Butternut Girls Top Hurley

The Butternut girls basketball team walked into Mellen on Monday night knowing they were facing a Digger squad playing its best basketball of the season, winners of four straight games. What followed was a game of patience, adjustment, and eventual control as the Midgets pulled away for a convincing 57–24 conference victory.

Mellen, despite being short-handed, set the tone early. The Diggers played with energy and confidence, jumping out to a 5–2 lead as Butternut struggled to convert early scoring chances. Shots rimmed out, passes missed their mark, and for the first few minutes, the Midgets looked out of rhythm.

That changed quickly.

Once Butternut settled in, the game swung decisively. The Midgets put together a dominant 20–0 run, fueled by strong inside play from Brooklynn Treml and Gianna Nahring, who began to find space in the lane and finish through contact. Meliah Hamann capped the run with a three-pointer off a kick-out pass, pushing the lead to 22–5 and silencing the home crowd.

To their credit, the Diggers didn’t fold. Mellen continued to scrap, forcing tough possessions and finding enough offense to cut the deficit to 23–10 by halftime.

Any hope of a second-half rally was quickly erased.

Butternut came out of the locker room locked in defensively and aggressive on offense, opening the second half with a 10–0 run. Lizzie Pritzl and Caitlynn Bebeau knocked down timely outside shots to stretch the lead to 33–10, and the Midgets never looked back.

Later in the half, Butternut delivered the knockout punch with another 12–0 run, extending the lead to 51–19. Treml controlled the paint on both ends of the floor, while Khloe Radlinger provided a spark during the surge. From there, the Midgets cruised to the finish.

Treml led all scorers with 19 points while stuffing the stat sheet with 15 rebounds and four blocks. Nahring added 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in a strong all-around performance. Bebeau finished with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Pritzl and Radlinger each scored four points, and Natalee Lueloff grabbed seven rebounds.

Kretchschmar paced Mellen with 11 points, while Kruzan added 10.

With the win, Butternut improves to 11–2 in conference play and 14–6 overall. Mellen falls to 6–6 in the conference.

The Midgets will stay on the road, traveling to Bayfield on Tuesday before heading to Drummond on Thursday.