CORE Butte’s gym saw its first major crowd of the winter season on Wednesday night, December 3rd, as families, students, and staff packed in for a varsity doubleheader against Paradise Adventist Academy. The atmosphere built steadily through the girls’ game, and by the time the varsity boys took the court, the bleachers were nearly full, and the cheer team was rallying the crowd along the sidelines.
Varsity Girls: CORE Butte 39, Paradise Adventist Academy 21
The girls varsity tipped off at 5:02 p.m., marking the first game of their season, and they opened with steady control. After a tightly played first quarter that ended 11-9, CORE settled in and widened the gap by halftime with a 19-13 lead.
From there, CORE Butte took over. Their third quarter was dominant, outscoring Paradise 10-2 and pushing the margin to 29-15. They kept the pace in the fourth and closed out a 39-21 win.
Senior Brianna Hayes opened her season with a career-best performance. She posted 24 points and 14 rebounds, a double-double that set the tone for CORE’s offense. Sophomore Polly Hansen added six points.
Head coach Mikayla Bumgarner said afterward:
“I’m so proud of them. I feel like I saw a little bit of everything that we worked on at practice. Every single one of them has made so much progress, and it’s so much fun to see on the court live.”
The win marks CORE’s fifth straight victory over Paradise Adventist Academy.
Varsity Boys: Paradise Adventist Academy 47, CORE Butte 36
The boys varsity game began at 6:37 p.m., accompanied by a full cheer team performance and a noticeably larger audience than the earlier match.
CORE started the night slowly, falling behind 13-9 after the first quarter. Paradise kept their momentum through the second, outscoring CORE 16-4 and entering halftime with a 29-12 lead. During the break, the cheer team performed at center court before forming a tunnel to welcome the team back from the locker room.
Despite the deficit, CORE responded with energy in the second half. They added eight points in the third quarter and put together a strong fourth, scoring 15, their highest frame of the night. Several late threes cut the lead down, but the hole was too deep to recover from. Final score: 47-36.
Boys head coach Benjamin Salberg said afterward:
“Team did a really good job… swinging the basketball and moving the ball around the floor.”
As for areas of focus: “Just gotta minimize turnovers.”
The loss drops CORE to 0-2 on the season, while Paradise improves to 1-1.
Next Game
CORE Butte returns to play Friday, December 5th, with a JV, varsity girls, and boys matchup against Central Valley, at 4:00, 5:30, and 7 p.m., respectively.