Falling Short
ROSS TWP — Too much Joel Pepmeyer.
North Hills' 6-foot-2 senior forward scored 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out three assists and added two steals on Tuesday night in leading the Indians to a critical 50-49 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball win over Butler.
Pepmeyer's production was the key element as the Indians built a 44-33 lead with 5:52 remaining. A Pepmeyer layup gave North Hills that double-digit bulge.
Butler (4-7, 1-4) put together a serious run after that, holding North Hills scoreless for the next five minutes while pulling to 44-41 with 2:46 remaining. Nick Patten drained a trey, Arum Krause drove for a layup and Seth Cook completed a 3-point play off an assist from Dom Pusateri to draw the Golden Tornado close.
Pepmeyer sank a layup with 40 seconds left and added two free throws with 32.3 seconds on the clock. Pusateri countered with a layup and 3-pointer, the trey coming with 24.5 seconds left to cut the gap to 48-46.
“Pusateri practically willed Butler back into this game,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “He was outstanding down the stretch.”
Pepmeyer was outstanding all night.
“He dominated this game,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “He drove the baseline repeatedly. He grabbed every rebound. He went after every ball on the floor and made it his.
“That's the kind of player I want in a Butler uniform. I don't know if I have enough of that kind of player in a Butler uniform right now.”
Senior guard Corey O'Malley sank one of two free throws with 16 seconds left, but Zach Neudorfer misfired on an attempted game-tying trey shortly thereafter. O'Malley hit one of two free throws again with three seconds left to clinch the Indians' win.Patten hit a trey at the buzzer to account for the one-point differential.North Hills missed its first five free throws in the fourth quarter, including the front end on a pair of one-and-one's.“We opened the door for them,” Gabos said. “With four minutes left, I told the guys we were going to stop shooting 3s, drive to the basket and get to the foul line.“Ultimately, we have to sink more of them. But we had enough defensive stops late and we held them to one shot on enough possessions there to win the game.”The Indians (6-6, 2-3) sank just 4 of 11 free throws in the fourth period. Pepmeyer's performance proved to be the difference in the game.“Joel missed all of preseason camp with a broken hand and got his cast off just before our opener,” Gabos said. “He's only recently gotten into basketball shape and he's hitting his stride now.“He scored 34 against Perry, 15 against Shaler despite being in foul trouble, now this effort tonight.”North Hills won all three of those games.Butler sorely could have used a win on this night.“If you want to make the playoffs in our section, this is a game you have to win,” Clement said. “Our seniors ... somebody ... needed to step up before this game and say, 'I'm not going to let us lose this game.' It didn't happen.“Our backs were against the wall before this game. Our backs are outside of the wall now.”Pusateri paced Butler with 13 points. Cook added 12 points and seven rebounds. Tanner Bergman came off the bench to tally three steals for North Hills.The score was tied four times and the lead changed hands four times in the first half. Butler had a 20-17 lead with 1:59 left in the half before the Indians closed it with a 9-0 run.Bergman canned a trey, guard Dylan Mitchell drove to the hoop for a 3-point play and Ryan Burek sank a trey with two seconds left in the half.The Tornado never took the lead in the final two quarters.“I don't want to hear about a spirited rally,” Clement said. “This was a garbage performance.“We have to change something somewhere over these next eight or nine games or I just look stupid. Guys have to start stepping up. It all begins with Shaler Friday night. That's where we're at.”BUTLER 49Dom Pusateri 4-9 3-4 13, Seth Cook 5-9 2-3 12, Keenan Krause 0-4 2-2 2, Zach Neudorfer 1-5 0-0 3, Shae Stobert 0-2 0-0 0, Arum Krause 1-2 2-2 4, Nick Patten 3-5 0-0 8, Luke Hartung 1-7 1-1 3, Luke Tincha 2-3 0-0 4, Mark Gross 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Paterno 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Cratty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-47 10-12 49.NORTH HILLS 50Corey O'Malley 0-3 2-6 2, Dylan Mitchell 2-5 4-4 8, Danny White 1-7 0-0 3, Mark McIntyre 3-4 0-0 6, Joel Pepmeyer 9-18 5-9 23, Tom Gavin 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Burek 1-2 0-0 3, Tanner Bergman 2-5 0-0 5. Totals: 18-44 11-19 50.Butler 6 14 11 18—49North Hills8 18 16 8—503-point goals: Pusateri 2, Neudorfer, Patten 2; White, Burek, BergmanJV: North Hills, 66-43 (B: Andrew Paterno 15, Justice Lewandowski 14; NH: Shawndale Jones 25, Andrew Vojtko 9)Friday: Shaler at Butler
