Carney drains 8 treys as Golden Tornado net 68-53 win at New Castle
NEW CASTLE — If you can’t dribble past the zone, work through the zone or cut around the zone ... Shoot over the zone.
Donovan Carney did that repeatedly Friday night, draining eigt treys — mostly from well beyond the arc — as Butler scored a 68-53 Section 1-6A boys basketball win at New Castle.
“That’s a dynamic that we have,” Butler coach Matt Clement said of Carnety’s shooting range. “They play an effective zone and when Donovan continually hits those long shots, they’re forced out of it.”
Carney netted 28 points to lead the Golden Tornado (9-1, 2-0) to their seventh straight win, but he had plenty of help.
Butler led by as many as 11 (28-17) in the first half and took a 32-24 lead into halftime. But the ‘Canes (9-2, 0-2) knotted the game at 34 less than three minutes into the third quarter.
“This is a tough place to play,” Clement said. “Nobody has more respect for (New Castle coach) Ralph Blundo than I do. You know they’re gonna make runs at you.
“I’m just proud of my team, the way we kept our composure and just played our game.”
The victory marked the Tornado’s first win over New Castle in more than 15 years.
Sophomore Kyle Casteel, who had not played in three games because of a sore knee, made a key contribution in the second half.
Butler had a 41-37 lead — a Carney trey giving the Tornado that four-point spread — when Coleton Welter went to the bench with four fouls. Casteel took his place on the floor.
Casteel sank a trey at the 2:50 mark of the third quarter to up Butler’s lead to seven. He assisted on a Tayt Lucas trey for a 10-point advantage as well.
Casteel canned another 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in the period, extending the Tornado lead to 52-39. New Castle never got that deficit into single digits.
“It felt good just to get in the game,” Casteel said. “Hitting that first three gave me a lot of confidence. I got into the flow of the game right away.
“My knee’s OK now. I ice it down every day. I should be good to go.”
Clement pointed out that Casteel “was a point guard last year and he’s 6-foot-5 this year. He grew about five inches in the past year.
“That growth spurt was one of the reasons that knee problem developed.”
The Tornado turned the ball over only five times all night. New Castle, which entered the game having won seven of its last eight, had 13 turnovers.
“They beat us tonight,” Blundo said of Butler. “They played better basketball than we did. We couldn’t turn them over much because they have two great guards.
“Guard play is golden in high school basketball and Butler shines at that position.”
Carney had four rebounds, three steals and three assists to go with his 28 points. Braylon Littlejohn had 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Damian Harrison paced the ‘Canes with 20 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Ralph Blundo contributed 19 points, 15 in the second half.
Coach Blundo was recognized before the game for recently breaking the New Castle boys basketball record for most wins in a career. He has 323. The former record of 319 was set 77 years ago.
BUTLER 68
Donovan Carney 10-18 0-2 28, Ayden Davis 1-5 1-4 4, Andrew Lucas 0-0 0-0 0, Braylon Littlejohn 3-7 9-12 15, Kyle Casteel 2-2 0-0 6, Tayt Lucas 3-6 0-0 8, Stainton Forbes 3-7 0-0 7, Coleton Welter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-45 10-18 68.
NEW CASTLE 53
Noreaga Jackson 0-2 0-0 0, Damian Harrison 0-13 0-0 20, Kyrell Harris 4-11 0-0 9, Ralph Blundo 8-18 0-0 19, JT Warren 1-4 3-4 5, Nate McKnight 0-0 0-0 0, Damarian Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-48 3-4 53.
Butler 15 17 20 16 — 68
New Castle 15 9 17 12 — 53
3-point goals: Butler 14 (Carney 8, Davis, T.Lucas 2, Casteel 2, Forbes); New Castle 6 (Harrison 2, Blundo 3, Harris)
JV: Butler, 62-55 (B: Ayden Andrews 14, Jordan Epps 10; NC: L.Nininok 14)
Tuesday: Butler at North Allegheny
