Gavin Derkatch – Montana Standard
BUTTE – The Butte Bulldogs defeated the Kalispell Glacier Wolfpack in a wild back and forth game on Friday night at Butte High School.
After trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs pulled off the comeback to earn a 60-55 victory.
“It was a lot about giving our best effort and competing, and that’s the guys did. They just didn’t quit,” Butte head coach Matt Luedtke said.
It was game of scoring runs and the Bulldogs managed to come out on top. After a tight first quarter, Butte used a 9-0 run to outscore Glacier 20-11 in the second quarter and went into halftime with an eight-point lead.
The Wolfpack fought back with an impressive run of their own. Glacier outscored Butte 20-7 in the third quarter to come back and take five-point lead going into the final quarter of play. Adam Nikunen played a key role in the comeback, making a trio of three-pointers for the Wolfpack in the third quarter.
Glacier’s lead turned into 10 points in the fourth and it looked like they would be leaving Butte with a win. Butte freshman Hudson Luedtke scored 14 of his 24 points in the final quarter, paving the way for a Bulldogs resurgence.
“Defensively our guys did a great job, we got the stops when we needed to and then got some timely buckets,” Luedtke said.
The timeliest shot of all came with 3:15 remaining in the game. Trailing by two points, Butte guard Cameron Gurnsey nailed a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 52-51 lead. Gurnsey scored 18 points in the win.
Butte held on to the lead for the rest of the game, and Luedtke’s two free thows with three seconds remaining put it out of reach.
“We didn’t keep our composure very well down the stretch,” Glacier head coach Mark Harkins said. “To be able to win on the road against good teams we have to be able to finish.”
After relinquishing an eight-point halftime lead and trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs showed their full potential at the end of the game.
“It was a complete team effort, that was the best we played so far this year. Glacier is a really good team, it was just about our effort, toughness and resiliency,” Luedtke said.
Glacier had three players score in double-figures, led by Noah Dowler with 13 points. Nikunen and Tyler McDonald each scored 11 points. Despite the impressive performance from the Wolfpack, they weren’t able to close out the game in the fourth quarter.
The loss is Glacier’s second in a row and gives them a 3-2 record to start the season. Butte improves to 2-2 with the dramatic victory.
“Hats off to Butte, they played their tails off,” Harkins said. “There is no quit in those guys, they have some great players and their good team.”
Butte hosts Flathead in their next game at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Glacier travels to play Missoula Hellgate on Saturday.