-
Bulldog girls punch State ticket
Cadence Graham called it a win that was on the minds of the Bulldogs for years.
The Butte High sophomore definitely played that way Friday night at a jam-packed Richardson Gym, too.
Graham hit a 3-pointer a minute into the game to put the Bulldogs up for good, and Butte High never trailed in a 62-55 Western AA playoff win over Helena Capital.
The win sends the Bulldogs to the Class AA State tournament, which begins Thursday in Bozeman.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Graham said after pouring in a game-high 20 points. “We have been chasing this goal for two years now. Finally, it’s a dream come true that it happened and we’re going there.”
The 5-foot-6 guard dished out five assists, collected three steals and pulled down three rebounds as Butte (14-6) beat the Bruins for the third time this season. But she was hardly the only Bulldog with a bigtime performance when it mattered most.
Senior Dylann Bartoletti contributed in a big way, scoring 12 points. She hit 5 of 6 free throws in the second half.
Sophomore Allie Becker came off the bench to score nine points, while eighth grader Ellison Graham hit two threes and scored eight off the bench.
“We had some girls who really stepped up today, and that was good,” Cadence Graham said. “I knew we were capable of it. I was a little nervous, but we’re kind of that team that can handle that pressure.”
Butte High led 18-98 after the first quarter, and the Bulldogs led 35-20 after closing out the first half with an 11-5 run.
Capital, though, did not go down without a fight. Junior Ali Miller scored 12 of her team-leading 14 points in the second half to lead the Bruin Charge. Sophomore Madi Emmert scored nine of her 13 after the break.
Junior Eva Dahlquist scored all of her 11 points in the second half.
Capital (8-12) trailed 49-36 after three, and the Bruins pulled to within 54-52 with a 16-5 run to open the final frame.
Bartoletti, though, stopped the bleeding with 2 minutes, 22 seconds left, scoring off a Cadence Graham assist. She scored off another assist from Graham with 1 minute left to extend the lead to 58-52.
After Graham hit one of two free throws, Emmert turned a three-point play to pull within 59-55 with 19 seconds left.
Butte High, though, iced the win when junior Franki Salusso hit one of two free tosses before Bartoletti stepped up and hit two.
“Even though they were down, they came back and hit shots,” Cadence Graham said, praising the effort of the Bruins. “They were never out of it.”
Senior Brityn Stewart, the leader of the team, added six points, while Salusso scored five and junior Emma Johnson knocked in two.
Senior Sidney Whitaker started and contributed in the win. Sophomore Autumn Clary also contributed off the bench.
Kate Drynan scored six points for Capital, which got four from Cailin Mohar, three from Jaiden Grooms, and two apiece from Kadee Cummings and Taylor Zanto.
Cadence Graham said the Bulldogs also got an assist from the crowd, which was standing-room only in a gym that was built to seat about 2,000.
“The student section is just crazy,” Graham said. “It feels like all the town is here.”
The Bulldogs will open the tournament at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Gallatin, the No. 2 seed for the Eastern AA.
HELENA CAPITAL (8-12) — Eva Dahlquist 4 0-0 11, Ali Miller 5 2-6 14, Madi Emmert 5 3-4 13, Kate Drynan 3 0-3 6, Taylor Zanto 1 0-0 2, Chloe LaFromboise 0 0-0 0, Kadee Cummings 1 0-0 2, Jaiden Grooms 1 1-2 3, Cailin Mohar 2 0-0 4, Greta Hageman 0 0-0 0, Jaci Lyman 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-15 55.
BUTTE HIGH (14-6) — Dylann Bartoletti 3 6-8 12, Cadence Graham 6 7-9 20, Sidney Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Brityn Stewart 2 0-0 6, Franki Salusso 2 1-1 5, Allie Becker 3 3-8 9, Emma Johnson 0 2-2 2, Ellison Graham 3 0-0 8, Autumn Clary 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 19-29 62.
Capital 8 12 16 19 — 55
Butte 18 17 14 13 — 62
3-point goals — Capital 5 (Dahlquist 3, Miller 2), Butte 5 (Stewart 2, E. Graham 2, C. Graham). Fouls — Capital 24, Butte 16. Fouled out — Drynan. Technical — Butte. -
McPartland scores 42 points, but Vikings end Maroons’ season
WHITEFISH — Sometimes a heroic effort is just not enough.
Heroic, or maybe legendary, is the only way you can describe the performance by Butte Central senior Owen McPartland Friday afternoon at the Western A Divisional tournament.
