesome off the court, as she was on it.
On Nov. 13, Skyla passed away following a six-year battle with breast cancer. She was only 50.
Of course, the memory of the great Skyla Sisco will live on forever in the hearts of those lucky enough to know her or watch her play. She will be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever wear a Lady Griz uniform.
She will be remembered for her incredible desire to win. She will be remembered by her friends as an amazingly kind person, and she will be remembered by media members for the honesty in her quotes.
Skyla will be remembered by the UM students for making them feel as if they were unworthy to watch her electrifying play.
She will be remembered for making even those sitting in the Uecker section feel like they had the best seats in the house.
— Bill Foley 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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BC’s Ryan Peoples named All-State
Eight Maroons take home postseason honors
Butte Central’s first trip to the Class A football playoffs since 2019 resulted in eight Maroons receiving postseason honors.
The Southwestern A All-State and all-conference selections were released to the media today, and senior quarterback Ryan Peoples led the strong BC showing on the list.
Peoples earn All-State honors at quarterback for the Maroons. That comes shortly after the signal caller committed to continue his football career at Montana Tech.
Peoples, who also received a first-team all-conference nod, passed for 1,705 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He also ran for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The rest of the BC selections earned second-team all-conference accolades or an all-conference honorable mention. Those selections went to seniors Jack Nagle and Tony Stajcar and juniors Jack Nylund, GG Fantini, Joshua Sutton, Danny McCarthy and Bobby McCarthy.
Sutton was the only BC player to receive honors on both sides of the ball. He took home second-team honors as a receiver and as a defensive back.
The McCarthys both received second-team mention at defensive line, Fantini made second team as receiver, and Stajcar took home a second-team nod at linebacker.
Nagle, a receiver, and Nylund, an offensive lineman, both received an honorable mention.
Henry Griffiin of state champion Frenchtown was named Defensive MVP. Hamilton’s Jude Wilmer took home Offensive MVP honors.
Click the link below to see all the Southwestern A All-State and all-conference selections.
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Podcast No. 305: Jon Wick returns
Jon Wick was the star of episode No. 81 of the ButteCast.
In that episode, we discussed Jon’s Wisconsin roots and how he is even more badass than the John Wick played by Keanu Reeves in the movies. Our Jon Wick does not need an H to spell his first name.
Today, we talk about Jon the small-business owner. Along with his wife, Cassie, Jon owns and operates 5518 Designs on Main Street. A few years ago, they also opened Dig City Supply around the corner on Park Street.
Last month, the Wick’s celebrated their ninth anniversary in the 5518 Designs building that sits right above the new M&M. Now, they are beginning a yearlong celebration for their 10th anniversary. They are not just going to celebrate their birthday; they are going to have a party that lasts all year long.
The first way to celebrate is by offering a subscription box to customers. Subscribers will receive a surprise delivery every month at a killer discount. That will include some vintage 5518 Designs items, too. You can learn more about that at shop5518.com.
Jon and Cassie also have some other events planned, like special sales, anniversary items and a block party at some point next summer.
Listen in to this episode as Jon talks about the yearlong celebration of 5518 Designs 10th year in business.
Listen in to hear some of the hurdles for small business owners face every day and how 10 years is a milestone that most businesses never see. Listen in as he talks about his employees and how they are constantly working to keep the stores fresh.
Today’s episode is presented by Thriftway Super Stops. Download the TLC app and start saving today. This episode is also available on YouTube:
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Five Bulldogs flag football players take home All-Conference honors
Five members of the Butte High flag football team earned Eastern AA All-Conference honors, Butte High coach John Stenson announced Monday.
Stenson said this is the first time a postseason team has been selected for Montana high school flag football.
Junior Mackenzie Read led the way for the Bulldogs, taking home a first-team nod at cornerback. That came after a season in which she picked off five passes.
Read also received an honorable mention at running back.
Junior linebacker Brooke Johnson and sophomore receiver Charliee Richter each took home second-team honors, while freshman receiver Kaydee O’Connor and sophomore linebacker Chyanne Robinson received an honorable mention.
The Eastern AA is the only conference that picked All-Conference selections. The league is made up of Butte High and the three Class AA Billings schools. Stenson said he does not believe an All-State team will be picked.
