Undefeated Bulldogs meet Undefeated Maroons in Boys City Hoops Championship Tuesday Night

Every year we seem to go into the Butte High-Butte Central basketball game commenting on how it's a meaningless nonconference matchup and, when it gets down to it, has absolutely nothing to do with either team's ultimate goal of winning a state championship.  This year, to make matters even less interesting, both the Bulldogs and Maroons boys each come into the contest undefeated.  Meaningless?  I think not.  These boys are going to be fighting for this win like it's the last piece of pie at Christmas Dinner.

Both teams are coming off of big weekends with the Butte Central Maroons having hosted the East/West Tipoff and being very stingy hosts by putting the clamps on Sidney on Friday night winning by 40 and then downing Glendive by 17 on Saturday.  The previous weekend the Maroons beat Browning and Columbia Falls in the Western A Tipoff tournament and their record now stands at 4-0.  Butte High had only one game over the weekend but it was a big one as they downed Billings West 72-66, improving to 3-0 after convincing wins over Dillon and Bozeman High School.

Both teams feature a talented starting 5 with a deep rotation and a standout scorer, but Butte High again this year has a size advantage.  The Bulldogs are expected to start 6'9 sophomore and 6'3 senior Cayde Stajcar up front with 6' senior Mike Verlanic, 6'1 senior Josh Liston and 6'2 senior Hudson Luedtke at guards.  Luedtke is the Butte High boys all-time leading scorer and has already gone off for over 40 earlier this year in the Bulldogs win over Bozeman.  Butte Central will most likely counter with 6'2 junior Cade Kelly up front and a talented guard combination of 6'2 senior Ryan Peoples, 5'11 junior Giovanni Fantini, 6' sophomore Jaxon Hiatt and 5'11 junior Joshua Sutton.  Sutton is currently the 2nd leading scorer in Class A with 23.8 points per game.

The Butte High/Butte Central boys game will be played at approximately 7:30pm at the Butte Civic Center as part of a doubleheader with the girls game starting at 6pm.