McPartland scored 22 of his game-high 42 points in the fourth quarter, but the Maroons fell short in a 73-71 loss to Bigfork in a loser-out game at Whitefish High School.
The loss means BC’s 10-year streak of qualifying for the Class A State tournament has come to an end. The last time the Central boys didn’t play in the last weekend of the season was in 2014.
This year marks just the third time in 21 seasons under head coach Brodie Kelly that the Maroons will not be playing at State.
Central closes the 2024-25 campaign at 9-11. The Vikings (9-13), who are coached by Butte Central graduate John Mike Hollow, will continue their postseason run with another loser-out game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Bigfork will play the loser of tonight’s semifinal between Frenchtown and Browning.
The Maroons season did not end without a fight. BC trailed by double figures much of the game, but the determined BC boys nearly pulled a rabbit out of their hat.
McPartland led the fight as he tied Mike McLeod for No. 2 on BC’s single-game scoring list. Dougie Peoples broke McLeod’s record, which was set in 1981, with a 44-point performance in 2023. Tom Kenney scored 41 points in BC’s 99-97 double-overtime loss to Livingston in the 1985 Class A State championship game.
McPartland, who sank seven 3-pointer sand shot 7 for 7 from the free throw line, drilled a half-court shot at the buzzer. That came after the Bulldogs extended the lead to 73-68 from the free throw line.
Free throws and rebounding were the key to the game for the Vikings. As a team, Bigfork sank 14 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter. The Maroons were forced to foul, and the Vikings hit just enough free throws to fend them off.
Austin Savik scored 12 of his team-leading 21 points in the fourth quarter for Bigfork. Alex Ochs added 15 points, while Tamret Savik scored 14.
Sophomore Joshua Sutton added 14 points for the Maroons. Classmate GG Fantini tossed in nine points, while freshman Jaxon Hiatt and senior Patrick Stimatz each sank a 3-pointer.
Junior Ryan Peoples, senior Justus McGee, sophomore Cade “Buzz” Kelly and eighth grader Noah Sutton also contributed for the Maroons, whose travel team also included junior Xander Strand, sophomores Burkley Lakkala and Grady Button, and eighth grader Henly Mansanti.
BIGFORK (9-13) — Quinn Herring 0 0-0 0, Trecker Hickey 6 5-6 19, Austin Savik 5 10-13 21, Alex Ochs 5 2-3 15, Jake Lucke 1 2-4 4, Tamret Savik 5 4-5 14, Grady Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 23-31 73.
BUTTE CENTRAL (9-11) — Ryan Peoples 0 0-0 0, Joshua Sutton 5 2-2 14, GG Fantini 4 1-1 9, Jaxon Hiatt 1 0-0 3, Owen McPartland 14 7-7 42, Patrick Stimatz 1 0-0 3, Cade Kelly 0 0-2 0, Noah Sutton 0 0-0 0, Justus McGee 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 10-12 71.
Bigfork 16 15 13 29 — 73
Central 12 8 20 31 — 71
3-point goals — Bigfork 6 (Ochs 3, Hickey 2, A. Savik), BC 11 (McPartland 7, J. Sutton 2, Hiatt, Stimatz). Fouls — Bigfork 17, BC 26. Fouled out — T. Savik, Peoples, Stimatz, Hiatt. Technicals — none.
-
Second half surge lifts Maidens past Central girls in loser-out game
WHITEFISH — For 16 minutes, the Butte Central girls had the look of a basketball team about to extend its season this morning at the Western A Divisional tournament.
In the second half, though, the Ronan Maidens and something else to say about that.
Ronan turned up the heat after the break, and the Maidens turned a 15-14 lead into a 56-30 victory in a loser-out game at Whitefish High School. The loss ends the season at 7-15 for the young Maroons.
Ronan (12-8) moves onto another loser-out game on Saturday. The Maidens will play the loser of tonight’s semifinal game between Columbia Falls and Frenchtown with a trip to next week’s Class A State tournament in Billings on the line.
Nine different Maidens scored in the balanced Ronan attack. Junior Nevaeh Perez tossed in 11 points to lead the way. Sophomores Kailyn Marengo and Zailee Hewankorn each scored eight, senior Ally Luedtke scored seven, and senior Kaylee Kelch netted six
Marengo, Luedtke and Kelch did all their scoring in the second half.
Three freshmen did all the scoring for the Maroons. Kenzie McQueary tossed in 14 points to lead the way. Zayonna Otherbull scored 11, and Evyn Smith tallied five.
