BUTTE – This past Saturday, the Butte High Bulldogs pulled off a big-time upset over undefeated and Class AA girls basketball powerhouse Billings West.
The way Butte High has been playing this season, however, has some to believe that it wasn’t as a big of an upset as it seemed on paper. Butte used its fast defense and utilized its guard strength to overcome Billings West’s size advantage.
Then with the game tied at 46-all, Makenna Carpenter received a pass from teammate Ally Cleverly after Cleverly couldn’t get a shot off against Billing West’s defense. With three seconds to go, Carpenter’s ensuing jump shot was nothing but net, sealing the 48-46 win. Carpenter and the rest of the team understand how big of a win that was and plan to use that momentum to keep fueling an already good season.
“Well, my mind was completely racing,” Carpenter said. “All I heard from the bench was, ‘Shoot the ball,’ so I was looking at the scoreboard. There was three seconds left, so I don’t even know, it was crazy going on in my mind.”
“Definitely think it was a big step for our program,” head coach Maury Cook said. “Billings West, the past few years, has been one of the top teams in the state. Coach (Charlie) Johnson does a great job with them, they’re always prepared well, and for us to come out and get a win against that team that out-mans us size-wise, I thought, was really big for our girls.”
