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Butte Central-Livingston boxscores
Butte Central and Livingston split a varsity basketball doubleheader Friday in Livingston.
The Rangers won the girls’ game 56-36 before the BC boys rolled to a 70-23 victory in the nightcap.
The Maroons have little time to rest before they play Butte High Saturday at the Butte Civic Center. The varsity girls’ game is set for 6 p.m., with the boys following at 7:30. All-day action begins at 11:30 a.m. with the girls’ freshman game.
Moving forward, we will try to post timely boxscores from each Butte High and Butte Central varsity basketball game, with more details coming in the weekly ButteCast SportsCap.
GIRLS
Livingston 56, Butte Central 36
BUTTE CENTRAL (1-4) — Marly Mansanti 1 0-0 2, Kenzie McQueary 0 2-2 2, Rylee Forbes 3 0-2 6, Braelynn Schelin 1 0-0 3, Arika Stajcar 1 1-2 3, Zayonna Otherbull 3 9-10 17, Evyn Smith 1 0-0 3, Caden Tippett 0 0-0 0, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 0-0 0, Meika Boyer 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 12-18 36.
LIVINGSTON — A. Duffy 2 2-2 7, L. O’Dea 0 0-0 0, Q. Wood 2 0-0 6, C. Vermillion 6 4-4 16, M. Turck 8 2-2 22, L. Melin 0 0-0 0, A. Keyes 2 0-0 5, C. Bober 0 0-0 0, No. Hoffman 0 0-0 0, O. Behm 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-8 56.
Halftime — Livingston 39, Butte Central 20 (quarter scores not available). 3-point goals — BC 4 (Otherbull 2, Schelin, Smithy), Livingston 8 (Turck 4, Wood 2, Duffy, Keyes). Fouls — BC 10, Livingston 16. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.BOYS
Butte Central 70, Livingston 23
BUTTE CENTRAL (2-3) — Ryan Peoples 7 0-0 18, Patrick Stimatz 1 2-2 4, Joshua Sutton 5 0-0 12, GG Fantini 3 0-0 7, Owen McPartland 4 0-0 9, Noah Sutton 5 0-0 10, Cade Kelly 1 1-2 3, Lakkala 0 0-0 0, Jaxon Hiatt 2 2-2 7, Justus McGee 0 0-0 0, Stand 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 5-6 70.
LIVINGSTON (0-6) — Coen Braham 3 0-0 6, Isaac Ramirez 1 0-0 2, Weston Vincent 0 0-0 0, Jon Durgan 1 3-3 6, Jaxson White 0 0-0 0, Kyle Gentry 0 0-0 0, Turner Bolton 1 0-0 2, Isaac Winfrey 0 0-0 0, Tristan Wells 3 1-2 7. Totals 9 4-5 23.
Butte Central 22 24 16 8 — 70
Livingston 0 9 8 6 — 23
3-point goals — BC 9 (Peoples 4, J. Sutton 2, Fantini, Hiatt, McPartland), Livingston 1 (Watts). Fouls — BC 6, Livingston 10. Fouled out — None. Technicals — none.
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Butte High-Bozeman boxscores
Butte High’s girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams swept the Bozeman Hawks in a non-conference twin bill Thursday night at the Butte Civic Center.
The Bulldog girls won 47-39 before the Butte boys completed the sweep with a 70-64 victory.
With his game-high 31 points in the nightcap, Butte High junior Hudson Luedtke closed within six points of moving into fourth place on the Bulldog boys’ all-time scoring list. Luedtke now has 869 career points, and he could possibly pass Doug Edwards (874) and Gary Kane (883) when the Bulldogs play Butte Central Saturday at the Civic Center.
After that, he will only have John Dawson (1,022 points) and Chris Rasmussen (969) standing in his way of becoming the all-time leading scorer in Butte High boys’ basketball history.
The Butte-Central varsity games start with the girls playing at 6 p.m. Saturday. The boys will start around 7:30. All of the subvarsity action will also be played at the Civic Center.
Butte Central’s teams play at Livingston on Friday.
Moving forward, we will try to post boxscores from each Butte High and Butte Central varsity basketball game, with more details coming in the weekly ButteCast SportsCap, which is presented by Leskovar Honda.
GIRLS
Butte High 47, Bozeman 39
BOZEMAN (1-3) — Zahara Willis 3 0-0 7, Marlee Embry 2 4-6 9, Lexie Cotton 1 1-2 4, Nula Anderson 2 7-9 11, Rose O’Brien 0 0-0 0, Lauren Keim 2 2-4 6, Charlie Scott 1 0-0 2, Taylor Johnson 0 0-0 0, Nizhoni Jenkins 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 14-21 39.
BUTTE (3-1) — Dylann Bartoletti 4 1-3 9, Cadence Graham 6 7-8 21, Brityn Stewart 1 2-2 5, Franki Salusso 4 1-2 9, Emma Johnson 0 0-0 0, Sidney Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Autumn Clary 1 0-2 2, Addie Hiatt 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 12-19 47.