Junior Arika Smith, sophomores Rylee Forbes, Marly Mansanti and Meika Boyer and freshmen Braelynn Schelin and Jaedyn Maldonado also contributed for the Maroons.
Junior Caden Tippett and freshmen Natalie Osterman and Cambri Campbell also made the trip for the Maroons. Campbell was the alternate.
The Maroons won a pair of play-in games to advance to the Divisional tournament under third-year head coach Quinn Carter.
BUTTE CENTRAL (7-15) — Evyn Smith 2 0-0 5, Kenzie McQueary 3 8-11 14, Zayonna Otherbull 4 1-4 11, Rylee Forbes 0 0-0 0, Arika Stajcar 0 0-0 0, Marly Mansanti 0 0-0 0, Braelynn Schelin 0 0-0 0, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 0-0 0, Meika Boyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 9-15 30.
RONAN (12-8) — Kailyn Marengo 3 0-0 8, Lauryn Buhr 0 3-4 3, Ally Luedtke 3 1-2 7, Arianna Zepeda 2 0-0 4, Kylee Kelch 3 0-0 6, Neveah Perez 5 1-2 11, Maddy Ellig 2 0-0 6, Bailee Woll 0 0-0 0, Natalie Adams 0 3-4 3, Zailee Hewankorn 3 1-2 8. Totals 21 9-14 56.
Central 5 9 5 11 — 30
Ronan 6 9 20 21 — 56
3-point goals — BC 3 (Otherbull 2, Smith), Ronan 5 (Marengo 2, Ellig 2, Hewankorn). Fouls — BC 11, Ronan 12. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.
-
Podcast No. 249: Mickey Boysza
Mickey Boysza is always on the move. She is one of those people who seem to find a way to live more than 24 hours each day.
She is currently devoting her time to putting on the Shillelagh Shindig, which is March 16 at The Depot (818 S. Arizona).
The Shindig is a fundraiser for the Butte-Silver Bow Democratic Central Committee, which does so much more than promote political candidates.
The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m., and it will include a silent auction, Montana trivia, hors d’oeuvres, a no-host bar and a whole lot of smiles. Mickey and her crew have been running around town picking up donated prizes. Those donations include a television from Steele’s.
Of course, this is nothing new to Mickey, who has been running around since she was a young girl going to elementary school at St. John’s.
When she wasn’t busy working and raising her children and foster children, Mickey worked as a lobbyist for unions in Butte. The daughter of a lineman for the Montana Power Co., unions became a part of Mickey’s life at a very young age.
Listen in to this podcast as Mickey talks about her upbringing and the time a legislator learned the hard way that you do not give the Heisman to Mickey Boysza. Listen in as she talks about all the projects she has going on.
Listen as she talks about why you should attend the Shillelagh Shindig.
Today’s podcast is brought to you by Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty.
-
Maroons fall to Wildcats
WHITEFISH — Butte Central’s boys are going to have to do it the hard way.
The Maroons dug themselves a hole and couldn’t quite climb out of it Thursday night, falling 64-51 to the Columbia Falls Wildcats in the first round of the Western A Divisional tournament.
Central (9-10) will play a loser-out game at 1:30 p.m. Friday against Bigfork (8-13), which fell 61-38 to Dillon. The Beavers (18-1) will play Columbia Falls (16-3) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Frenchtown (15-4) and Browning (14-5) will meet in the 6:30 semifinal.
Sophomore Jory Hill scored 17 points to lead three Wildcats in double figures in the victory. Senior Reggie Sapa added 14, while junior Bjorn Pedersen tossed in 11.
Sophomore Joshua Sutton’s 20 points paced the Maroons. He scored 16 of those points in the second half.
Freshman Jaxon Hiatt scored 13 points for BC, while Senior Owen McPartland tossed in 12. Junior Ryan Peoples added four points, and sophomore GG Fantini netted two.
Senior Patrick Stimatz, sophomore Cade “Buzz” Kelly and eighth graders Noah Sutton and Henly Mansanti also contributed for the Maroons, who are still just two wins away from qualifying for the Class A State tournament, which is next week in Billings.
The top four teams from the divisional tournament advance.
BUTTE CENTRAL (9-10) — Ryan Peoples 0 4-4 4, Joshua Sutton 8 3-4 20, GG Fantini 1 0-0 2, Jaxon Hiatt 4 2-2 13, Owen McPartland 4 3-5 12, Noah Sutton 0 0-0 0, Patrick Stimatz 0 0-0 0, Cade Kelly 0 0-0 0, Henly Mansanti 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 12-15 51.
