Butte ends Braves season
Butte and Big Sky moved on to loser-out semifinals by winning Friday at the Western AA boys divisional tournament.
Flathead’s season was ended by Butte and Jace Stenson, 89-65, and Big Sky beat Sentinel 64-32 behind Josiah Cuaresma’s 17 points.
The Eagles face Helena Capital at 11 a.m. today in Flathead’s Boyle Gym. Butte
Butte 89, Flathead 65
Stenson scored 24 points and had six boards to lift the Bulldogs past the Braves. Butte led 45-32 at the break and continued to pull away in the second half.
Hudson Luedtke added 22 points for Butte and had six rebounds.
For the Braves, Noah Cummings scored 18 points and Gabe Sims added 13.
Butte 23 22 28 16 —89
Flathead 15 17 18 15 — 65
BUTTE — Jace Stenson 24, Cameron Gurnsey 19, Jonas 6, Casey Merrifield 5, Hudson Luedtke 22, Garrett Sharp 1, Dylan Bache 2, Cayde Stajcar 3, Bo Demarais 4, Trey McCarthy 3.
FLATHEAD — Josh Eagleton 9, Gabe Sims 13, Lyric Ersland 7, Noah Cummings 18, Stephen Riley 2, Tyler Williams 4, Michael Manning 2, Korbin Eaton 9, Kahleb Plympton 1.
3-point goals — Butte 11-24 (Stenson 4-6, Gurnsey 2-4, Merrifield 1-6, Luedtke 3-5), Flathead 8-19 (Eagleton 3-4, Cummings 2-4, Ersland 1-5, Eaton 2-6). Rebounds — Butte 28 (Stenson 6, Luedtke 6, Stajcar 5), Flathead 27 (Manning 6, Eagleton 4, Eaton 4). Fouls — Butte 20, Flathead 24. Fouled out — Brody Thornsberry. Blocks — Butte 3 (Demarais, Merrifield, Stajcar), Flathead 3 (Ersland 2, Cummings). Steals — Butte 12 (Luedtke 4, Merrifield 2, Gurnsey 2), Flathead 6 (Thornsberry 2, Cummings, Sims, Dust Franchini-White). Turnovers — Butte 12, Flathead 24.
Big Sky 64, Sentinel 32
Cuaresma added eight boards to his 17 points for a Big Sky team that held Sentinel to five points in the second quarter.
Aidan Beard added 14 points and seven boards and Owen McGuinn had five points and eight boards.
For Sentinel, Patrick Sale scored 10 and had four rebounds.
Sentinel 12 5 11 4 — 32
Big Sky 18 14 16 16 — 64
SENTINEL — Brady Rupert 5, Trevor Rausch 3, Eli Iverson 5, Riley Allen 3, Patrick Sale 10, Evan Richardson 3, Kade McDonough 3.
BIG SKY — Isaiah Reed 12, Josiah Cuaresma 17, Owen McGuinn 5, Tory Williams 12, Aidan Beard 14, Drew Paxton 2, Colter Ramos 2.
3-point goals —Sentinel 3-16 (Rupert 1-5, Richardson 1-1, McDonough 1-3), Big Sky 2-14 (McGuinn 1-2, Williams 1-1). Rebounds — Sentinel 24 (Sale 4, Taft 4), Big Sky 30 (Cuaresma 8, McGuinn 8, Beard 7). Fouls — Sentinel 17, Big Sky 16. Fouled out — none. Blocks — Sentinel 2 (Sale, McDonough), Big Sky 2 (Cuaresma). Steals — Sentinel 1 (Iverson), Big Sky 11 (Cuaresma 4, Reed 3, McGuinn 2, Michael Hawk, Avery Omlid). Turnovers — Sentinel 19, Big Sky 7.