In a game where neither team ever led by more than 5 points, the Capital Bruins bested the Butte Bulldogs 47-43 in Helena on Thursday night, taking out the last remaining unbeaten team in Class AA in the process.
This comes as a consequence of Capital (5-3, 2-1) outlasting previously unbeaten Butte (7-1, 2-1) 47-43 in a thrilling contest between Western AA foes, in which neither team ever led by more than five points.
The game was much more defensively focused than many would have thought, as neither team scored a basket in the opening four minutes of the contest, a drought finally broken by Butte junior Brady Hanson’s two-hand dunk.
The Bulldogs would take an 18-17 advantage into the locker room, despite Butte High career leading scorer Hudson Luedtke not scoring a single field goal through the first 16 minutes.
Capital would snag the largest lead of the night by either team on a third-quarter 3-pointer from senior Wil Spotorno, though Butte would eventually whittle the deficit down to one with under two minutes to play.
It’s here that junior Carson Toivonen would connect on a 3-pointer to put the Bruins back on top by four, keeping the home team ahead for the remainder of the contest.
A critical part of Capital’s victory over Butte came on the boards, as the Bruins offensively out-rebounded the Bulldogs 15-5, scoring 18 second-chance points to Butte’s 6.
Junior Landon Levang led all scorers in the victory with 16 on 6-of-17 shooting, while Cayde Stajcar and Josh Liston each put up 10 in the defeat. Luedtke was held to a season-low of 9.
Butte will head back home to play Helena on Saturday, Jan. 17, while Capital’s next game also comes against the crosstown rival Bengals, this contest being played the following Saturday, Jan. 24.
More related updates, Click Here