COLUMBIA FALLS (16-3) — Easton Brooks 2 0-1 4, Jory Hill 6 3-3 17, Bjorn Petersen 4 2-3 11, Reggie Sapa 6 1-2 14, Nico Young 3 0-2 6, Cooper Ross 1 1-3 3, Grady Hutton 3 2-2 9, Silas Ypma 0 0-0 0, Stanley Stemick 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 9-15 64.
Central 6 15 15 15 — 51
CFalls 19 12 13 20 — 64
3-point goals — BC 5 (Hiatt 3, J. Sutton, McPartland), CF 5 (Hill 2, Petersen, Sapa, Hutton). Fouls — BC 14, CF 15. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.
-
Valkyries run past BC girls
WHITEFISH — Braeden and Paeten Gunluck combined for 28 points Thursday, and the Bigfork Valkyries knocked off Butte Central 51-24 in the first round of the Western A Divisional tournament.
The win was the 16th straight for the 17-2 Valkyries, the regular-season champions of the Northwestern A.
Butte Central’s quest for a berth in the next week’s Class A State tournament is still alive, however. The Maroons (7-14) will play Ronan (11-8) in a 9 a.m. loser-out game. Ronan fell 59-29 to the 18-1 Dillon Beavers in the first game of the tournament.
The top four teams advance to the Class A State tournament, which is next week in Billings.
Braeden Gunlock, a 6-foot senior, scored 14 points to match her sister Paeten, a 5-9 junior. Senior Keni Wade added 12 points for the Valkyries, who sank seven 3-pointers in the win.
Freshman Zayonna Otherbull hit two threes and scored 11 points to lead the Maroons, who led 9-5 before Ronan took over.
Sophomore Rylee Forbes and junior Caden Tippett each scored four points for BC. Tippett converted a four-point play after hitting a three and drawing a foul.
The Maroons got two points apiece from sophomore Marly Mansanti and junior Arika Stajcar. Freshman Kenzie McQueary scored one.
Freshmen Braelynn Schelin, Evyn Smith, Natalie Osterman and Jaedyn Maldonado and sophomore Meika Boyer also contributed for the Maroons in the win.
BUTTE CENTRAL (7-14) —, Kenzie McQueary 0 1-2 1, Zayonna Otherbull 3 3-4 11, Rylee Forbes 1 2-4 4, Braelynn Schelin 0 0-0 0, Arika Stajcar 1 0-2 2, Evyn Smith 0 0-0 0, Marly Mansanti 1 0-0 2, Meika Boyer 0 0-0 0, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 0-2 0, Natalie Osterman 0 0-0 0, Caden Tippett 1 1-1 4. Totals 7 7-15 24.
BIGFORK (17-2) — Chloe Norred 0 0-0 9, Keni Wade 4 2-3 12, Braeden Gunlock 5 2-3 14, Somer Campos 0 1-4 1, Paeten Gunlock 4 5-6 14, Keegan Campbell 2 0-0 6, Leah Gibb 0 0-0 0, Payton DeSpain 0 1-2 1, Ceiley Jensen 0 0-0 0, Desi Dell 0 0-0 0, Millie Hall 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 12-20 51.
Central 8 0 8 8 — 24
Bigfork 15 16 13 7 — 51
3-poing goals — BC 3 (Otherbull 2, Tippett), Ronan 7 (Wade 2, B. Gunlock 2, Campbell 2, P. Gunlock). Fouls — BC 21, Ronan 12. Fouled out — none. Techncials — none. -
Postseason basketball begins with some bigtime performances
Forbes, Maroons survive and advance twice
Butte Central’s girls’ basketball team will play in the Western A Divisional tournament in Whitefish.
The No. 1 reason why the Maroons will be moving on is Rylee Forbes. The 6-foot sophomore post player had the game of her life Saturday as the Maroons pulled off a 44-42 upset win over Corvallis.
In addition to her game-high 17 points, Forbes pulled down 20 rebounds in the win.
When Butte historian Pat Kearney tracked down school records for Butte High and Butte Central, he did not include rebounding records. That is because they were not available in so many boxscores in the newspaper.
However, 20 boards must be at least close to a record for the Butte Central girls.
“Rylee Forbes played the best game of her career that night,” Central coach Quinn Carter said in an appearance on the ButteCast Tuesday.
Forbes, though, was not the only Maroon to come up big as Central won two play-in games to qualify for the Divisional tournament.
