P-R uses fast start to bury Butler basketball
PINE TWP — The 3-pointers were falling like raindrops.
Butler sank seven of them in the final three and a half minutes, scoring 27 points during that time.
It was the first 28 minutes that were the problem.
The Golden Tornado boys basketball team trailed Pine-Richland 70-38 with 3:26 to play before closing the gap to 76-65 by the final horn.
“I'm proud of the five guys we had on the floor during those final minutes, the way they played, the way they didn't quit,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.
“But we got stomped. You have to tell it like it is. I don't like it. Our players don't like it. But it happened.
“They played the first 28 minutes like we played the last four. That's this game in a nutshell,” Clement added.
Pine-Richland (13-4, 6-2) rolled to its fourth straight win and Butler (11-6, 4-5) didn't stay in the contest for very long. The Rams had a 19-9 lead after the first quarter, a 36-22 advantage at halftime, a 59-30 edge after three quarters.
“I don't know if we can play any better than we did those first three quarters,” P-R coach Jeff Ackermann said. “We were hitting our shots and our defense was excellent.
“We wanted to come out and pressure the ball and we did that. I thought we disrupted their offense.”
The Tornado managed only one trey — a second- quarter shot by Andrew Paterno — in the first three quarters. Pine-Richland sank 23 of 38 shots from the floor in the first three periods, including seven treys.
“Scoring's not a problem for us,” Ackermann said. “I can put five guys on the floor who can shoot the ball and we're hard to guard because of that. Our defense has really improved since the season began and that's why we're playing well right now.”
The third quarter bothered Clement the most. The Rams sank 10 of 13 shots while outscoring the Tornado 23-8 in that period.
“We needed to come out of that locker room with intensity and mean-ness, make something happen right away,” Clement said. “Instead, we didn't have any intensity.
“A few guys on this team come out and bust their butts all the time. But when everybody else isn't doing it, it looks like they're not doing it and that's a shame.”Andrew Petcash paced four Rams in double figures with 22 points. Phil Jurkovec had 12 points and eight rebounds, Adam Alexander 12 points and three assists. Ben DiNucci came off the bench to score 12 points and grab five rebounds.Pine-Richland had 30 rebounds to Butler's 22.“They just took it to us,” Clement said. “We lacked intensity. As the coach, I have to take the blame for that.”The lopsided score even caught Ackermann by surprise.“I'd have been happy getting out of here with a one-point win,” he admitted. “That's the type of game I expected.”Justice Lewandowski was Butler's lone double-digit scorer with 11 points. Jace Stutz had four assists, Joel Stutz nine points and four rebounds.Joel Stutz drained three treys during the Tornado's late surge, Kaden Rock and Jace Stutz two each. After scoring 30 points in the first three quarters, Butler scored 35 in the fourth against the Rams' first group of reserves.Ackermann had to put his starters back on the floor for the final minute.“It was all about making the most of their time on the court for those guys,” Clement said. “Impress yourself, impress your family, impress your friends. I asked those guys to give us something positive we could take into the next game.“Bottom line is, this was a game we needed to have. We've got five games left and if our intensity doesn't pick way up, they won't be a fun five games.”BUTLER 65Damien Pickett 1-2 0-0 2, Kelley Kuharic 2-2 0-0 5, Kaden Rock 2-3 2-2 8, Jace Stutz 2-4 0-0 6, Justice Lewandowski 4-8 3-4 11, Keenan Krause 0-4 0-0 0, Andrew Paterno 1-4 0-0 3, Tyler Frederick 3-8 1-2 7, Jake Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Joel Stutz 3-4 0-0 9, Eric Hindman 2-2 0-0 4, Mark Gross 3-6 2-2 8. Totals: 24-48 8-10 65.PINE-RICHLAND 76Adam Alexander 4-7 3-6 12, Ben DiNucci 2-7 6-6 12, Andrew Petcash 8-11 3-3 22, Paul Nussbaum 1-1 0-2 2, Alex Goitz 3-4 2-2 9, Anthony Battaglia 1-1 1-2 3, Joe Knapp 0-1 0-0 0, Phil Jurkovec 5-9 2-2 12, Charlie Tortorice 2-5 0-0 4, Nolan Rausch 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-47 17-24 76.Butler 9 13 8 35 — 65Pine-Richland19 17 23 17 — 763-point goals: Kuharic, Rock 2, Ja.Stutz 2, Paterno, Jo.Stutz 3; Alexander, DiNucci 2, Petcash 3, GoitzJV: Butler, 63-46 (B: Connor Ollio 17, Kelley Kuharic 14)Tuesday: North Allegheny at Butler
