Butte holds off Glacier girls

Glacier's Reese Ramey releases a shot in the paint guarded by Butte defenders in the second quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Allie Krueger (20) pulls down a rebound in the first half against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Karley Allen (14) shoots in the second quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Cazz Rankoski (25) shoots in the first quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Rylee Bigelow (2) drives into the lane in the first quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Reese Ramey (22) shoots a three in the fourth quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Karley Allen (14) shoots a three in the fourth quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) shoots in the first quarter against Butte at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 17. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

by FRITZ NEIGHBOR & JOSH AMICK
Daily Inter Lake | January 21, 2025 4:55 PM

Sophomore Cadence Graham led all scorers with 26 points and guided the Butte Bulldogs to a road victory of the Glacier Wolfpack 61-52 at the Wolf Den Friday night.

Trailing by 14 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack (4-4 overall, 2-2 in the Western AA) clawed back into the game and cut the lead to six with two minutes remaining. Graham hit two free throws to put the game out of reach.

“We had a sense of urgency in the fourth quarter and the girls executed well," Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “It is unfortunate that it took us until the fourth to find our pace and get going. They gave effort the entire time but really came alive in the fourth quarter.”

Butte went into the final quarter leading 54-40 and were held without a field goal in the first four minutes when Glacier staged its comeback.

After scoring 22 points all game in their matchup with Big Sky Tuesday, the Wolfpack scored 18 in the first quarter with Allie Krueger getting six.

“We were ready to shoot the ball with confidence and we know we have the capacity to score the ball well,” Cram said. “No matter what defense the other team runs, we have something we can run to execute good shots, and we did.”

The offense was there for there but the Wolfpack had a hard time stopping Graham as 10 of her 26 points came from the free throw line. Brityn Stewart was also a handful, scoring 19 points including three 3-pointers.

Glacier came into the game short-handed, missing two key rotational players in junior Cassidy Daniels and sophomore Madi Stevens. Daniels tore an ACL in last Friday’s matchup with Helena and Steven is dealing with a high-ankle sprain from Tuesday.

“At the end of the day I have five girls that I trust and are great basketball players,” Cram said. “It is difficult giving them the time they need to recover, but I expect the main varsity crew to dig deep and has a fire in their gut to finish the game for their teammates.”

Krueger filled the void, tying with Reese Ramey for the team lead with 12 points. Karley Allen chipped in 11, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

Cadence’s sister Cassidy scored seven points and the combination of her and Allen held Graham to six points in the second half after she had 20 in the first.

The Wolfpack dropped their second straight but coach Cram is confident in the team’s goals will not waver.

“Our expectation is still to be a top-seeded team in the west. It is unfortunate we dropped two games in a row after two big wins, but the girls are hungry to get after it every day,” she said.

“We recognize we are missing two key players and Madi will return but our motto this year is sisterhood, and we treat each other like family and thus far that has been what brought us our success.”

The girls’ next game isn’t until next Friday when they play a crosstown matchup with Flathead at home. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Butte 18 21 15 7 - 61

Glacier 18 12 10 12 - 52

BUTTE — Dylann Bartoletti 2 1-2 6, Cadence Graham 7 10-12 26, Sidney Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Brityn Stewart 7 2-3 19, Autumn Clary 1 0-0 2, Addie Hiatt 1 0-1 2, Franki Salusso 2 2-2 6, Emma Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 15-20 61.

GLACIER — Rylee Bigelow 1 0-0 3, Karley Allen 3 5-5 11, Allie Krueger 3 6-9 12, Reese Ramey 3 4-4 12, Cassidy Daniels 2 2-2 7, Cazz Rankosky 2 2-2 7, Lucy Halloway 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 19-22 52.

3-point field goals — Butte 6 (Stewart 3, Graham 2, Bartoletti) Glacier 5 (Ramey 2, Bigelow, Daniels, Rankosky) Fouls — Butte 14, Glacier 14. Fouled out — none.