The players are shown in the above photo collection, from left, Read, Johnson, Richter, O’Connor and Robinson. The photo of Richter was provided by Stenson. The rest were taken by Alycia Holland Photography.
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Lil Ballers, Bellmont Ballers capture Rock League titles
There must be something to the name.
The Lil Ballers and the Bellmont Ballers captured division titles Sunday as the 10th season of the Rock 3 on 3 Youth Basketball League ended at the Maroon Activities Center. Each team won Sunday’s season-ending tournament after going 8-0 in regular-season play.
In the tournament for boys in the third and fourth grade, the Lil Ballers beat Powers Four 202 and Mining City Heat 2-5 before knocking off the Berkeley Lakers 17-7 in the championship game. Members of the Lil Ballers are Kasen Carpino, Jaxon Bair, Chase Chambers and Logan Regan.
Wes Connors, Johnny Gustavsen, Cal McIntyre and Hugh Bradshaw play for the runner-up Berkeley Lakers.
In the tournament for boys in the fifth and sixth grade, the Belmont Ballers topped Powers Two 20-11 and the Rock Chuckers 20-13 before topping the Pit Crew 20-15 in the championship game. Tucker McIntyre, Brody Evenson, Conner Gallagher and Hunter Liston play for the Belmont Ballers.
Cashton Schneider, Hunter Boyle, Blake Vaira and Lucas Godbout make up the second-place Pit Crew.
Click the link below to see final standings, rosters and all tournament scores.
The Lil Ballers are, from left, Logan Regan, Kasen Carpino, Jaxon Bair, Case Chambers. Coach Zack Bair stands behind the players. 
The Belmont Ballers are, from left, Connor Gallagher, Brody Evenson, Tucker McIntyre, Hunter Liston. -
Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Butte Ratz Special Olympics team
Members of the Butte Ratz Special Olympics basketball team are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come after the Ratz captured the championship at the Special Olympics State Basketball tournament, which was held Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 in Helena.
The Ratz beat a team from Kalispell in the championship game, avenging their only loss of the tournament.
Players on the team are Joe Gibson (No. 23), Jeff Williamson (No. 30), Mark Taylor (No. 35), Thad Powell (No. 10), Nikki Cherne (No 55), Jay “Hollywood” Foley (No. 32) and Amber Baca (No. 3). The team is coached by Eddi Walker and Ed Foley.
During the tournament, the team not only had a ton of fun while winning the state championship. They also represented the Mining City with class and dignity like they always do. They epitomized everything that is great about the Special Olympics.
The Ratz are already looking forward to defending their title next November when the tournament returns to Butte.
For the third 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.
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Silver B’s to host 2025 Bulldogs
The Butte High Silver B’s, an organization of former Bulldog football players who earned their varsity letter while playing for Butte High School 25 years ago or more, will honor this year’s Butte High School football team on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the Butte Country Club.
Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the dinner will start at 6. This is a members-only event, and no alcohol will be allowed.
The Silver B’s were organized and established in 1940 and this will be the 86th consecutive year that the group has hosted the Bulldog lettermen at the conclusion of their season. All 2025 varsity football lettermen, head coach Arie Grey, all assistant coaches, managers and trainers will be the honored guests at this event.
The Butte High Silver B’s are very proud of this tradition and urge all members to attend so they can properly honor this year’s Bulldog squad. The cost of the dinner is $25 and they also ask each member to sponsor a player’s meal.
There will be a table set up at the main entrance for all members and our guests to check in. Please contact Butte High Silver B Historian Scott Paffhausen at (406) 490-9956, or hist@buttehighsilverbs.com with any questions.
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Podcast No. 304: Mark Samson and Mick Delaney
Montana Tech’s football team completed its first perfect regular season Saturday with a 41-0 win over Valley City State on the Bob Green Field.
Coach Kyle Samson’s 11-0 Orediggers are the No. 3 seed in the NAIA Football Championship Series, which is a fancy way of saying “playoffs.” Tech earned a first-round bye for the playoffs, which start this weekend.
Samson was hired as the head coach of the Orediggers in January of 2020, and he quickly won over the school and the community with his motos of “Family” and “County on Me.” The success of these Orediggers, though, just might go back farther than that. A lot farther.