Bozeman 8 3 13 15 — 39
Butte 6 17 18 11 — 47
3-point goals — Bozeman 3 (Willis, Embry, Cotton). Butte 3 (Graham 2, Stewart). Fouls — Bozeman 17, Butte 18. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.BOYS
Butte High 70, Bozeman 64
BOZEMAN (1-3) — Evan Hughen 0 0-0 0, Kash Embry 7 2-4 16, Mason Schuyler 2 0-0 5, Cristion Malloy 4 3-4 14, Logan Humphrey 3 0-0 7, Braxton Block 3 0-0 7, Smith Schuyler 2 0-0 5, Warner leFeber 3 0-0 8, John Benne 1 0-0 2, Jack Oberly 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 5-8 64.
BUTTE (3-1) — Tocher Lee 1 0-0 3, Dylan Bache 9 0-1 20, Torre Tempel 2 0-0 6, Hudson Luedtke 9 12-18 31, Braylon Larson 4 1-2 10, Spencer Callahan 0 0-4 0, Brady Hanson 0 0-0 0, Koda Schleeman 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 13-25 70.
Bozeman 13 14 15 22 — 64
Butte 13 25 12 20 — 70
3-point goals — Bozeman 9 (Malloy 3, leFeber 2, Block, M. Schuyler, S. Schuyler, Humphrey). Butte 7 (Bache 2, Tempel 2, Lee, Luedtke, Larson). Fouls — Bozeman 19, Butte 9. Fouled out — Embry. Technical — none.
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Bulldog-Maroon showdown highlights first week of New Year
By Bill Foley
When the ButteCast debuted in September of 2022, the podcast and website were not intended to be sports focused.
Sure, it will always slant more toward sports than news and politics, but the sole point of the site is not sports coverage. It is to shine the spotlight on interesting people and characters in Butte and around the state.
Starting this week, however, we are upping our coverage of our local teams with a weekly roundup and look forward.
Leskovar Honda, which brings us the Athletes of the Week, stepped up to sponsor the “ButteCast SportsCap” in an effort to highlight the play of all of the athletes competing for Butte High, Butte Central and Montana Tech.
Each Wednesday or Thursday, we will bring you a look back at the week that was and a look forward to the action coming up.
We could not have begun at a better time. To say that the year 2025 will start with a bang is a bit of an understatement. We have a busy week of basketball and wrestling on the slate. That includes the Tom LeProwse Invitational wrestling tournament in Bozeman, Butte High taking on Butte Central in basketball and surging Montana Tech hoops teams jumping into Frontier Conference play.
So, let’s take a look at how the Bulldogs, Orediggers and Maroons are starting off the New Year.
Prep basketball
It does not get much better than when the Bulldogs and Maroons meet on the hardwood. That will be the case Saturday at the Butte Civic Center. The girls play at 6 p.m., with the boys following about 7:30.
Butte High and Central will give us a rare weekend showcase of the great Bulldog-Maroon rivalry. Typically, we get that game on a Tuesday or Thursday. The last several years saw the games played before Christmas.
First, though, each team will play a non-conference game before the city championship series. While the BC boys and girls head to Livingston for a double dip on Friday, Butte High’s boys and girls will play host to Bozeman in a doubleheader at the Civic Center Thursday. The Bozeman-Butte girls’ varsity game starts at 5:30, and the boys play at 7.
Both Bozeman varsity teams come to town with a 1-2 record. Both Bulldog squads are 2-1.
On the boys’ side, Butte High is looking to bounce back from its Dec. 20 home loss to Billings Skyview.
On Saturday, Butte High will be looking for its second straight win over the Maroons. The Dogs snapped a three-game losing streak to their Mining City rival with a 76-67 victory in December of 2023.
Butte High leads the series 100-80-1 all time. The teams have been playing each other since 1916.
Three Butte High players are averaging in double figures after three games. Junior guard Hudson Luedtke is leading the way with 17.3 points per game. Luedtke is also quickly moving up Butte High’s all-time boys’ scoring list.
With 838 points through his first 52 games as a Bulldog, Luedtke sits at No. 5 in Bulldog boy history. He passed the legendary Bob O’Billovich (811 points) and Bob Olson (815) in December. He should become Butte High’s second boy to score 1,000 career points sometime this season, and will likely pass John Dawson (1,022) for the top spot before the postseason.
(Note: The great Lexie Nelson’s 1,694 points is the most points scored by any boy or girl high school player in Butte.)
Senior Dylan “Bobby” Bache adds 15.0 points per game to the Bulldog lineup, while 6-foot-9 sophomore Braylon Larson is scoring at an 11.3 clip. Larson also averages just under 10 rebounds per game.
