BUTTE – The Butte Crosstown City Championship between the Butte High and Butte Central boys and girls basketball teams was Thursday at the Civic Center, and with all that was at stake for all four teams, the writing was on the wall for a classic in the historic rivalry between both schools.
Starting in the girls game, the Maroons had odds stacked against them. Tricia Joyce and Maddie Kump did their best to keep things close early. Butte’s Ally Cleverly and Makenna Carpenter helped the Bulldogs jump to a 17-point lead. Butte Central’s defense fought hard and they made some plays in transition, but the Bulldogs would hold on for the 57-40 win.
Now over to the Boys game, Butte High looking for the upset against the Maroons for a Bulldog sweep of the city championship. Much to everyone’s surprise, Butte High came out strong. Trevyn Roth and Clay Ferguson shot the lights out early on. Butte Central countered that with Brayden Harrington and Dylan Sestrich getting it done from beyond the arc. Now we’re going to fast forward to about 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the game going back and forth at this point and the emotions are running high with the game tied at 48-all.
Ferguson got the ball down lown and got the hoop and the harm. Ferguson would hit the free throw, pushing the lead to 51-48 Bulldogs. After a Butte Central timeout, the Maroons could only hope for a miracle heave at the buzzer. And that’s exactly what Cade Holter did (see highlight video above), and he buried it from 55-feet away. An absolutely insane shot that made the whole Civic Center shake and forced overtime in an already epic chapter to this historic rivalry. Overtime came and Butte High jumped out to a quick lead and made its free throws late to secure a 61-57 win over Butte Central. For the Maroons, they’ll take that three-game losing streak into Saturday’s game against Corvaliis at home. Butte High will look to use this momentum to turn its season around. Butte’s next game is home on Jan. 15 against Billings Skyview.
