Lead slips from Butler late in 70-63 loss at North Allegheny
WEXFORD — Good bounces can sometimes wind up being...bad?
“Everything we threw up in the first half went in, across the board, the whole team,” Butler boys hoops coach Matt Clement said after a 70-63 road loss Friday night. “Sometimes, that can be a blessing, and sometimes that can be a bad thing later on — because we threw up a lot of shots that went in.
“That was great. It got us a lead. But, at the same time, you still have to be able to work your offense.”
Golden Tornado (15-4, 5-3) senior Ayden Davis and sophomore Donovan Carney combined for eight three-pointers in the initial 16 minutes of the WPIAL Section 1-6A clash with North Allegheny.
The last trey occurred on a Davis bank shot from the top of the arc right before the halftime buzzer, giving his side a 44-35 lead at the break. He’d watched a zany shot drop in from the top of the backboard the quarter before.
A Braylon Littlejohn and-one and three-pointers by Coleton Welter and Carney helped stretch the advantage to a game-high 15 points before three minutes had passed in the third frame.
After that point, the Tigers (9-11, 6-2) would out-score Butler, 32-10, the rest of the way. The Golden Tornado led by seven heading into the fourth, but went 5:22 without a field goal during that quarter.
“I just didn’t think we executed our offense,” Clement said. “There was not one time we said, ‘Hold the ball.’ I think they defended us really well both halves.
“We just made some really tough shots in the first half.”
North Allegheny’s Joey Dopirak put his team ahead for good with his basket with 3:29 to go. Earlier in that play, Davis appeared to take a charge at the top of the arc, but no whistle shrilled.
Dopirak, who finished with tied with Ty Iwanonkiw with a team-high 17 points, combined with fellow senior Anthony Sciote to seal the game with trips to the line over the follwing minutes.
“They’ve got length, and length can bother us,” Clement said. “So, we’ve got to get moving up and down the court against length. We couldn’t get stops on our end. We went through four or five different defenses tonight.
“You get stops, you get in transition. That’s the one thing that can kill length. If not, they have length and they’re in the gaps.”
Carney paced Butler with 19 points and Davis added 17, all of which were bucketed in the first half.
Tigers coach Dave DeGregorio attained 500 career wins with the triumph. He was unavailable for comment.
Girls Basketball
North Allegheny 58, Butler 53
Butler (4-15, 1-7) forced North Allegheny to earn this WPIAL Section 1-6A victory, as the Golden Tornado traded blows for three quarters with a team that has now won 11 of its last 12.
Butler possessed a 29-24 advantage at the midway point thanks to a full team effort.
“Up five at half, I knew they were going to come out and punch us, try to really take a big, heavyweight punch in the third quarter,” Maier said. “We withstood it a little bit.”
Amelia McMichael sank a trey that tied the game at 36 apiece with 1:36 remaining, but North Allegheny (17-2, 6-2) went up permanently after Grace Heliger’s three-pointer less than a minute later.
Still, the Golden Tornado wouldn’t go away. McMichael, Malina McElroy, and Avery Maier made shots in the final minute that kept their side within striking distance.
“It was a two-point game with 12 seconds to go,” Maier said. “Had to foul, gave up an offensive rebound foul shot. We could’ve had the ball down three with ten seconds to go.
“We were right there. That’s what you ask for — a chance to win or tie at the end of the game.”
Boys
BUTLER 63
Donovan Carney 7 0-0 19, Ayden Davis 6 0-0 17, Braylon Littlejohn 4 5-9 14, Coleton Welter 3 0-0 7, Tayt Lucas 1 0-2 3, Jordan Epps 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 5-11 63.
NORTH ALLEGHENY 70
Ty Iwanonkiw 7 1-1 17, Joey Dopirak 4 9-10 17, Anthony Sciote 3 6-8 14, Joseph Marquis 3 0-0 7, Ben Lukitsch 2 0-0 6, Carter Melzer 2 0-0 5, Paul Rubish 2 0-0 4. Totals: 23 16-19 70.
Butler 23 21 13 6 — 63
N. Allegheny 20 15 15 20 — 70
3-point goals: Butler 12 (Carney 5, Davis 5, Littlejohn, Welter); North Allegheny 8 (Lukitsch 2, Iwanonkiw 2, Sciote 2, Melzer, Marquis)
Girls
BUTLER 53
Amelia McMichael 7 4-5 19, Sydney Patterson 6 0-1 13, Jessica Chwalik 3 0-0 9, Malina McElroy 2 0-0 4, Avery Maier 1 0-0 3, Casey Clouse 1 0-0 3, Eva Stutz 0 2-4 2. Totals: 20 6-10 53.
NORTH ALLEGHENY 58
Lydia Betz 10 1-2 23, Caroline Henderson 5 0-0 13, Grace Heliger 3 2-4 11, Kellie McConnell 3 3-4 9, Vange Balouris 0 2-2 2. Totals: 21 8-12 58.
Butler 8 21 7 17 — 53
N. Allegheny 10 14 15 19 — 58
3-point goals: North Allegheny 8 (Henderson 3, Heliger 3, Betz 2); Butler 7 (Chwalik 3, Patterson, Maier, McMichael, Clouse)