Senior Torre Tempel brings experience to the Bulldog lineup while the team awaits the return of Tocher Lee, who missed most of his senior football season with a foot injury. He was eyeing the BC game as his return date.
Spencer Callaghan, Brady Hanson, Rhett Arntson, Raeder Grey, Koda Schleeman, Kendel Noctor, Trey McCarthy and Brady Walsh, Kylar Kjersten have also contributed for the Dogs.
Butte Central’s boys enter January with a 1-3 record. Sophomore Joshua Sutton averages 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game to lead the Maroons.
In all, three BC players are averaging in double figures scoring. Senior Owen McPartland adds 14.5 points per game, while junior Ryan Peoples is scoring 10.5 points per game.
GG Fantini, Jaxon Hiatt, Cade Kelly, Justus McGee, Patrick Stimatz and Noah Sutton have also seen time for the Maroons, who beat Havre 52-50 last time out.
That game was part of a tournament in Lockwood.
The Maroons hope to make it two straight wins when they head to Livingston Friday to take on the 0-5 Rangers.
On the girls’ side, the 1-3 Maroons look to stop their three-game skid when they head to Livingston.
Kinzie McQueary’s 7.8 points per game is leading BC in scoring. Rylee Forbes adds 7.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for Central, which is getting contributions form Meika Boyer, Jaedyn Maldonado, Marly Mansanti, Natalie Osterman, Zayonna Otherbull, Braelynn Schelin, Evyn Smith, Arika Stajcar and Caden Tippett.
Butte High’s girls are looking for their sixth straight win over the Maroons. Butte High leads the series, which dates back to 1976, by a 39-18 margin.
The Bulldogs, who doubled up the Maroons 52-26 in December of 2023, are coming off a 49-46 win over Billings Skyview.
Senior Brityn Stewart and sophomore Cadence Graham picked off right where they left off last season. Stewart is averaging 15.7 points per game for the Bulldogs, while Graham adds 14.7.
Junior Emma Johnson (7.3 points per game) and senior Dylan Bartoletti (7.0) are also off to a strong start to the season.
Sidney Whitaker, Ally Godbout, Autumn Clary, Addelei Hiatt, Franki Salusso, Gracie Jonart and Ellison Graham are also contributors for the Bulldog girls.
College basketball
The Orediggers begin Frontier Conference play with a matinee doubleheader against Rocky Mountain College at the Fortin Center in Billings. The women play at 2 p.m., while the men play at 4.
Both Tech teams figure to face tough tests in the league openers.
On the men’s side, the three-time defending Frontier Conference champion Orediggers are ranked No. 6 in the NAIA with a 12-1 record. The Battlin’ Bears are receiving votes in the latest NAIA poll with an 11-2 mark.
Both of Rocky’s losses have come at home. The Orediggers are 7-0 on the road.
At 9-4, the Oredigger women are off to their best start in recent memory. They received votes in the latest NAIA poll. The Battlin’ Bears enter conference play at 8-4. Rocky is also received votes.
The trip to Rocky represents the only action of the week for the Oredigger teams. The Orediggers will be at home for two games next week, taking on MSU-Northern on Thursday before battling Carroll College on Saturday.
Prep wrestling
Gallatin High School will set the scene for the annual Tom LeProwse Invitational Friday and Saturday. Action for the boys and girls begins at 11 a.m. on Friday. Saturday’s bouts begin at 9 a.m.
The highlight of December for the Bulldog boys was a fifth-place showing at the Mining City Duals Jim Street Classic in Butte. Juniors Ryder McEwen and Keegan Hunt led the Bulldog effort in that tournament at the Butte Civic Center. Both went 7-0, McEwen at 138 pounds and hunt at 110, to take home “Outstanding Wrestler” honors at their weight class.
Renzy LeProwse, Reveles McEwen, Bradey Doyle, Darryn Rossiter, Bridger Garrison, Bode Hazlett, Will Stepan, Karson Pumnea, Reece Cunneen, Bridger Brancamp, Braydon Pierce, Garrett Hensen and Waylon Hicks also competed for the No. 1 Bulldog team in that tournament.
Mattie Stepan led the Bulldogs with a seventh-place showing at 145 pounds the last time out, at the CMR Holiday Classic in Great Falls. Peyton Liva, Irelynn Cullen, Jessica Blow, Deearea Smith, Keeleigh Doherty, Brooke Johnson, Baely Norris, Rylee Radcliffe and Chyanne Robinson also competed for the Bulldogs.
For Butte Central’s boys, James Holmes, Jonathan Cox, Marquis Abad and Tyge Meneses had strong December showings for the Maroons.
Prep swimming
Butte High does not jump back into action until the Bulldogs host a meet Jan. 11 at the YMCA.
