Hot Bulldogs cruise to boys consolation win

The Butte Bulldogs may have started slow at the Western AA boys basketball divisional, but they certainly got hot after that.

Jace Stenson scored 17 points in the Bulldogs’ 73-45 consolation win over Missoula Big Sky Saturday; it capped a three-game run where they scored 89, 79 and 73 points at Flathead High School.

Butte (12-10) will take a No. 3 seed into next week’s State AA tournament, which is at the Butte Civic Center. Missoula Big Sky — which eliminated defending state champion Helena Capital Saturday morning, 62-56 in overtime — is a No. 4 seed.

Butte 73, Big Sky 45

Cameron Gurnsey added 13 points and Tocher Lee 12 for the Bulldogs, who took control early: Lee hit a 3-pointer, then a fast-break layup to put the Bulldogs up 28-8 at 5:43 of the second quarter.

The score was 35-20 at halftime — Owen McGuinn hit a buzzer-beating three for the Eagles — and Big Sky came no closer.

Dylane Bache added 10 points off the bench for Butte, which shot 50 percent. Aidan Beard scored 12 points to lead Big Sky (10-12).

Big Sky 6 14 12 13 - 45

Butte 10 25 16 22 - 73

BIG SKY — Isaiah Reed 2-10 2-2 6, Josiah Cuaresma 2-8 0-2 5, Aidan Beard 6-9 0-2 12, Owen McGuinn 1-6 0-0 2, Tory Williams 0- 0-0 0, Lucas Thorne 3-7 0-0 0, Drew Paxton 1-1 0-2 2, McGil Sabado 0-3 0-0 0, Michael Hawk 1-3 0-0 3, Colter Ramos 1-4 0-1 3, Carson Towe 1-5 0-0 3, Isaac Wohl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 2-8 45.

BUTTE — Jace Stenson 7-14 0-0 17, Cameron Gurnsey 4-11 3-4 13, Jonas Sherman 0-1 0-0 0, Tocher Lee 5-8, 0-0 12, Hudson Luedtke 4-8 0-0 5, Garrett Sharp 0-1 0-0 0, Dylan Bache 5-9 0-0 10, Cayde Stajcar 1-3 0-0 2, Bo Demairis 4-6 0-0 8, Trey McCarthy 1–1 0-0 3. Totals 31-62 3-4 73.

3-point goals — Big Sky 7-22 (Thorne 3-4, Hawk 1-3, Ramos 1-4, Towe 1-5, Cuaresma 1-2), Butte 8-20 (Stenson 3-7, Guernsey 2-4, Lee 2-5, McCarthy 1-1). Rebounds — Big Sky 29 (McGuinn 9), Butte 32 (Stenson 13). Fouls — Big Sky 7, Butte 10. Steals — Big sky 1 (Cuaresma), Butte 5 (Luedtke 3). Turnovers — Big Sky 8, Butte 5.

Big Sky 62, Capital 56 OTS

Cuaresma scored eight of his 25 points to fuel the Eagles’ fourth-quarter rally; Isaiah Reed sparked things in the overtime with a 3-pointer and five free throws.

Reed finished with 12 points.

Joey Michelotti led Capital (12-9) with 14 points, 12 of them coming from the arc.

Big Sky 12 13 15 20 12 - 62

Capital 13 20 6 11 6 - 56

BIG SKY — Reed 3 5-6 12, Cuaresma 9 4-4 25, Mcguinn 1 3-4 5, Beard 3 1-2 7, Williams 0 0-0 0, Thorn 2 0-0 6, Towe 2 2-2 8, Ramos 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-18 62.

CAPITAL — Opitz 5 2-2 12, N. Michelotti 2 2-3 7, J. Michelotti 5 0-0 14, Kovick 2 0-0 2, Dowdy 2 0-0 4, Grovom 4 1-1 12, Buehler 0 0-0 0, Gross 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 6-8 56.

3-point goals — Big Sky (Cuaresma 3, Thorne 2, Towe 2, Reed), Capital 8 (J.Michelotti 4, Grovom 3, N.Michelotti). Fouls — Big Sky 12, Capital 15.

Butte 79, Helena 64

Hudson Luedtke’s 31 points led the way for the Bulldogs, who steadily pulled away from a 35-31 halftime lead.

Luedtke’s total including 15 free throws in 18 attempts; he had 21 points after halftime. Meanwhile, Jace Stenson and Cameron Gurnsey combined for five 3-points and 33 points.

Cael Murgel’s 22 points led the Bengals, who ended up 14-7.

Helena 14 17 13 20 - 64

Butte 14 21 18 26 - 79

HELENA — Petre 3 2-4 8, Murgel 10 2-4 22, Lieberg 2 3-5 7, Wetzel 6 1-3 16, Christman 2 5-6 9, Mosness 0 2-4 2, Melo 0 0-2 0. Ttoals 23 15-28 65.

BUTTE — Stenson 4 7-88 18, Gurnsey 6 1-1 15, Sherman 0 0-0 0, Merrifield 1 2-2 5, Luedtke 8 15-18 31, Stajcar 2 1-1 5, Demairis 1 1-2 3, Lee 0 2-2 2. Totals 22 29-34 79.

3-point goals — Helena 3 (Wetzel 3), Butte 6 (Stenson 3, Guernsey 2, Merrifield). Fouls — Helena 24, Butte 24. Fouled out — Mosness, Wetzel, Christman, Merrfield.