Flathead’s Braves and Bravettes fell short on the basketball court Saturday afternoon, with visiting Butte closing out one game late (girls) and building a big lead early (boys) for two Western AA wins.

The second game saw the Bulldogs build a 20-point lead over the Flathead boys, before the winless Braves got in scramble mode and pared the lead down to 10 in the fourth.

Guard Hudson Luedtke helped Butte close out the 70-62 win with eight fourth-quarter points.

In the opener Flathead’s girls had a couple chances to cut into a 34-31 lead but couldn't connect and eventually lost 42-31.

Butte boys 70, Flathead 62

Luedtke finished with 15 points but other factors besides him were big: One was Rueso Batterman, who had 20 points and 10 boards for Butte; another was Flathead’s ice-cold second quarter in which they shot 3-for-16 from the floor.

A lot of those missed came from close range.

“We struggled to finish around the rim tonight,” first-year Flathead coach Dan Trageser said. “We had a lot of good opportunities and just couldn’t put it in the basket. When that happens, the basketball gods seem to reward the other team with an open three or a fast break layup. That’s what happened tonight.”

Butte (8-6 overall, 6-4 in the Western AA) trailed 14-8 early but rebounded to lead 36-23 at the break. Bo Demarais scored to open the second quarter and give the Bulldogs the lead for good, 16-14; Tocher Lee’s three gave them their first double-figure advantage, 27-16, at 5:19 of the second quarter.

Demarais sandwiched two baskets around one from Batterman to make it 49-29 midway through the third quarter.

From there Lyric Ersland heated up on the way to a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds. Big post Gabe Sims started the second half and added seven points. Brodee Zach had a late flourish to finish with eight.

“Lyric had a very efficient game,” Trageser noted. “Sims had a really good second half. We saw they were having trouble guarding the post and wanted to free Lyric up on the outside. Gabe did a good job demanding the basketball and finishing through contact.”

Ersland was 11 of 16 from the floor. Trouble was Butte was shooting well team-wide, with Batterman going 8 of 12.

“Our kids are always going to keep fighting,” Trageser said. “I can’t knock their effort. It’s kind of what we’re known for, is digging ourselves a hole and trying to dig our way out and either running out of time or making the hole too deep.”

Butte    14    22    18    16    -    70

Flathead    14    9    18    21    -    62

BUTTE — Bo Demarais 6-9 0-2 12, Dylan Bache 3-10 1-2 8, Rueso Batterman 8-12 1-2 20, Hudson Luedtke 5-11 5-8 15, Tocher Lee 3-0 0-0 8, Braylon Larson 1-1 2-2 4, Danny McCarthy 0-0 0-0 0, Colton Shea 0-1 0-0 0, Torre Tempel 14 0-0 2, Spencer Callaghan 0 0-0 0, Ryan Hansen 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 27-56 11-17 70.

FLATHEAD — Lyric Ersland 11-6 3-4 28, Brodee Zahn 5-14 0-0 11, Stephen Riley 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Griffin 2-11 0-0 4, Gabe St. Germain 2-8 0-0 4, Korbin Eaton 1-3 0-0 3, Brody Thornsberry 1-3 0-0 2, Dustyn Franchini-White 0-2 3-3 3, Gabe Sims 2-4 3-7 7, David Moody 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 9-14 62.

3-point goals — Butte 5-18 (Batterman 3-5, Lee 2-5), Flathead 5-17 (Ersland 3-4, Eaton 1-3). Rebounds — Butte 38 (Batterman 10, Bache 9, Demarais 9), Flathead 42 (Ersland 12, Sims 7). Fouls — Butte 14, Flathead 19. Steals — Butte 5 (Bache 3), Flathead 7 (Zahn 4). Turnovers — Butte 9, Flathead 10.

Butte girls 42, Flathead 31

Unlike the late game nobody really heated up in this one, though Butte’s Cadence Graham hit four free throws in a closing 8-0 run to finish with 15 points.

Flathead had a couple possessions in the final 2:30 with a chance to cut into that 34-31 deficit: First Quinn Tennison’s corner three glanced off the board and rattled in and out; then with 1:30 remaining Kennedy Moore missed, rebounded and missed again through what looked like heavy contact. 

Butte began marching to the line from there.

Moore finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. Flathead fell to 4-9 overall and 1-8 in Western AA games.

Selene Merrill had 13 points and 11 boards for Butte (7-7, 4-6 in league).

Butte    15    7    7    13    -    42

Flathead    7    10    7    7    -    31

BUTTE — Brityn Stewart 1-5 4-4 7, Taylor Drakos 0-2 0-0 0, Cartherin Sholey 1-1 0-0 2, Dylann Bartoletti 1-4 0-2 2, Cadence Graham 3-15 7-7 15, Selene Merrille 6-12 1-3 14, Ashlinn Mullaney 1-2 0-0 2, Franki Salullo 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 13-41 12-16 42.

FLATHEAD — Sami Dalager 1-1 2-4 4, Kennedy Moore 4-17 0-0 9, Harlie Roth 1-5 0-0 3, Chloe Converse 2-7 0-0, Celie VandenBosch 1-5 1-2 3, Mattie Thompson 3-4 0-0 6, Quinn Tennison 0-3 0-0 0, Ava Malmin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-43 3-6 31.

3-point goals — Butte 4-17 (Graham 2-12, Merrill 1-1, Sewart 1-3), Flathead 4-20 (Converse 2-7, Moore 1-4, Roth 1-2). Rebounds — Butte 29 (Merrill 11), Flathead 36 (Moore 13). Fouls — Butte 14, Flathead 19. Fouled out — VandenBosch. Steals — Butte 12 (Graham 5), Flathead 5 (VandenBosch 2). Turnovers — Butte 10, Flathead 19.