Bulldogs who made waves, figuratively speaking, in December include Adalie Grochowski, Olivia Thurmond, Nimalka DeAlwis, Bryher Fitzpatrick and Sophia Fladager for the girls, and Nathan Stone, Gage Plum, Blaire Hamry, Elgin Hoar, Alex Sonnemann, Jorden Sonnemann, Tucker Kissell, Vahn Mann, Grayson Lynch, Gunnar Benson, Mason Pullman and Levi Balentine for the boys.
December’s action included the Helena Invitational, which was held in Butte, and the Missoula City Meet. Butte High will host a meet on Jan. 31, too. The State meet begins Feb. 13 in Great Falls.
Butte Central also has a swimming team this season.
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Podcast No. 236: Cody Carriger
The end of 2024 has been an exciting time in the Mining City. A lot of that excitement is because Butte High graduate Tommy Mellott and the Montana State Bobcats will play in the FCS national championship football game on Monday.
Seeing the success of “Touchdown Tommy,” got some of us thinking about some of the greatest athletes in Butte history.
Butte has turned out so many great athletes that it is nearly impossible to keep track of all of them. One of the best — and one who has been unfairly overlooked — is Cody Carriger.
The 2012 Butte High graduate was a four-year varsity player in football, basketball and track. He left the Bulldogs with 10 or 11 letters — he can’t remember for sure — and the prestigious Harry “Swede” Dahlbert Award for the outstanding male athlete.
In the summer before his senior season, Cody committed to playing football for Coach Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks. He earned three letters in his five years with the Oregon program.
While injuries and coaching changes limited his success with the Ducks, Cody had a solid career playing for the Pac-12 school. He was a part of a team that advanced to the national championship game in January of 2015. He has a Rose Bowl ring because the Ducks beat Florida State in the semifinals in Pasadena on Jan. 1 of 2015.
Now 31, Cody is married and working as a police officer in Billings. He still looks like he could play football because he still works out five days a week.
He says he is undefeated in chasing down criminals who try to outrun the law on foot.
Listen in to this podcast as Cody talks about the influence his brother, sister and parents had on his life. Listen as he talks about some of the great coaches he played for at Butte High. That includes Arie Grey, John Thatcher, Jim Konen and Charlie Merrifield.
Listen as he talks about the recruiting process that led to him signing with Oregon. Listen as he talks about the career with the Ducks and the lifelong friendships that followed. This is one you do not want to miss. Carriger is pictured above in a University of Oregon photo.
Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
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Lil Dribblers starts Saturday at East
The 11th Lil Dribbler Basketball League will begin Saturday, Jan. 4 at East Middle School.
The league will run through March 29, with the exception of three dates (Jan. 25, Feb. 8 and Feb. 22) when the gym is not available. A different gym will be used those dates, if one is available.
The program, which is basically an open gym for little kids, runs from 9 to 11 a.m. each week. Players are able to play at their own level and pace.
Lil Dribbles says it is open for boys and girls 1 day old through 7, though a little older is OK, too. The league is free of charge.
Click the link below for more information.
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A look back at the great ‘Butte Bullet’
Milt Popovich’s name jumped right off the program when I opened it up.
In a post-Christmas visit with my father-in-law, Pat Mulcahy, he handed me a photocopy of the game program from when the Montana State College Bobcats played the Montana State University Grizzlies at Clark Park in Butte on Oct. 30, 1937. (Go to the bottom of this column for photos of that program.)
Yes, that is what those teams were called back then.
I only got a photocopy because Pat wisely keeps the original program preserved and wrapped up in plastic.
As coincidence would have it, Pat gave me that program copy on Dec. 28. That would have been Milt’s 109th birthday.
Popovich’s name is at the very bottom of the Grizzlies roster because he wore the highest number, No. 77. He was a superstar halfback wearing an offensive lineman number.
The “Butte Bullet” went on to become an All-American with the Grizzlies, and he played five seasons in the National Football League with the Chicago Cardinals (1938 through 1942). He was a charter member of the Butte Sports Hall of Fame (1987) and the Montana Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame (1993).
Known as a humble man with a giant heart, Popovich was also a fireman for 27 years in the Mining City.
In 1937, he was one of eight players from Butte on the Bobcat and Grizzly rosters. Bobcats from Butte were Frank Strong, Bill Halloway, Nicholas Yovetich, Jack Binder and Ted Wirak. Grizzlies in the game were Harry Shaffer, Leonard Noyes and Popovich.
The “Butte Bullet,” though, stole the show, scoring the game’s only touchdown in a 19-0 Grizzly victory.
Of course, that was just one time that “Popo” terrorized his rival. According to the late Pat Kearney’s book, “The Divide War,” Popovich produced the most dominant numbers of any player in the history of the great rivalry.
Popovich accumulated 720 yards and four touchdowns in three games against the Cats. That includes 288 yards on 65 rushes. He returned two punts for touchdowns against the Bobcats in 1936 in Butte.
Milt was even a more dominant force against the rival Butte Central Maroons in his days playing for the Butte High Bulldogs.
