Butler basketball swept by Tigers
BUTLER TWP — A few seconds can turn a basketball game.
Three seconds, to be exact.
North Allegheny scored four points in the final three seconds of the third quarter Tuesday night, doubling its lead to eight over Butler.
The Tigers (16-2, 7-2) then scored the first five points of the final quarter and went on to post a 66-54 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball win over the Golden Tornado.
“When you're trying to beat one of the best teams out there, you can't afford stretches like that,” Butler coach Matt Clement admitted.
The Tiger girls defeated Butler, 46-30, earlier in the evening to set up the visiting teams for a sweep.
But the boys game was up for grabs prior to that sudden flurry by NA. The lead changed hands seven times and was tied on four occasions in the first 19 minutes.
“That was a momentum changer, to be sure,” Tigers coach Dave DeGregorio said of the end of the third quarter. “We extended the lead and were able to make them chase us after that.”
Cole Constantino drained a trey to give NA a 51-44 lead with a minute left in the third period, but Justice Lewandowski answered for Butler (11-7, 4-6) with a trey of his own.
Constantino weaved his way through the Tornado defense and laid in a shot with three seconds left in the quarter.
“That was just poor defense on our part,” Clement said. “That defense was designed to stop the penetration and he dribbled through everybody.
“Then that last bucket ... That just can't happen.”
Butler threw the ball away with 1.6 seconds left. Mike Fischer inbounded with a long lob pass to Jordan Lake, who caught the ball and hit a layup all in one motion, just before the horn sounded.
Will Sandherr hit a 3-pointer and Fischer got to the hoop for a layup to give the Tigers a 60-47 lead with 5:34 to play. The Tornado never got the deficit under double-digits the rest of the way.
“Butler is a very good basketball team. They did what they had to do tonight and this was a tough ballgame,” DeGregorio said. “They played a junk defense on us, but we were getting open looks. It didn't bother us too much.
“They shot the ball pretty well tonight, too.”
North Allegheny sank 27 of 43 shots from the field, including seven treys. Constantino had 16 points, Fischer 11 points, five assists and two steals. Curtis Aiken had five assists as well for the Tigers.
Butler sank 20 of 41 shots from the field, hitting eight treys. Lewandowski paced the Tornado with 14 points. Andrew Paterno had eght points, four assists and three steals, Keenan Krause eight points and four assists.
Tyler Frederick and Mark Gross had five rebounds each for Butler. Both teams had 12 turnovers. Butler had 27 turnovers in an 84-58 loss at NA on Dec. 23.
“Our kids just got dead tired in the fourth quarter tonight,” Clement said. “They came up with a great effort against an excellent team.
“We have two section games left and we have to win them both. Hopefully, things work out for us from there.”
North Allegheny 46, Butler 30 — The Tigers' leading scorer on the season was in foul trouble.It didn't matter.Three other players reached double figures and North Allegheny (16-2, 8-1) limited Butler to 11 points in the second half.“We have an unselfish group and no one cares who scores, as long as we get the win,” NA coach Sherri McConnell said.The Tigers won their 12th straight game despite Taylor Lake — their top scorer at 13.5 points per game — managing only six after picking up two quick fouls in the first quarter.The Golden Tornado (6-13, 3-7) lost for the eighth time in nine games.“This is the worst stretch this program has had in a long time,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. “It's going to take mental toughness to get out of this. We have to take the attitude of 'We're not losing tonight.'”The Tornado trailed by six (25-19) at halftime, but NA went on a 10-2 run in the first five minutes of the third quarter to pull away. Meg Morningstar paced the Tigers with 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Abby Gonzales had 11 points and three steals, Devvin LaBarge 11 points.The Tigers were held below 50 points despite turning the ball over only three times all night.“Butler played very well defensively,” McConnell said. “They fronted us and forced us to shoot from outside.“But only three turnovers in a game ... That's a tremendous stat at any level of basketball.”Julia Baxter paced the Tornado with 12 points and nine rebounds. Alyssa DiPippa added eight points, six rebounds and three assists. Jenna Kunst had seven points and four rebounds as the hosts enjoyed a 25-19 advantage on the boards.“DiPippa is really strong with the ball. She was tremendous tonight,” McConnell said.But 19 turnovers and shooting 50 percent from the foul line (8 of 16) doomed Butler.“We gave away possessions and gave them extra ones,” Epps said. “If we cut those turnovers in half and make free throws, we're right there.“Besides Julia and Pip, we just haven't had any consistency offensively. We don't get enough points from the rest of the lineup.“I know we're barely hanging on in the playoff hunt. But as long as we have a chance, we'll keep going for it,” Epps added.GirlsNORTH ALLEGHENY 46Devvin LaBarge 4-8 0-0 11, Taylor Lake 3-4 0-0 6, Abby Gonzales 4-9 3-4 11, Meg Morningstar 3-9 7-8 13, Haley Zeise 1-5 0-1 2, Karlee Helbing 1-3 0-0 3, Grace Weiers 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 16-40 10-12 46.BUTLER 30Mia Rader 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssa DiPippa 3-8 2-4 8, Melea Barlow 0-0 0-0 0, Danielle Hensel 0-1 1-2 1, Kalynn Callihan 1-2 0-0 2, Jenna Kunst 3-5 1-2 7, Julia Baxter 4-10 4-8 12, Kailey Olenick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 11-28 8-16 30.North Allegheny 15 10 10 11 — 46Butler11 8 6 5 — 303-point goals: LaBarge 3, HelbingThursday: Butler at Franklin RegionalBoysNORTH ALLEGHENY 66Isaiah Zeise 2-3 1-1 6, Mike Fischer 4-13 2-2 11, Curtis Aiken 2-3 0-1 4, Will Sandherr 2-3 0-0 5, Keegan Phillips 3-4 0-0 8, Cole Constantino 7-9 0-0 16, Jordan Lake 3-3 1-2 7, Griffin Sestili 4-5 1-1 9. Totals: 27-43 5-7 66.BUTLER 54Kelley Kuharic 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden Rock 1-1 0-0 3, Jace Stutz 2-3 0-0 6, Justice Lewandowski 5-6 1-2 14, Keenan Krause 4-10 0-0 8, Andrew Paterno 3-9 0-0 8, Tyler Frederick 1-4 4-4 6, Jake Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Joel Stitz 0-1 0-0 0, Eric Hindman 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Gross 3-6 1-4 7 . Totals: 20-41 6-10 54.North Allegheny 15 20 20 11 — 66Butler12 20 15 7 — 543-point goals: Zeise, Fischer, Sandherr, Phillips 2, Constantino 2; Rock, Ja.Stutz 2, Lewandowski 3, Paterno 2Friday: Franklin Regional at Butler
