Posting up
BUTLER TWP — Hanging out in low places isn't exactly an ideal place to be.
Unless you're on a basketball court.
Butler decided to hang out down low in the second half against North Hills Friday night. The strategy paid off handsomely with a 71-62 win in a mutual Section 3-AAAA opener.
“We played with a lot of nervousness in the first half,” Butler senior forward Mark Gross said. “We were too amped up. We were overplaying everything.
“At halftime, we talked about calming down, taking the ball to the basket and getting higher percentage shots.
The Golden Tornado (4-0, 1-0) played “our worst half of the year so far,” Butler coach Matt Clement said of the first two quarters.
“But the defense was still there and we still had the lead.”
The Tornado took a 22-19 lead into halftime. The lead changed hands six times in the third quarter before Butler began dominating play inside.
“We don't have much height and they took it to us,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “Our biggest kid (6-foot-3), Andrew Vojtko, was playing on a turned ankle and got in foul trouble.”
Vojtko fouled out with 3:12 left in the contest.
Tornado 6-5 sophomore forward Tyler Frederick scored 15 of his 16 points in the third quarter. Gross scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth.
“Frederick is a player and Gross just works so hard. He's relentless,” Gabos said. “Those guys are just hard to stop.”
Butler took the lead for good when Frederick stuck back an offensive rebound for a 33-32 lead with 2:34 left in the third quarter. He scored 13 straight points for the Tornado, who assumed a 44-34 advantage with seconds left in the period.
Butler's lead peaked at 71-60 with 19 seconds left in the game.
“We took the attitude in the second half that every ball coming off that glass was ours,” Clement said.
The Tornado sank 15 of 25 shots from the floor, 17 of 20 shots from the line in the second half. They sank nine consecutive free throws in the final 1:07.
“I liked the way we salted the game away that way,” Clement said.
Frederick had seven rebounds, Gross four rebounds and three assists. Andrew Paterno had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.“We worked the ball inside as a team in the second half,” Gross said. “The chemistry is there.”Senior guard Kindhal Taylor paced North Hills (2-2, 0-1) with 31 points, five rebounds and three steals. Nick Smith had 13 points and six boards.“This was the best game Kindhal's played for us in three years,” Gabos said. “But other guys were getting open looks and not hitting.“They missed a jam on one play in the second half and that should have been a jail break the other way. They wound up scoring on that sequence. We weren't getting to any 50-50 balls in the second half. I don't know if we got tired or what.”Butler had a 32-23 rebounding edge for the game. The Tornado had 15 turnovers to the Indians' 10.“Getting that first section win is huge for us,” Gross said. “We're so hungry this year. Tonight was the first step.”NORTH HILLS 62Nick Smith 2-7 9-10 13, Kindhal Taylor 11-18 7-7 31, Ryan Burek 1-5 0-0 3, Nick Sabolovic 4-5 0-1 8, Andrew Vojtko 2-8 1-4 5, Matt Reiner 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Chutko 0-3 2-3 2. Totals: 20-46 19-25 62.BUTLER 71Damien Pickett 1-1 0-0 2, Kelley Kuharic 0-2 0-0 0, Kaden Rock 1-2 0-0 2, Jace Stutz 1-1 0-0 3, Justice Lewandowski 1-4 4-4 6, Keenan Krause 1-6 1-3 3, Andrew Paterno 5-9 2-2 25, Tyler Frederick 6-12 4-5 16, Clifford Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Joel Stutz 2-5 2-2 8, Mark Gross 5-6 6-7 16. Totals: 23-48 19-23 71.North Hills 9 10 17 26 — 62Butler15 7 22 27 — 713-point goals: Taylor 2, Burek; Ja.Stutz, Paterno 3, Jo.Stutz 2JV: Butler, 75-40 (NH: Adam Taschner 12, Andrew Paulaskas 10; B: Jace Stutz 19, Jason Gray 13, Connor Ollio 12)Tuesday: Butler at Shaler