Butte High scored a total of six touchdowns in back-to-back shutout victories over the Maroons in 1932 and 1933, and Popovich had a hand in all of them. He scored on runs of 66 and 4 yards in a 13-0 win in 1932.
On Veterans Day of 1933, BC fans were geared up to stop the “Butte Bullet.”
“I knew the Central folks thought they could stop me,” Popovich told Kearney when he was writing his book, “Butte’s Big Game,” about the Butte Central vs. Butte High football rivalry. “The Central rooters were all over me as I got off the team bus. They shouted, ‘Hey Popovich, you should just get back on the bus because the Maroons are going to beat you today. I tried not to listen to the hecklers, but they kept yelling at me. So finally, I said, ‘You watch. I’ll score a touchdown against your fabled defense today.’”
It did not take long for Popovich to back up those words. He took the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, marking the first time in the rivalry that the opening kick was returned for a score.
The only other opening kick returned for a touchdown in the rivalry came when BC’s Steve Schulte scored on an 89-yard return to start the 1978 game. Popovich’s 93-yard scamper was a rivalry record until Central quarterback Steve Markovich busted a 95-yard touchdown run in 1988.
In 1933, though, Popovich was just getting started. He followed the kickoff return by throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dave O’Neill, returning an interception 48 yards for a score and punching in a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs won 26-0.
The Montana Standard called it the “greatest one-man show in the history of the city championship series,” and you would not get an argument from any of the crowd of 5,500 at Clark Park that day.
That statement probably still rings true for the rivalry that ran through 1991. Nobody dominated like the “Butte Bullet.”
Popovich was more than just a football player. He was on Butte High’s back-to-back State championship basketball teams in 1932 and 1933, and he scored a meet-high 12 points as Butte High won the 1933 State track meet.
Football, though, was his sport. Popovich’s 102-yard kickoff return against Oregon State in 1936 set a Grizzly record. He also booted a record 67-yard punt. He led UM to a 7-1 record in 1937, when he was team captain, and he represented the Grizzlies on the at the East-West Shrine Game in 1938.
Popovich was a hero of the Greatest Generation. They talked about Popovich the way we talk about Tommy Mellott.
Sports Illustrated listed Popovich No. 23 on the list of the top 50 Montana athletes of the 20th Century, and many people in these parts thought that ranking was way too low.
I was working on The Montana Standard sports desk in June of 2005 when word broke that Popovich passed away at the age of 89.
Kearney directed me to talk to Alex Ducich and Jim Wedin, two guys who were well-known in the Butte sports scene before their passing, for a story on Popovich.
Ducich, who played in the same backfield as Popovich at Butte High, talked about how the Grizzlies should have beaten the University of Southern California in the Los Angeles Coliseum to start the 1935 season.
It would have been a monumental upset considering the Grizzlies suited up just 14 players, and USC had three full squads in uniform. The Trojans escaped with a 9-0 win.
“It should really have been 13-9 because Milt Popovich ran for two touchdowns,” Ducich, then 88, said. “Both of them were called back.”
Ducich was a student at USC at the time of the game, and he still believed Popovich’s touchdowns should have counted.
“They said he stepped out,” Ducich said, with a “no-way” tone to his voice.
Wedin was a little younger, and he remembered watching Popovich play for the Bulldogs and Grizzlies.
“I wish you could have seen him run,” Wedin told me. “He could really run. He popped those knees and boy he could cut.”
Kearney spent three years researching for The Divide War and, in 2005, he said only four Grizzly players really stand out as a “legend.”
Those are “Wild” Bill Kelly (1924-26), Popovich (1935-37), Dave Dickenson (1992-95) and Yohance Humphrey (1998-2001).
“The stories of Kelly and Popovich are still told today, while the feats of the latter two will only grow with passing years,” Kearney said.
My father-in-law knew Popovich, and he reiterated the humble-and-kind description of the Butte and Montana legend. Wedin did, too.
“He was a nice guy,” Wedin said in the days following Popovich’s death. “Everybody liked Milt.”
But it was Popovich’s prowess on the gridiron that always made the “Butte Bullet” jump right off every program his name ever appeared on. That is why Popovich’s legend still lives on today.
“All I can say is he’s the best running back in Montana that I saw,” Wedin said. “It was fun to watch him run.”
— Bill Foley, who is not fun to watch run, 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.
“Wild” Bill Kelly’Dave Dickenson, Alex Ducich, Bill Halloway, Butte Bullet, Butte Central, Butte High School, Chicago Cardinals, Dave O’Neill, Frank Strong, Harry Shaffer, Jack Binder, Jim Wedin, Leonard Noyes, Los Angeles Coliseum, Milt Popovich, Montana Grizzlies, Montana Standard, Montana State Bobcats, NFL, Nichoals Yovetich, Pat Kearney, Pat Mulcahy, Popovich, Steve Schulte, Steven Markovich, Ted Wirak, USC, Yohance Humphrey -
Butte High girls’ subvarsity report
Following are the Butte High girls’ basketball subvarsity reports for the December portion of the Bulldogs season, as provided by coaches.
