By Bruce Sayler
Looking to impress the Hamilton Broncs, a gathering of blasts from their past and even themselves, the Butte Central girls nearly pulled off a spirited comeback in basketball action Saturday at the Maroon Activities Center.
“I am really proud of our girls for our fight,” BC head coach Quinn (Peoples) Carter said after her team fell just short, losing 51-47 to the Broncs in a Southwestern A Conference counter. “We didn’t back down from the challenge. It would’ve been easy for us to let the game just get out of hand.”
Hamilton enjoyed leads of 27-15 at halftime and 38-25 with a minute and a half left in the third quarter. Then, BC stormed back in growing rivalry between two developing teams. The Broncs have one senior on their roster, Butte Central lists two.
The Maroons got a tough layup in traffic from Kenzie McQueary, another from Jaedyn Maldonado and then a rebound putback from Zayonna Otherbull to ignite their rally. Six-foot-one sophomore Taryn Hochhalter scored for Hamilton and the third quarter ended with the Broncs ahead by 40-31.
Eighth-grader Luci Fantini buried a 3-pointer to begin the BC fourth and then McQueary threw in a difficult runner from the left side and the team were suddenly only four points apart.
“I was really impressed with Kenzie and Zayonna, today,” Carter said. “I keep telling the girls we need to play our best basketball at the end of the season. As the season is coming to a close, we are playing better.”
Hochhalter tallied another two points for Hamilton, but Otherbull answered it with a short jumper off a McQueary pass, and Braelynn Schelin tacked on a 3-pointer, the assist also coming from McQueary. Butte Central was within a point, 42-41, with 5:48 still left in the game.
Kassidee McKern arced in two 3-balls for the Broncs around a rebound the Maroons’ Rylee Forbes stuck back in for a bucket.
Otherbull flipped in a floater with 2:42 on the clock before Hamilton sharpshooter Meryn Leonardi scored from a galaxy far, far away. The space shot widened the Broncs’ lead to 51-45 with 2:07 to go.
The BC girls a couple of opportunities, going empty on two foul-shot opportunities with 23 seconds to play before Schelin sank a pair of freebies to make it a 51-47 game. However, only six ticks remained after the Schelin free throws.
Still, Butte Central fought. Fantini snared an errant Hamilton pass and immediately called a timeout so Carter could set up a play. Hope flickered, but McQueary, trying to maneuver for a possible four-point play opportunity, was unable to get a good look for a good shot at the basket against the busy Broncs defense.
The buzzer blared, ending BC’s comeback try.
Butte Central was celebrating “Lady Maroons’ Alumni Night” at the game and many former BC girls’ basketball stars were in attendance and introduced at halftime.
The team’s Maldonado-led rally started shortly after the alumni recognitions.
She inspired the team to hasten the pace and was a defensive bother to Hamilton along with scoring six points in the third quarter, lighting the fire. She had played subvarsity ball earlier Saturday and so was unavailable to the varsity until the second half.
“Jaedyn is the reason we got back in the game,” Carter said. “I’m impressed with her fight going in there and making big plays. She’s just a gamer. She’s just really competitive and she’s what got us going and she’s really fun to watch.
“I wish I had her for more quarters.”
Leonardi, a 5-4 junior, scored 16 points and Hochhalter had 11 to lead the Broncs. The win improved Hamilton to 7-9 for the season, 3-4 in conference.
Otherbull paced the Maroons with 16 points, tying Leonardi for game-high honors. McQueary had 13, Maldonado six, Schelin five, Forbes four and Fantini three. Arika Stajcar and Jordyn Samson also played. Forbes also pulled down nine rebounds as Butte Central outrebounded the taller Broncs 30-22.
The BC club will take a 4-9 record to Livingston for a Tuesday non-conference game and is 2-5 in league play.
HAMILTON (5-9, 3-4) – Annalise Lewis 2-5 0-0 5, Meryn Leonardi 6-12 0-0 16, Elise Carroll 0-3 0-0 0, Loretta Hanson 2-5 3-3 7, Ashlynn McKern 1-3 1-2 3, Kassidee McKern 3-6 0-0 9, Taryn Hochhalter 5-9 1-1 11, Nellie Dickemore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-43 5-6 51.
BUTTE CENTRAL (4-9, 2-5) – Kenzie McQueary 6-11 0-2 13, Zayonna Otherbull 6-10 4-5 16, Rylee Forbes 1-2 2-4 4, Braelynn Schelin 1-5 2-2 5, Arika Stajcar 0-2 0-0 0, Jordyn Samson 0-1 0-0 0, Luci Fantini 1-10 0-0 3, Jaedyn Maldonado 2-2 2-3 6. Totals 17-43 10-16 47.
Hamilton 8 19 13 11 – 51
Butte Central 4 11 16 16 – 47
3-point goals – Hamilton 8-19 (Lewis 1-3, Leonardi 4-9, A. McKern 0-1, K. McKern 3-5, Hochhalter 0-1), Butte Central 3-15 (McQueary 1-2, Otherbull 0-1, Schelin 1-5, Samson 0-1, Fantini 1-6). Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Hamilton 14, Butte Central 10. Technicals – none. Rebounds – Hamilton 22 (Carroll 6), Butte Central 30 (Forbes 9, Otherbull 5). Blocks – Hamilton 1 (Hanson), Butte Central 0. Assists – Hamilton 16 (Lewis 5), Butte Central 11 (Schelin 5). Steals – Hamilton 10 (Carroll 3), Butte Central 12 (Fantini 4). Turnovers – Hamilton 16, Butte Central 17.
