Butte Central's Ryan Peoples, Butte's Elli Graham are this week's Intermountain Health Athletes of the Week

The Montana Standard has partnered with Intermountain Health to honor a Butte area boys and girls high school athlete of the week each week throughout the 2025-26 high school sports season.

This week’s Intermountain Health Boys Athlete of the Week is Butte Central’s Ryan Peoples.

The senior was consistently one of the Maroons’ leading scorers throughout their state tournament run.

In Butte Central’s first game of the tournament, a loss to eventual Class A boys champion Billings Central, Peoples led all scorers in the game with 23 points. Seventeen of those came in the first half, and he finished with two assists.

In the Maroons’ first loser-out game against Ronan, Peoples led all scorers again with 16 points in the win, as well as six rebounds, four steals and two assists. In Butte Central’s final game of the tournament, a loss to Frenchtown, Peoples scored 10 points and recorded three assists and two steals.

Peoples was the leading scorer in two of Butte Central’s three games at the state tournament. His efforts earned him second team All Conference honors. Peoples averaged 16.00 PPG this season for 176 points.

For his scoring and leadership on the court during Butte Central’s state tournament run, Ryan Peoples is this week’s Intermountain Health Boys Athlete of the Week.

Butte’s Elli Graham is this week’s Intermountain Health Girls Athlete of the Week.

The freshman, playing in her second state tournament, scored eight points against Billings Senior in Butte’s first game of the tournament, a 57-50 loss. In the Bulldogs’ win 59-40 against Helena, Graham had six points, and in Butte’s final loser-out game against Missoula Big Sky, Graham scored five points in the Bulldogs’ 58-29 loss. She was the second-leading scorer behind her sister Cadence in all games besides in the Bulldogs’ win against the Bengals.

Graham, who averaged 7.85 PPG this season for 102 points, earned second team All Conference honors.

For all her achievements in her early high school basketball career and with still three years left to go to continue to build on them, Elli Graham is this week’s Intermountain Health Girls Athlete of the Week.