In the Corvallis win alone, Carter pointed to the composure of freshman Kenzie McQueary, two key 3-pointers by freshman Braelynn Schelin, big shots by freshman Zayonna Otherbull and a clutch baseline jumper by junior Arika Stajcar.
“Arika Stajcar had the playoff her career so far,” Carter said.
Otherbull finished with nine points in that win, while McQueary scored eight and Schelin tossed in six.
Two nights earlier, McQueary poured in 20 points to lead the Maroons in a 59-13 rout of Stevensville at the Maroon Activities Center.
Otherbull scored 10, while Forbes and Schelin each netted six, Stajcar tossed in five, freshman Evyn Smith scored four, and freshman Jaedyn Maldonado finished with two.
Central will bring seven freshmen with them to the Divisional tournament. That includes Smith, McQueary, Otherbull, Scheliin, Maldonado, Natalie Osterman and alternate Cambri Campbell.
The tournament team also includes sophomores Forbes, Meika Boyer and Marly Mansanti and juniors Stajcar and Caden Tippett.
While BC heads to Whitefish with some momentum on their side, the road to next week’s Class A State tournament in Billings is anything but easy. First up for BC is Bigfork, the regular-season champion from the Northwestern A. That game is set for 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The Gunlock sisters — Braeden and Paeten — lead the Valkyries into action. Braeden Gunlock, a 6-foot senior, averages 21.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.
Paeten Gunlock, a 5-9 junior, adds 17.0 points per game.
The sisters have combined for an incredible 201 steals and 141 assists on the season.
Central enters the tournament at 7-13, while Bigfork is 16-2. The Maroons and Valkyries are on the same side of the bracket as Dillon (17-1) and Ronan (11-7). Those teams play at 9 a.m. on Thursday.
On the bottom side of the bracket, Columbia Falls (10-8) will take on Hamilton (5-13), while Browning (11-9) battles Frenchtown (15-3).
The top four teams from the tournament move on to the Class A State tournament.
BC boys open with Wildcats
Butte Central’s boys team rides a little momentum to the Divisional tournament, too. That comes even though the Maroons have battled an unprecedented amount of illness during the season.
Central coach Brodie Kelly, though, said his Maroons are finally healthy for the first time since early January.
That is a good thing. It is also a necessary thing as the Maroons open with 15-3 Columbia Falls at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Wildcats went 10-2 in conference play to secure the No. 2 seed from the Northwestern A. Columbia Falls actually played the Maroons in a tipoff tournament Dec. 14 in Frenchtown.
Cooper Ross scored 19 points, and Reggie Sapa tossed in 16 as the Wildcats beat the Maroons 72-65 that day. Columbia Falls also got 13 points from Bjorn Pedersen and 10 from Easton Brooks.
Petersen averages a team-best 11.8 points per game.
Senior Owen McPartland averages 19.9 points per game to lead the Maroons. Sophomore Joshua Sutton adds 17.1 points per game, while sophomore Ryan Peoples averages 10.9, despite playing through some serious illness.
Freshman Jaxon Hiatt fought his way into the starting lineup along with sophomore GG Fantini. Senior Justus McGee also starts sometimes, as does classmate Patrick Stimatz, who has been a key contributor for multiple seasons for the BC varsity team.
Also making the trip for the Maroons are junior Zander Strand, sophomores Cade “Buzz” Kelly, Burkley Lakkala and alternate Grady Button, and eighth graders Noah Sutton and Henly Mansanti.
Kelly is in his 21st season coaching the Maroons His team has qualified for the Class A State tournament in 18 of his previous 20 campaigns.
The winner of the BC, Columbia Falls game will play the winner between Dillon (17-1) and Bigfork. The top half of the bracket will see Frenchtown (14-4) take on Ronan (13-5), and Hamilton (10-9) battle Browning (13-5).
Butte girls tough it out at Capital, set for rematch
Butte High’s girls’ basketball team is pretty familiar with its Western AA playoff opponent.
That is because the Bulldogs played Helena Capital last Thursday in Helena. Thanks to some clutch free throws by sophomore Cadence Graham, Butte High edged the Bruins in a rough-and-tumble 36-35 contest.
At 6 p.m. Friday, the two teams will open a playoff doubleheader at the Butte High’s Richardson Gym.
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.
The winner of the do-or-die game advances to the Class AA State tournament, which is next week at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman. The loser is done for the season.
Butte High will be going for its third win of the season over Capital. The Bulldogs beat the Bruins 41-34 Feb. 1 in Butte.
