By John Robbins

Butte High Bulldogs 33 Helena Capital Bruins 42

The Butte High Lady Bulldogs started a little sluggish to begin the game and had some turnover mishaps early on but then righted the ship as Brityn Stewart knocked down a big 3 ball with a minute left in the first quarter.

Helena Capital would come down their next possession and match Butte High with a trey ball off their own, Capital would take a 13-9 lead after 1.

Helena came out strong to start the 2^nd as they would push their advantage to 7 two minutes in 17-10 Capital. Laura Rosenleaf would get a great dish down low as she sealed her defender, went up with the shot and got the foul call, completing the and 1. 17-14 Helena with 4:38 remaining.

The Bruins would get a slashing cut and a floater for two to go up by 5, Laura Rosenleaf would again get fouled on the Dogs next possession and knock down both at the charity stripe.

Each time Butte High would get close the Bruins would come right back down with an answer to just stay far enough ahead of the Lady Dogs in the second quarter. Capital would get an offensive rebound and cash that in for 3 more and make it 24-18 Helena with 2:30 remaining in the 2^nd.

With a minute left Cadence Graham knocked down a huge three for the Lady Bulldogs to cut the deficit to just 4 with less than a minute remaining in the half. The Bruins would take a 4-point advantage to the locker room 24-20.

Cadence Graham drives the lane and splits two defenders Thursday night @ Butte High School. Brityn Stewart pictured as well. (Photo John Robbins Butte Sports.)

The second half started much like the beginning of the game for the Bulldogs as they couldn’t really get anything going, notching just 2 points 6 minutes into the period, but Helena would only score 5 points in just as many minutes to lead 29-22 with 2:20 left in the 3^rd period.

Laura Rosenleaf played hard and was a main scoring contributor for the Dogs but hit foul trouble early in the period and had to sit for a while. Helena was able to hold their lead by all the second chance opportunities and offensive rebounds they were getting.

The Bruins would take a 33-24 lead into the final frame. Laura Rosenleaf would open the scoring yet again for the Bulldogs snagging an offensive board and going up for two. She would continue the hustle play grab another board and go up for the shot getting fouled on the play, she would make 1 of 2. 38-29 Helena 4 minutes remaining.

The Bulldogs would swing the ball around the perimeter on their next possession getting it into Emmarie Richards hands as she would knock down a clutch 3 ball to keep the Lady Bulldogs within striking distance. 40-32 with just under two minutes left to play.

Capital kept the pressure up all night never letting the Bulldogs find a groove as the willed their way to the finish line tonight from start to finish. Dylann Bartoletti would get fouled with 24 seconds left to play and make 1 of 2 to make it 42-33 Bruins as they would go on to win these one by 9 points.

Senior Laura Rosenleaf leads the way for Butte High Dropping 16 points, Emmarie Richars and Brityn Stewart each had 6, Cadence Graham had 4 Dylann Bartoletti, Payton Clary, and Brooke Groesbeck each had 1 for the Bulldogs.

Kayla Alniquist and Gracie Mockel led the way for the Bruins with 9 points each.

The Bulldogs will head to Helena Saturday to play the Bengals, tipoff is at 3:30 PM.