Butte High looks to cage the Bengals

Down to the wire we go.

There is one week remaining in AA basketball, and the Bulldogs of Butte High School have 2 games left to play, Helena High School on Tuesday and then Helena Capital on Friday. Both Bulldogs teams are coming off inspired wins over Missoula Sentinel this past Friday night. The boys on the road with a monster 79-58 win, and the girls at home celebrated Senior Night with a 46-31 win.

The first time the lady Dogs squared off with Sentinel, they fell 43-28 in Missoula. Again, showing that Butte High School is getting better when it matters. In the game on Friday, the Dogs were led by Cadence Graham with 12 points off the bench, Brityn Stewart finished with 11, and Senior Laura Rosenleaf ended with 9 points and 13 rebounds. Butte High (2-10 Western AA) now has 3 ladies averaging 9 points a game, Laura Rosenleaf, Brityn Stewart, and Emmarie Richards. Cadence Graham’s average has jumped up to nearly 7 points a game.

Going back to the first meeting in Helena, the Bruins (7-5 in Western AA) held Butte High to 24 points. Offensively, Butte High is a very different team than they were just a month ago. Round 2 at Ross Richardson Tuesday night should be a great ballgame.

The Butte High boys rolled over Sentinel in Missoula on Friday night 79-58, giving Butte High the season sweep of the Spartans. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 7-5 in conference play and are part of a 3-team tie for 3^rd place in the Western AA. Helena High enters the ballgame 8-4 and sits in second place after sweeping their crosstown series with Capital.

Butte High won the first round in Butte, 58-49 on January 28^th. The Dogs were led by Jace Stenson with 18, Cameron Gurnsey and Hudson Luedtke each finished with 9. Those 3 all had big games against Sentinel on Friday, as the Dogs were led by Hudson Luedtke with 29, Stenson had 17, and Gurnsey finished with 13.

These last 2 games are incredibly important for the Dogs, as second place going into Divisionals is well within reach. The other side of that coin is, the middle of the conference is so jam-packed that there is also a possibility of entering the divisional as the 6 seed. A win Tuesday is not going to be easy, but this team has the pieces to make it happen. Tipoff is 7 pm in Helena, Tuesday.

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