Eva Dahlquist, a 5-7 junior, paced the Bruins with 13 points last time out. Madi Emmert, a 5-5 sophomore scored 12 points. Ali Miller, a 5-11 junior, scored nine points to pace Capital when the Bruins played at Butte.
Graham averages 17.9 points per game to pace the Bulldogs. The 5-6 guard also more than 3 steals and 3 assists per game.
Brityn Stewart, a senior who plays much bigger than her 5-8 frame, averages 13.6 points and nearly 6 rebounds per game.
Graham and Stewart will be joined in the starting lineup by seniors Dylann Bartletti and Sidney Whitaker and junior Franki Salusso. Whitaker is stepping in the staring five for senior Addie Hiatt, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last week’s Senior Nigh win over Helena High.
Junior Emma Johnson has been a key contributor off the bench for the Bulldogs all season.
The Dogs have also received contributions form junior Gracie Jonart, sophomores Allie Becker and Autumn Clary and eighth grader Ellison Graham. Fellow eighth grader Saege Grey has also seen varsity time, as has junior Ally Godbout.
The Bulldogs are looking for their first trip to the Class AA State tournament since 2022.
Bulldog boys look for six pack
On the boys’ side, the Bulldogs are looking for their sixth trip to the Class AA State tournament under sixth-year head coach Matt Luedtke.
To get there again, the Dogs will have to do something they could not do in two tries during the regular season. They have to beat Missoula Sentinel.
The Bulldogs and Spartans will clash at 7:30 p.m. Friday, closing out what promises to be an electric doubleheader.
Butte High has won 9 of its last 11 games, building a 13-6 overall record. With a 9-5 mark in conference, Butte High is the No. 4 seed. Sentinel is the No. 5 seed at 10-9 and 8-6.
Sentinel beat Butte High twice in fairly convincing fashion during the regular season. The Spartans won 53-37 Jan. 11 in Butte before completing the sweep with a 60-49 win Feb. 4 in Butte.
Lincoln Rogers, a 6-7 junior guard, scored 24 points in the win at Butte. Carson Towe, a 6-4 senior, scored 27 in the win in Missoula. Those two players figure to be a problem again on Friday.
Three Bulldogs — senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache, junior Hudson Luedtke and sophomore Braylon Larson — average in double figures scoring to lead the Bulldogs. Luedtke leads the way with 19.6 points per game, while Bache follows with 14.4 and Larson scores 10.4.
As of the last counting of the Bulldog stats, Luedtke averages 6.3 assists per game, while Bache (8.2) and Larson (8.1) average more than 8 rebounds per game.
Luedtke, who led the Class AA in assists last season, is in contention to lead the class in scoring and assists this year.
Bache is coming off a 25-point, 12-robound performance in Thursday’s Senior Night win over Capital. The 6-9 Larson has been an emerging force on offense and defense.
The Bulldogs possess a pair of 3-point threats in seniors Torre Tempel and Tocher Lee. Both have come up big for the Bulldogs this season. Tempel shattered the school record with nine made 3-pointers in a win over Helena High, and Lee sank a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a win over Missoula Hellgate.
Lee, who hit the memorable shot to send the Bulldogs to State at the Divisional tournament last year in Butte, will move into No. 2 all time on the Butte High boys’ list with his 83rd varsity game Friday.
Senior Spencer Callaghan comes off the bench. He spent a good chunk of the season in the starting lineup while Lee was out with injuries.
Freshman Brady Hanson, who delighted the Bulldog crowed with a two-handed dunk in traffic last week, has also been turning the corner as a force for the Dogs.
Butte High has also gotten minutes form senior Kylar Kjersten, juniors Kendel Noctor, Rhett Arntson and Ryan Hanson, and sophomores Raeder Grey, Koda Schleeman and Brady Walsh.
Vivian Kingston scores 1,000th
From the files of “we wish she were a Bulldog or Maroons,” we give you Vivian Kingston.
Kingston, a 6-foot senior post player with deep family ties to the Mining City, scored the 1,000th point of her career Feb. 19.
Kingston plays for White River High School in Buckley, Washington. Buckley is about 45 miles south-east of Seattle. Kingston is the first girl in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
She is the daughter of 1992 Butte High graduate Terri Peltomaa. She is the half-sister of Colton Kingston, whose father, Steve, graduated from Butte Central in 1987.
Vivian Kingston scored her 1,000th point in a district playoff win. She added to the title Saturday against Lakeside in the regional round of the Class 3A State tournament. Kingston and the Hornets play Garfield Wednesday morning at the Tacoma Dome.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
