BUTTE — Jake Olson made the most of his Senior Night game.
The 6-foot-8 post scored a team-high 21 points and fellow senior Billy Kelly added 16 as the Butte High boys basketball team overcame an early double-digit deficit to fend off winless Helena High in overtime 59-50 on Tuesday in a Western AA game at Ross J. Richardson Gym.
The Bulldogs improved to 6-4 while dropping Helena to 0-10 and earning the regular-season sweep over the Bengals.
The Bengals lept out to a 14-3 lead with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter. Butte battled back to trail 23-21 at halftime and went on to force an extra session where it outscored Helena 14-5.
The Bengals were led by a game-high 22 points from junior Kaden Huot and 11 from Burgin Luker.
The Bulldogs now head to Missoula Hellgate on Friday.
BUTTE CENTRAL 58, LIVINGSTON 42
The defending Class A co-champions are peaking as postseason play looms.
Dougie Peoples racked up a game-high 20 points and Bryson Sestrich added 19 as the Maroons pulled past Livingston for a 58-42 non-conference win to extend their win streak to four.
Central, which fell to 1-4 in the Southwest A after a loss to Dillon earlier in the month, has claimed victories in all four of its games over the past week. The Maroons are now 8-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The Maroons host Hamilton on Friday and they head to Frenchtown on Saturday for their final regular-season game.