The report includes road games against Belgrade, Dillon and Boulder and home a game against Billings Skyview.
Butte High sophomores 60, Belgrade sophomores 11
BELGRADE — The Bulldogs never trailed as they rolled to a season-opening rout of the Panthers Dec. 12.Kate DeShaw and Brittyn Klima combined for 31 points in the victory. DeShaw tossed in 16 points, while Klima tallied 15. The Bulldogs also got eight points apiece from Avery Barsness and Kendallyn Schad, seven from Reese Johnson, four from Stalla Callaghan and two from Ellie Yates.
The Bulldogs combined for 18 steals, with Barsness leading the way with seven. Schad led the battle of the boards with eight rebounds. DeShaw was named Junkyard Dog of the game.
Dillon JV 54, Butte High JV 31
DILLON — Tess Tash scored 14 points, and the Dillon pressure proved too much for the Bulldogs Dec. 17.Shannon Marlin and Kaitlyn Konen each scored nine points for Dillon, while Kena Sampson tossed in eight.
Allie Becker’s eight points led the Bulldogs. Autumn Clary scored seven, while Ellison Graham added six. Butte High also got three from Saege Grey and Gracie Jonart and two from Avery Barsness and Kendallyn Schad.
Becker took home Junkyard Dog honors after the first JV game of the season for the Bulldogs.
Butte High freshmen 41, Dillon freshmen 39
DILLON — Using super-aggressive defense after the break, the Bulldogs outscored Dillon 31-15 in the second half to pick up the come-from-behind win over the Beavers Dec. 17.Evie Smith poured in 17 points to lead Butte High. Wakely Burleson and Ava Bryson each scored eight points in the win. Sage Leber, the Junkyard Dog of the game, tossed in six, and Berki Salusso scored two.
Kenndyl Meine scored 12 to lead Dillon. Reine McCoy added 11.
Butte High freshman 49, Boulder C squad 28
BOULDER — Butte High made it 2-0 with a big win over Jefferson High Dec. 19.Berki Salusso and Evie Smith led the Bulldog offensive explosion, scoring 15 and 14 points. Wakely Burleson added eight points for Butte High, which got seven from Sage Leber and five from Ava Bryson.
Burleson took home Junkyard Dog honors for her fantastic defense. She caused many disruptions for the Panthers.
Allie Muffick scored 10 to lead Boulder.
Butte High JV 47, Billings Skyview JV 15
Pressure defense was a gamechanger for the Bulldogs as they played their first home game Dec. 20. Butte High turned steals into transition points, and the Bulldogs dominated on the boards.Allie Becker scored 14 points to lead the way as eight different Butte High players scored points. Ellison Graham, the Junkyard Dog of the game, added 10 points.
Butte also got six points from Gracie Jonart, five from Autumn Clary, four from Reese Johnson, three from Saege Grey and two apiece from Ally Godbout and Avery Barsness.
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Podcast No. 235: Dave and Will Silk
A little more than a decade ago, a Montana Standard sportswriter set out to pick the greatest athlete in the history of the Mining City.
That was a monumental task since Butte has such a rich sports history. It seemed like a crazy project for a writer who just moved into the state.
To make a long story short, I disagree with just about everyone selected in his countdown to No. 1, which was based on a very unscientific poll. I didn’t necessarily agree with the people he had in the top spots. It was just their order that I took issue with.
The writer’s choice for the top spot almost made legendary Butte historian Pat Kearney blow a gasket because he picked a speedskater, and that speedskater was not named Dave Silk. Pat went full-on Kermit The Frog when telling people about it.
Immediately, anyone who knows speedskating in Butte knew the list was not right. There is no question, in my mind anyway, which speedskater was the best in Butte history, and we’ve had a lot of accomplished speedskaters over the years.
Dave Silk was the best. He was an alternate in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. He competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Dave, who first rose to speedskating fame while racing around the oval that is now hole No. 8 on the par 3 course at the Highland View Golf Course in Stodden Park, won the World Cup overall championship in the 5,000-meter race in 1986.
My money is still on Bob O’Billovich as being the best athlete to ever come out of Butte. But Dave is still the best speedskater.
Dave is a member of the Butte Sports Hall of Fame and U.S. Speedskating Hall of Fame.
He was also instrumental in keeping the once-thriving sport alive in Butte. He is the president of the U.S. High Altitude Speedskating Center, which very well could have gone away if it was not for the work of the Silk family.
In a few years, however, Dave might no longer be the greatest speedskater to ever come out of Butte. He might no longer be the best speedskater in his family. That title could very well belong to his son, Will.