Samson grew up in Helena, where he won the Gatorade Award while leading Helena Capital to greatness on the gridiron. But his coaching roots are buried deep in the Mining City. According to retired football coach Mick Delaney, Samsons’ roots go back to Butte Central and coach Jim Sweeney in the 1950s.
Sweeney coached the late Bob “Putter” Petrino, the former Butte Central coach who went onto a legendary career at Carroll College. Samson is the grandson of Petrino. Petrino coached Delaney, whose long coaching career ended with a successful stint as head coach at the University of Montana.
I like to call Coach Delaney the “Man who Saved Grizzly Football.”
Samson’s father, Mark, worked as an assistant under Petrino, his father-in-law, at Carroll before going onto a great run at Helena Capital. Then, Mark Samson took over the program at MSU-Northern and transformed the Lights from a basement dweller into a perennial playoff team.
Of course, the names in this great chain of coaches goes well beyond Sweeney, Delaney, Petrino and Samson. It also includes the likes of Sonny Lubick, Sam Jankovich, Gene Fogarty and so many more. Yes, it seems the coaching world revolves around the Mining City.
Listen in to this episode as Mark Samson and Mick Delaney connect the dots from Sweeney and his incredible run at Fresno State and the 2025 Orediggers.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the non-commission sales staff that always has your back. Watch it on YouTube:
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Podcast No. 303: Mary McCormick
If you take a walk or drive around Uptown Butte, either through the neighborhoods or business district, you will notice so much great architecture and history.
One of the reasons we still have so much of that to feast our eyes is thanks to the work of Mary McCormick.
Mary moved here from Nebraska in 1985, and immediately fell in love with Butte, its history and architecture. In 2015, Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Matt Vincent appointed Mary as the county’s historic preservation officers, and she worked in that capacity until her retirement in 2021.
The historic preservation officer oversees the coordinating of programs to identify, evaluate, promote and protect historic resources here and ensure compliance with local, state and federal historic preservation laws and ordinances.
Mary worked to help preserve history long before that appointment, and she continues to do it today.
One of the projects she is most proud of is the Jacobs House across the street from the courthouse. The house was built in 1878, and it was one of the first brick houses in the city. It was home to Henry Jacobs, Butte’s first mayor.
For years it looked like an old, run-down, abandoned house. That is because it was. Today, thanks to work led by Mary, it is a monument to part of Butte’s great history.
Her work has included many great wins and many heartbreaking losses due to demolition and fires. But her worked to preserve history and educate about the importance of that history has helped make it so today history preservation is seen as an important first step in any project in Butte.
Listen in to this fun conversation as Mary talks about moving to Butte how quickly it grew on her. Listen as she talks about her love of history preservation and the many projects she has worked on.
Listen to hear about some of those wins and losses and how she is still very much involved in history preservation.
Today’s episode is brought to you by the Jewelry Design Center. Let Brian Toone and Co. be your jewelers for life. Watch today’s episode on YouTube:
Click here to view the Story of Butte website, which was mentioned in the podcast.
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Let’s end the 90-day transfer rule
John Crossman just rolled with the punches like a champ, but I am still peeved.
Crossman graduated from Butte Central in 2021, and my blood pressure goes up every time I hear his name. I will always get mad when I think about the years of high school sports that were stolen from him.
He lost his entire sophomore year at Butte High school because of a knee injury. Then he was robbed of his junior football season at Butte Central because of Montana’s silly 90-day transfer rule.
While his new teammates had a great season and made a playoff run in 2019, John could only watch. He was only allowed to play in subvarsity games, and the Maroons did not have enough players for a full subvarsity schedule.
At 5-foot-11, 235 pounds, he would have been a great addition in the trenches for the Maroons. He would have helped a team that overcame an 0-3 start to win five of six games down the stretch.
Instead, John was basically a practice player on an unofficial redshirt year for the Maroons after his parents decided they wanted all the children of their new blended family to attend the same Catholic school.
When John was finally going to get his time to shine on the gridiron for BC, he was smacked in the face by a pandemic. Game after game was canceled in what turned out to be a lost season for the Maroons.
Whenever BC was geared up to play, the best friend of a player’s great-aunt would show signs of a sniffle, and the game would get canceled in the over-thinking days of COVID.
