BUTTE — The Butte High girls and Missoula Sentinel boys snagged the final two spots at next week's State AA basketball tournaments after winning play-in games on Friday evening at Ross J. Richardson Memorial Gym.
The Bulldog girls fended off Helena Capital 62-55 after leading by 15 points at the break as Butte punched its first ticket to state since the 2021-22 season. The Bulldogs went 3-0 against the Bruins this season.
Butte got a game-high 20 points from Cadence Graham, 12 from Dylann Baroletti and nine from Allie Becker. Capital was led by 14 points from Ali Miller, 13 from Madi Emmert and 11 from Eva Dahlquist. The Bruins were able to get within a single possession in the fourth quarter but never closed the gap.
In the boys game, the Spartans watched Butte High rally out of a double-digit deficit in the second half and take a one-point lead before senior Carson Towe hit a go-ahead jump shot with 10 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs' game-winning attempt was off and the Spartans survived 57-56 to lock up the final spot at the State AA boys tournament. Sentinel was the state runner-up last season.
Towe led the game with 20 points and Lincoln Rogers added 16 for the Spartans. The Bulldogs were led by 19 points from Dylan Bache and 11 from Hudson Luedtke.
The State AA tournaments begin Thursday, March 13, at Worthington Arena in Bozeman.
