Graham nets 18 as Butte High girls steamroll Butte Central

Butte High Head Girls Basketball Coach Bryan Arntson gave his girls the green light to shoot on Tuesday night against Butte Central.  Reserve guard and East Middle School 8th grader Cadence Graham, although too young to legally drive, took her coach's cue and hit 4 treys on her way to a game-high 18 points as her Butte High Bulldogs beat the Butte Central Maroons 62-32 Tuesday night at the Butte Civic Center.

Graham's first two bombs were part of a game-opening 8-1 Butte High run over the game's first 3:40 and the lead was simply too much for the Maroons to overcome despite getting 17 points from all-state forward Brooke Badovinac.  Although the Maroons would get as close as 5 points in the second, coming off an Arika Stajcar long-bomb, it was the sharpshooting of Graham combined with the inside play of senior forward Laura Rosenleaf that would propel Butte High to the win.  Rosenleaf would finish with 12 points for the Bulldogs and was followed by senior forward Emmarie Richards' 9.  Badovinac was joined in double figures by junior forward Mollie Drew who netted 10 for Butte Central.

The loss drops Butte Central to 1-11 on the season.  The Maroons will host the Frenchtown Broncs Friday at 7:15 at the Maroon Activities Center.  The Broncs beat BC 63-19 January 7 in Frenchtown.  On Saturday, they will travel to Livingston to face Park High in an afternoon matchup.  Butte Central's lone win on the season was at the expense of the Rangers, 68-56 on January 5 at the MAC.  After playing a great deal of the first half of the season on the road, Butte High will be home this weekend for a pair of games against teams from the north.  Friday they will host the Glacier Wolfpack at 6pm at Ross J. Richardson gym and they will tip it off against Flathead Saturday afternoon at 2.  Butte High lost to Glacier 48-36 January 6 in Kalispell and were bested 39-36 by Flathead the following day.