East Helena, Butte Central split doubleheader; Butte wins boys 71-69 OT

East Helena and No. 3 Butte Central split a nonconference doubleheader at East Helena High School on Tuesday night, with the Vigilante girls winning 53-25 and the Maroon boys edging East Helena 71-69 in overtime. Butte Central has Corvallis on the schedule this Saturday and closes its regular season next Tuesday with a home doubleheader against Dillon.

The girls’ contest ended 53-25 in favor of East Helena as Butte Central fell behind early and could not recover. East Helena finished its regular season with the twin bill; the girls’ schedule page shows a season notation of (10-8-0). Game action and photo captions highlighted East Helena players Ellie Silvonen driving past the defense, Emma Taylor splitting defenders for a layup, Keeley Hamilton and Adde Mix hitting inside shots, and Rori Schoenfeld battling for offensive rebounds. The East Helena student section staged a themed “minion night” for the tilt.

The boys’ game required overtime after a dramatic finish to regulation. East Helena’s Parker Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled, and made one of two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to tie the game at 61 and send it to extra time. The printed boxscore lists the East Helena team line as EAST HELENA (10-8), Bearek Sherman 5 4-5 14, Deondray Ellis 9 3-6 23, Andrew Maxness 4 0-0 8, Avery Hager 9 0-2 18, Talen Thatcher 0 1-2 1, Parker Taylor 2 1-2 5. Totals 29 9-17 69. One source contained a misspelling of Taylor’s name as "Paker"; the boxscore spelling is Parker.

In overtime Joshua Sutton sank a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to lift the Maroons. After Sutton’s three the Vigilantes’ final attempt caromed wide and out of bounds; with 0.3 seconds on the clock Butte Central’s Cade Kelly tipped away a pass and preserved the 71-69 win. The period-by-period scoring read: Central 21 10 11 19 10 - 71; E. Helena 13 12 15 21 8 - 69. The game boxscore shows BUTTE CENTRAL (14-2), Ryan Peoples 13 3-4 29, Cade Kelly 0 0-0 0, Joshua Sutton 7 4-4 19, GG Fantini 1 0-0 2, Jaxon Hiatt 4 1-2 10, Noah Sutton 3 1-2 9, Burkley Lakkala 0 0-0 0, Henly Mansanti 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 9-12 71. Three-point goals were BC 4 (N. Sutton 2, J. Sutton, Hiatt) and E. Helena 2 (Ellis 2). Fouls listed were BC 15, E. Helena 14, and Jaxon Hiatt fouled out.

Video highlights and multiple game photos documented both contests. East Helena concluded its regular season with the split; Butte Central moves on with Corvallis Saturday and the Dillon doubleheader next Tuesday.