Braylon Littlejohn is embraced by teammates after scoring his 1,000th career point in Wednesday night’s 63-60 boys basketball win over North Allegheny. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

BUTLER TWP — Seven ties, 17 lead changes, no double-digit leads.

Neither team could take control of the game.

But one player did.

Braylon Littlejohn takes a lay-up on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Butler High School. Littlejohn scored his 1,000th point in a win over North Allegheny. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

Butler senior Braylon Littlejohn struck for 38 points — giving him 1,017 for his career — in leading the Golden Tornado to a 63-60 Section 1-6A boys basketball win over North Allegheny in the Butler gym Wednesday night.

“Braylon was amazing tonight,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “He showed every facet of his game — great defense, hitting shots from outside, jamming the ball over 6-foot-5 defenders, making free throws.

“Only 15 players have scored 1,000 points here. Now he’s one of them. I’m proud of him. He deserves it because he works so hard.”

The Tornado (10-1, 3-0) had to work hard to secure their eighth straight victory. Their biggest lead was eight points, that occurring on an Ayden Davis free throw for a 57-49 advantage with 3:29 remaining.

But the Tigers (5-8, 2-1) came storming back.

Braylon Littlejohn gets an embrace from his mother, Kearsten Ihlenfeld, after scoring his 1,000th point on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Butler High School. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

A 7-2 run pulled NA within 59-56 with 2:01 left. All but two of those points came from 6-5 senior Joey Dopirak, who scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on the night.

“The best big man in our section and it’s not even close,” Clement said.

A Donovan Carney jam gave Butler a 61-56 lead before Dopirak stuck back an offensive rebound. A layup by Ty Iwanonkiw pulled the Tigers within 61-60 withn 33.4 seconds to play.

Braylon Littlejohn is introduced into the starting lineup on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Butler High School. Littlejohn went on to score his 1000th career point in the contest against North Allegheny. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

Two Littlejohn free throws upped Butler’s lead to three, but North Allegheny had the final possession.

Anthony Sciote tried a deep 3-pointer that clanked off the back of the rim, Carney controlling the long rebound as the buzzer sounded.

“I love these kind of games, actually,” Littlejohn said. “Back and forth like that ... You find out what you’ve got.”

Littlejohn had six steals and five rebounds to go with his 38 points. Carney had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, Tayt Lucas adding eight points.

Davis tallied four reblounds, two steals and two assists.

“Ayden played a very underrated game tonight,” Clement said. “He was disrupting things defensively, forced a lot of turnovers.

The Tigers had 18 turnovers in the contest.

Iwanonkiw had 14 points and seven rebounds for North Allegheny, which held a commanding 34-21 edge in rebounding.

The Braylon Littlejohn fan section was in full-force on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Butler High School as Littlejohn notched his 1,000th career point. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

But this night belonged to Littlejohn, who sank 12 of 13 free throws and jammed the ball twice. He hung on the rim after the second one, getting whistled for a technical foul.

“We won the game, so I guess that (technical) was worth it in the end,” Littlejohn said, smiling. “But I can’t be doing that.

“Getting 1,000 on a night like this was special. All of those guys who came before me, guys like Ethan (Morton) and Devin (Carney) ... It’s nice to be in that club.”

Braylon Littlejohn stands with his mother Kearsten Ihlenfeld and his father Antawane Davis after scoring his 1,000th career point on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Butler High School. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

Clement said Littlejohn is hard to defend “because he’s so shifty. He changes direction quicker than anyone I’ve ever coached in this gym.”

Moving on to Miami of Ohio to play college football, Littlejohn isn’t giving up the idea of playing basketball in college as well.

The Butler student sections erupts after Braylon Littlejohn scored his 1,000th career point on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Butler High School. Kyle Prudhomme / Butler Eagle

“If that opportunity rises, I’m taking it,” he said.

“He could play both sports in college. He’s that kind of athlete,” Clement said.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 60

Anthony Sciote 1-8 3-3 5, Joe Marquis 3-6 0-0 7, Ty Iwanonkiw 5-10 3-5 14, Joey Dopirak 11-17 7-8 29, Blake Craft 1-1 0-0 2, Paul Rubish 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-44 13-17 60

BUTLER 63

Donovan Carney 5-14 0-1 11, Ayden Davis 0-5 1-4 1, Andrew Lucas 0-0 0-0 0, Braylon Littlejohn 12-20 12-13 38, Kyle Casteel 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Epps 1-2 0-0 3, Tayt Lucas 3-8 0-0 8, Stainton Forbes 0-0 2-4 2, Coleton Welter 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Gettinger 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-50 15-22 63.

N.Allegheny 17 18 10 15 — 60

Butler 16 17 17 13 — 63

3-point goals: North Allegheny 3 (Marquis, Melzer, Iwanokiw), Butler 6 (Carney, Littlejohn 2, Lucas 2, Epps)

JV: North Allegheny, 73-69 (NA: Bobby Dopirak 26; B: Jordan Epps 23, Andrew Gettinger 12)

Friday: Central Catholic at Butler