Hoops: Graham, Luedtke lead Butte over Flathead

The Butte Bulldogs hit the Flathead gym Friday and a couple of them — Cadence Graham and Hudson Luedtke — found it to be a nice place to shoot threes.

Graham hit four 3-pointers on the way to 16 points as Butte downed Flathead 40-25 in the opening girls game. 

Then Luedtke drilled five shots from beyond the arc and scored 29 points as the unbeaten Bulldogs beat the Braves 75-48. 

Butte boys 75, Flathead 48

Flathead led 2-0 on Eli Coopman’s coast-to-coast drive; Butte scored the game’s next 13 points, capped by Luedtke’s first 3-pointer. 

Leum Saisbury’s fast-break bucket narrowed Flathead’s deficit to 27-22 at halftime, but the Bulldogs (6-0 overall, 1-0 in Western AA games) pushed its lead to 38-27 on Luedtke’s four-point play at 5:52 of the third quarter. 

Threes from Mike Verlanic and Kendal Noctor put Butte up 49-34 late in the period, and the gap continued to grow in the fourth quarter. 

Luedtke added a couple heat-check threes in the final 2:08 for Butte. 

Hunter Fann’s nine points led the Braves (1-4, 0-1 in league). 

Butte    19    8    22    26    -    75 

Flathead    11    11    15    11    -    48

BUTTE — Cayde Stajcar 3 0-2 6, Rhett Arntson 2 0-0 6, Mike Verlanic 5 0-0 13, Brady Hanson 1 3-6 5, Hudson Luedtke 8 8-9 29, Kaleb Celli 0 0-0 0, James Pearston 2 0-0 4, Koda Schleeman 0 0-0 0, Raeder Grey 2 0-2 4, Ryan Hanson 0 0-2 0. Totals 26 11-21 75. 

FLATHEAD — Eli Coopman 2 2-2 6, Ben Reichner 3 0-3 7, Lance Schneiter 1 3-6 5, Reece Brotherton 3 0-4 7, Boston Case 2 0-0 4, Hunter Fann 4 1-2 9, Kyler Kossman 2 0-0 4, Leum Saisbury 1 0-0 2, Sam McConnell 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 6-17 48. 

3-point goals — Butte 12 (Luedtke 5, Verlanic 3, Noctor 2, Arntson 2), Flathead 2 (Brotherton, Reichner). Fouls — Butte 17, Flathead 17. Technical fouls — Butte, team.  

Butte girls 40, Flathead 25

Graham got hot and the Lady Bulldogs (3-3 overall, 1-0 in the Western AA) held down the Bravettes in the second half. 

Franki Salusso hit a pair of baskets and Allie Becker drained a three as Butte scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to lead 32-17.  

Flathead closed to 34-25 on Brynn Kossman’s basket with 4:00 left in the game but didn’t score again. Kossman led the Bravettes with seven points. 

Butte    12    10    12    6    -    40 

Flathead    8    9    1    7    -    25

BUTTE — Allie Becker 2 3-4 8, Cadence Graham 4 4-7 16, Autumn Clary 2 0-0 4, Franki Salusso 3 0-0 6, Emmy Johnson 1 0-0 2, Elli Graham 1 0-0 2, Seage Grey 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 7-11 40. 

FLATHEAD — Makenna Aldrich 2 0-0 4, Tayler Greene 0 0-0 0, Caitlin Converse 1 1-2 3, Brynn Kossman 3 1-4 7, Grace Gall 2 0-0 5, Lexi Herion 2 0-2 4, Reese Rosenberg 1 0-0 3, Teagen Flint 0 0-0 0, Gracie Mae Kilmer 0 1-2 1. Totals 11 3-10 25. 

3-point goals — Butte 5 (C.Graham 4, Becker), Flathead 2 (Rosenberg, Gall). Fouls — Butte 14, Flathead 14.