BUTLER TWP — Last year’s team won only seven games and last year’s leading scorer, Nick Patten, moved to Florida.

Prospects for Butler boys basketball, 2014-15, didn’t appear promising.

Add in the fact guard Arum Krause did not return to the team because of injury and talented sophomore center Tyler Frederick battled back problems much of the season.

“Still, everybody bought in,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “Players had to take on different roles than they had in the past, step out of their comfort zones.

“Guys became more physical basketball players and our defense got more aggressive ... It all worked.”

It worked to the tune of a 14-9 record — doubling the Golden Tornado win total from the previous year — and a WPIAL Class AAAA playoff berth.

And it earned Clement his third Butler Eagle Boys Basketball Coach of the Year honor. He also received that distinction in 2010 and 2011.

Clement edged out Rob Carmody of Mars and Ron McNabb of Knoch for this year’s honor.

“Matt is simply a fierce competitor,” Butler assistant coach Don Hilliard said. “You don’t get to the major leagues and do what he’s done without being that way.

“He cares about these kids and he cares about winning. He wants to make a positive impact in their lives.”

Clement credited this year’s seniors — Joe Lewandowski, Andrew Paterno, Mark Gross, Keenan Krause, Jake Anderson and Eric Hindman — for “looking at the big picture” all season.

“We have a young kid like Tyler and he’s taking some of their minutes,” Clement said. “But these guys recognized the fact he’s helping us win and making us better.

“They enhanced his play by working with him, spending time with him. There wasn’t an ounce of jealousy on this team.”

During the fall league, the Tornado played basketball without its football and soccer players. That left a handful of players to compete against the likes of Cathedral Prep, Penn Hills and New Castle.

Butler was competitive against Cathedral Prep, then defeated the latter two.

“The bond sort of started there, especially after coming off a couple of rough seasons in a row,” Clement said.

Butler became more aggressive defensively — particularly on the wings — and wound up leading Section 3-AAAA with an average of 57.3 points allowed per game.

“We lacked toughness last year and this defense brought that out of these kids,” Hilliard said. “We played a more passive style of defense last season and Matt put in the more aggressive style during the summer.

“He saw that would fit our up and coming players better and our seniors matured as athletes and adjusted. Coming out to pressure the wings takes hard work and effort. Everyone committed to it.”

The Tornado reached the playoffs with a 5-7 section record, defeating Seneca Valley in a must-win section finale to qualify. Butler was 9-1 in non-section games during the regular season.

“Tyler was hurt during the heart of our section schedule or that record might have been better,” Clement said.

The fact Butler reached the playoffs this season could set the program up for the future. Clement compares this team to his first one that reached the playoffs.

“The seniors on that team, guys like Logan Renwick, Jeff Tompkins ... They laid the foundation for teams that reached the WPIAL semifinals the next two years,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens again.

“This year was huge for this program.”