WEXFORD — Last Friday was a bit of a flat showing for Butler. The Golden Tornado wasn’t going to make the same mistake in their first time back on the floor since then.

Braylon Littlejohn and Donovan Carney combined for 33 points and a stingy defensive effort gave Butler a 63-50 road victory over North Allegheny Tuesday night. The Golden Tornado never trailed in the boys basketball contest and responded both times the Tigers (4-6, 1-2) pulled within four in the second half.

“We were disappointed after Friday night,” Clement said. “It was definitely our worst showing of the year. A good team beat us, but we didn’t show like we normally can show. Most importantly, we came out tonight ready to play and, I have to say, that’s as good of a defensive effort one of my teams has had — playing just straight man, half-court defense — in a long time.”

“Whenever we came out for jump ball, I told them, ‘We need to have energy right off the tip,’” Littlejohn said. “Because, during the New Castle game, we did not have any energy like that. We came out with energy and just one thing we’ve got to do is just keep it throughout the whole game and not just the first quarter.”

Ryan Porch netted a dozen points for Butler (10-2, 2-1) and Madden Clement totaled nine despite being held to a single bucket in the first half. It was what his squad showed on the other end that impressed coach Matt Clement.

“We kind of made an adjustment at half, we had to pressure the ball a little bit more to make the passes into their better players harder,” the elder Clement said. “Those guys responded. It seemed like Porch and Madden had a deflection and a steal on seven, eight possessions in a row in the third quarter. We struggled a little bit offensively to get going.

“Defense won this game tonight.”

Carney stuck to the Tigers’ point guard, while Littlejohn did well down low. Coleton Welter and Colin Casteel were tasked with Iwanonkiw, who sank six threes but couldn’t pull the hosts out of the hole.

“We were prepared, we knew he was going to shoot the ball,” Littlejohn said of Iwanonkiw. “But it was more that we worried of (Joey) Dopirak and (Anthony) Sciote. We shut them down and then, obviously, one person can’t carry the whole team. From there on out, everyone just guarded their man and we played great defense.”

BUTLER 63

Braylon Littlejohn 5 7-7 18, Donovan Carney 6 0-0 15, Ryan Porch 4 4-4 12, Madden Clement 2 4-4 9, Colin Casteel 1 2-2 4, Ayden Davis 1 1-3 3, Lance Slater 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 18-20 63.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 50

Ty Iwanonkiw 7 0-0 20, Joey Dopirak 7 2-2 16, Anthony Sciote 3 2-2 8, Joe Marquis 2 0-0 5, Jackson Howard 0 1-2 1. Totals: 19 5-6 50.

Butler 21 14 12 16 — 63

North Allegheny 15 11 11 13 — 50

3-point goals: North Allegheny 7 (Iwanonkiw 6, Marquis); Butler 5 (Carney 3, Littlejohn, Clement)

Friday: Butler at Central Catholic

The treys rained down for host North Allegheny during the first 16 minutes of the WPIAL Section 1-6A girls hoops clash that preceded the nightcap at North Allegheny High School.

For the Tigers, Lydia Betz, Jasmine Timmerson, Caroline Henderson, and Kellie McConnell combined for nine makes from behind the arc in the initial half, providing a comfortable 35-18 cushion at the midway point. North Allegheny coasted to a 64-47 win.

“Tonight was just a night where we shot well,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said. “I don’t think that it was anything Butler did poorly. You have those nights where you shot well.”

In all, his side shot 14-for-34 (41%) from three-point range. The onslaught proved to be too much for a Golden Tornado (6-7, 1-2) squad that is still coalescing.

“I said to him (Stefko) after the game, ‘Boy, I’m glad we halted your cold shooting,’” Butler coach Mark Maier joked. “We played zone for some of the first half. You can’t give them the open looks like that … They shoot a lot of threes, so they’re confident in them.”

Senior Justine Forbes and sophomore Amelia McMichael accounted for 36 of the Golden Tornado’s 47 points.

After McMichael opened the game’s scoring 53 seconds in, Butler turned the ball over on seven straight possessions, giving the home side the chance to warm up from deep and post 11 unanswered points. That stretch, however, wasn’t what did the Golden Tornado in.

Butler whittled the North Allegheny (6-3, 2-1) advantage to three after Forbes sunk a three with 6:47 to play in the half. The Tigers made a habit of quick replies, though. Stefko stressed that it was a matter of staying the course.

“I think we showed some maturity tonight,” Stefko said. “We didn’t let the situation of the game frazzle us. We came out and got what we wanted. It might not go for a possession or two, but if we get what we want two or three times, one of them is going to go. Then, the game of runs starts to lean in our favor.”

The Golden Tornado still has seven conference games to go. They’ll face off against Hempfield Thursday.

“They’re fighters,” Maier said of his crew. “They’re learning along the way, just like I’m learning how to coach them.”

BUTLER 47

Justine Forbs 8 2-2 19, Amelia McMichael 7 2-4 17, Jessica Chwalik 2 0-0 5, Hannah Aldridge 1 1-2 4, Sydney Patterson 0 2-2 2. Totals: 18 7-10 47.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 64

Jasmine Timmerson 7 1-2 18, Caroline Henderson 5 0-0 15, Lydia Betz 4 2-2 11, Kellie McConnell 3 0-0 8, Cam Phillips 2 1-2 7, Eva Prenatt 2 0-0 4. Totals: 23 4-6 64.

Butler 9 9 15 14 — 47

North Allegheny 14 21 17 12 — 64

3-point goals: North Allegheny 14 (Henderson 5, Timmerson 4, McConnell 2, Phillips 2, Betz); Butler 4 (McMichael, Forbes, Aldridge, Chwalik)

Thursday: Butler at Hempfield