The younger Silk placed second in the all-around at the U.S. Junior Speedskating Championship recently in Roseville, Minnesota. He won that junior all-around title last season, and missed winning this year by .22 of second.
At the recent event, Will won the 5,000 meters, took second in the 1,000 and 1,500, and placed fourth in the 500.
That performance earned Will a spot on the U.S. team for the Junior World Speedskating Championships in Collalbo, Italy, Feb. 7-9. Silk placed 16th in the Junior Worlds last February in Japan.
The 2024 Butte High graduate very well could be representing the United States in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. The 2030 games are in play for Will, too.
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Sam Sampson named to Shrine Game; Shea, Polich picked as alternates
Butte High senior Sam Sampson still has one more high school football game to play.
The recent Montana Tech signee was named to the 78th Montana East-West Shrine Game. He will play receiver for the West Side when the game is played June 21 in Great Falls.
Rosters for the East and West were released on Christmas morning.
Sampson is the lone player from the Mining City selected for the state’s premier all-star football game. Butte High teammates Colton Shea and Brett Polich, though, could join him. Shea and Polich were named alternates for the West Side.
Sampson’s selection comes after he had a huge season for the Bulldogs in 2024. He caught 55 passes for 860 yards and eight touchdowns as Butte High made a playoff run. His 860 yards led the team, while his receptions and touchdowns both ranked second.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Sampson earned first-team All-State honors at receiver. He also took home a second-team All-State nod as long snapper.
Shea’s alternate selection comes after his impressive senior season, which was his first as Butte High’s starting quarterback. The 5-8, 180-pound Shea completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,652 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2024, including a 99-yard strike to Sampson. Shea took home second-team All-State honors.
The 5-10, 250-pound Polich is an alternate at defensive tackle for the West Side. That comes after Polich was a force on both sides of the line for Butte High in 2024. He received a second-team All-Conference mention at center.
Helena Capital coach Kyle Mihelish will serve as head coach of the West for the third time since 2018. The honor comes after his Bruins won another Class AA State title in November.
Five players from Mihelish’s Bruins were named to his roster, including his son Merek, a quarterback who was recently named the Montana Gatorade Player of the Year. Merek Mihelish will play football at Montana Tech. Capital had six more players who were named as alternates.
Kyle Mehelish has 26 years of coaching experience in Montana football, with eight years at Great Falls High, one year at Carroll College, and the last 17 years at Helena Capital. He has coached in six Shrine Games, serving as an assistant coach twice for the East and twice for the West, and as the West head coach in 2018 and 2022. Kyle is a 1990 graduate of Capital High School, and he played football at the University of Montana Western.
Nick Oxarart will coach the East Side. Oxarart has been coaching Malta Mustang Football for 18 seasons (nine as an assistant and nine as head coach). Oxarart is a 1999 graduate of Malta High School and was a member of Malta’s first state championship football team in 1996.
Oxarart graduated from Minot State University in 2004 and was a member of the football team. He was an assistant coach for the East in the 2021 Shrine Game.
The players for the 78th Montana East-West Shrine Game were nominated by their schools and coaches around the state. They were finally selected as the “best of the best” and join an elite fraternity of players, many of whom have gone on to distinguished collegiate and professional careers.
The West Side will once again hold their training camp in the Mining City. Click the link below to see all the selections from the West and East.
The above photos of, from left, Sampson, Shea and Polich are courtesy of Alycia Holland Photography.
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Only a fool would bet against Tommy
As I made my way through the Election Day crowd at the Butte Civic Center, trying to find the right table to get my ballot, I saw Ed Kelly making a beeline toward me.
“I owe you an apology,” Ed said.
“You owe me an apology?” I asked. “For what?”
As it turns out, he did not really owe me an apology at all. Instead, he owed that apology to himself because he broke what has become the cardinal rule in the Mining City.
He doubted Tommy Mellott.
No, Ed did not doubt “Touchdown Tommy” and his ability to lead the Montana State Bobcats to wins. Ed, a Butte Sports Hall of Famer who briefly played football for the Cats, is as big of a Tommy Mellott fan you will find.
When he witnessed me wearing a Montana Grizzly hat and hoodie as I interviewed Tommy for a podcast two years ago, Ed read me the riot act — even though he understood that I was only doing it to be funny.
No, Ed didn’t doubt Tommy’s ability. Instead, Ed doubted my assertion that Tommy will be drafted — and drafted fairly high — in the 2025 NFL Draft.
As we stood on the concourse at Alumni Coliseum during the Montana Tech-Rocky Mountain College football game on Oct. 26, Ed and I started talking about Tommy. Most conversations in Montana during football season usually turn to Tommy these days.
He has, after all, reached one-name status in Montana. You can mention his first name in Kalispell, Helena or Ekalaka, and everyone knows which Tommy you mean.