The case of John Crossman highlights how unfair that 90-day transfer rule can be. It does not take a global pandemic to rob a student-athlete of an opportunity to play. It could be a twisted knee, a broken bone or a burst appendix.
We see players suffer season-ending injuries all the time. That is why we should never punish a player for transferring schools within district.
In a cruel twist, John probably sat in the crowd at Naranche Stadium in November of 2019 — the year he was not allowed to play varsity — as Bozeman running back Asher Croy ran all over Butte High state championship hopes.
Croy, remember, transferred to Bozeman from Huntley Project in the days just before football practice began, and he won a title with the Hawks. And good for him. Any player should be allowed to better himself of herself.
In 2020, Missoula Sentinel won a state championship with a quarterback who transferred in from Washington State just to play football for the Spartans. Like Croy, Camden Sirmon did not have to sit out a single varsity snap.
Like with Croy, Sirmon should have been allowed to play — even if they both obviously transferred to play football. In Sirmon’s case, his high school in Washington was not playing football at all that season.
Players can transfer from Huntly Project to Bozeman High School and play right away. Players can transfer in from out of state and play right away.
Yet players like John are still punished for transferring schools within districts — even when the move was not made for sports reasons. This is just not right.
The move is usually either made because the student wants to try the private school or because he or she is tired of private school.
I was reminded about John’s case when Kherington Adams won the 2.5-mile race at the Veterans Day Race for the third straight year last week. Her latest victory came just weeks after she was not allowed to run at the MHSA State Cross Country Meet in Missoula because of the 90-day transfer rule.
Kherington was attending Butte Central, but she transferred to become a home school student this school year. That means she runs for the Butte High Bulldogs instead of the Maroons. Many home school students compete in sports for public schools.
Like John, Kherington just rolled with the punches. A sophomore this past season, she ran junior varsity races this fall for the Bulldogs. She would have been the No. 4 runner on the varsity team, but the cross country season falls within the 90-day window of the transfer rule.
That is 90 school days, too, so it takes athletes into January before they are eligible to play varsity sports.
The timeline also highlights another problem with the 90-day rule. It punishes athletes who participate in fall sports. If they transfer schools for baseball, softball or track, they have no problem. If they transfer for basketball, they are only forced to sit out the early-season games.
While some players have transferred in the middle of a school year and had to miss a varsity basketball season, the vast majority of those punished by the 90-day rule play fall sports. By far the most time lost — time that could be spent earning a college scholarship — is taken from players of football, golf, volleyball, cross country and soccer.
So, yes, the use of the word “punish” is not too strong in this case. They are unnecessarily punishing students even after college sports came around on transfers.
Today, a quarterback can transfer from Alabama to Notre Dame between seasons and not have to sit out any time. Yet high school student-athletes in Montana have to sit out for the horrible crime of changing their minds or trying to better themselves.
The rule was put into place years ago to try to stop athletes from changing teams, as if that is such a great crime. The irony is student-athletes who want to transfer because of sports are easily allowed do to it, as we saw in the case of Croy and Sirmon. They just go play for a team outside of their current district.
It seems like it is only the student-athletes who really do transfer for non-sports reasons who are the ones who are punished by the 90-day rule. We saw it with John several years ago, and we are seeing it with Kherington today.
Kherington did not decide to go the home school rout because of cross country. She did it because she and her parents thought it was best for her education. But she likes to run, and she should have been allowed to run at the highest level she can.
Study after study shows that students who are participating in such activities have better grades. Their work ethic is better than the average student who does not participate in extracurricular activities.
While Montana’s 90-day rule might not discourage students from becoming student-athletes, it certainly does not help encourage participation. We should be in the business of encouraging participation.
The athletic careers of high school students are way too short as it is, and every season or career is one play from being over. So, it is time to stop this silly rule that takes away this season with the promise of being able to play next season.
If I have learned anything in my decades writing about and watching sports, it is that next season is promised to no one.
The schools could fix this rule right now. Superintendents, principals, activities directors, teachers and coaches should demand it. If not, then parents of transferring students should start filing lawsuits.
If the schools do not want to do the right thing, then the courts should force them to.
Then student-athletes like John and Kherington would never be forced to roll with those unnecessary punches.
— Bill Foley, who never rolls with a punch, 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.