I told Ed that Tommy can play in the National Football League. I think he can play quarterback, too, I said. If not, though, he has a ton of options at the next level. He can play receiver. He can play safety. He can play running back.
“He can be as good as Christian McCaffrey,” I said. “Tommy runs the ball like Gale Sayers. He doesn’t just run like Justin Fields. He can run up the middle for tough yards, and he has incredible breakaway speed.”
“He isn’t that fast,” Ed said, meaning top-end NFL speed.
“I bet he runs at least a 4.4 40,” I said, referring to running a 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds.
(Actually, I saw a report that says Tommy’s 40 time is actually 4.3, a speed that is not topped by very many people in the world. A 4.2 time in the 40 is very rare.)
“Nooo,” Ed said, looking at me like I lost my remaining marbles. “There’s no way he is that fast.”
I didn’t offer a bet, but I’m pretty sure by that look on his face that Ed would have taken me up on it.
As it turns out, it only took one play on the very next Saturday for Ed to see how wrong he was.
The Bobcats played on that awful red turf at Eastern Washington the Saturday before Election Day. With the score tied at 28 late in the third quarter, Tommy broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run.
It was one of those runs that you could see that nobody was going to catch Tommy once he was 10 years past the line of scrimmage. It was like he was shot out of a cannon.
It was like a man playing against boys. Or Superman playing against regular men. Eastern Washington defenders had to be looking for Tommy’s cape the next time the Bobcat offense took the field.
The run, which led to a 42-28 Bobcat win over the Eagles, is one that will be watched over and over by every scout in the NFL. Even teams set at quarterback will think that they have to add that kind of talent to their roster.
Sure, Tommy has a lot of those oh-my-God-did-you-see-that runs. He did that in Saturday’s 31-17 semifinal win over South Dakota in Bozeman.
The play started when Tommy dropped a bad shotgun snap. But just as Bobcat fans were collectively saying “Oh no,” Tommy quickly picked the ball up and raced up the middle. In the blink of an eye, he scored on a 41-yard touchdown run.
His speed looked more like 3.3 than 4.3 on that score. The Coyote had a better chance to catch the Roadrunner than the Coyotes had of catching that Bobcat.
Seconds later, former Wayne State football coach Dan McLaughlin, a Sheridan, Montana native, texted me to say, “How about that??? Incredible.”
“Incredible” is a word we could use to describe just about all of his 42 rushing touchdowns for the Bobcats. Just when you think Tommy cannot possibly outdo himself, he outdoes himself.
You might use some awe-inspired adjectives to describe his 53 passing touchdowns, too, and 29 of those have come this season. If he is not the best football player in the history of the Montana State Bobcats, he is certainly the most exciting.
While Tommy was one of the best athletes on the field from Day 1, he has really turned into a great quarterback, too. He goes through his progressions, and he drops more dimes than a payphone.
He can play quarterback on Sundays.
That is because he is at least a tie for the smartest player to ever put on a football uniform. He graduated from the difficult academic institution earlier this month with a 4.0 GPA in financial engineering.
Of course, in Butte we have known that Tommy was an amazing person for years. We saw the essay he wrote about veterans when he was a student at East Middle School.
We saw how he treated Bulldog fans, young and old, when he was starring in three sports at Butte High School. He was just the second boy to earn 12 varsity letters at Butte High, and he was a valedictorian of the Class of 2020.
If you were to write a movie and include a character like Tommy Mellott, nobody would believe it because he appears way too good to be true.
If Tommy told me he was going to be an astronaut, I would believe him. If he said he was going to be president of the United States, I would believe him.
If he told me he could fly, I would believe him.
Those of us who paid attention to his high school and middle school career have long known about his greatness. Seeing others around the state discover it over the last four years that he has played for the Bobcats has been incredibly fun.
My brother and dad are both Grizzly fans who never cheer for the Bobcats. Until Tommy, that is.
Now they are bleeding blue and gold as Tommy and the Bobcats head to Frisco, Texas for the second time in four years to play in the FCS National Championship Game.
The Bobcats head down to Texas on an unprecedented roll, too. MSU is 15-0, and the Bobcats have scored at least 30 points in every game.
MSU has a great offensive line, an incredible running game and a ton of weapons in the passing game. But Tommy is driving the bus.
He’s an All-American. He is the Big Sky Conference Offensive MVP. He is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award. Bruce Sayler voted him No. 1 for the Heisman Trophy because he can see that Tommy is the real deal.
No matter how the championship game goes on Jan. 6 against North Dakota State, Tommy has proven over and over that he is the real deal.
Everyone in Butte knows it. People around the Treasure State see it. Fans around the FCS know it. Soon, I bet, fans around the NFL are going to see it, too.
Don’t take my word for it, however. Just ask Ed Kelly.
He will tell you that you would have to be a fool to ever bet against Tommy Mellott.
— Bill Foley, who is not the smartest person to ever put on a football uniform, 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.
