PITTSBURGH — Butler couldn’t catch up late, but it hardly mattered.

The Golden Tornado lost this one early.

Central Catholic (9-2, 5-1) jumped out to a 19-5 lead in the first 10:28 and cruised to a 64-44 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball win over Butler Friday night at Alumni Hall.

“The way we started this game was disappointing and unacceptable,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We lost tonight because of the way we came out of the gate.

“You can’t miss as many lay-ups as we did to start a game against a quality opponent in this gym ... in our gym, in any gym ... and be successful.”

By the time Kaden Rock sank a trey to pull the Tornado (9-4, 2-3) within 19-8, Butler had missed 13 of its first 15 shots and had turned the ball over six times.

Still, Butler trailed by only 10 points (29-19) at halftime.

“We kept them in the game by putting them on the foul line,” Central coach Chuck Crummie said. “A 10-point lead is nothing against a team that can shoot like they can. They can wipe that out in 10 seconds.”

Not on this night.

Butler never got that early deficit under nine the rest of the first half. The Tornado never got it out of double digits in the second half.

“We had a chance to come in here and get a huge win that would have put us in a good spot in the section standings,” Clement said. “But to play like this? We have a lot of work to do.

“We played hard. But you have to play smart, finish shots and be strong with the basketball. We didn’t do any of those things.”

The Vikings put the game away with a 24-point third quarter. Central sank 10 of its 12 shots in that period, including three treys, and scored points in transition as Butler turned the ball over seven times in the frame.

“If we play all the time like we did in that third quarter, I’ll be pretty happy going into that locker room,” Crummie admitted.

Central took a 53-33 lead into the final quarter. Butler never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Bobby Kiernan paced the Vikings with 21 points, adding four assists and four rebounds. Steve Votodian contributed seven assists and four steals while Bricen Garner — headed to Pitt on a football scholarship — came off the bench to get five steals.

Garner had just returned from participating in an all-star football game in Los Angeles.

Butler had a 30-21 edge in rebounding, but turned the ball over 23 times.

“We did OK against their press. We kept turning it over in our half-court game,” Clement said.

No Tornado player reached double figures as Butler had its lowest point total of the season. The Tornado entered the contest averaging 69 points per game.

Rock had nine points on three treys. Connor Ollio had eight points and four rebounds, Tyler Frederick seven points and eight boards.

Butler shot 33 percent (15 of 45) from the floor.

“Now we have a big section game at home (against Seneca Valley) Tuesday,” Clement said. “We need to win that one to finish the first half of the section season at .500.”

Central Catholic has defeated North Alleheny and Butler by 19 and 20 points, respectively, in successive games.

“Let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic,” Crummie said. “But we’re just like anybody else. If we don’t show up and play hard, we’ll be in trouble.”

Crummie is 618-305 in 35 seasons as the Vikings’ head coach. Central is 311-92 all-time at Alumni Hall, including 9-1 against Butler.

BUTLER 44

Jordan Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, Damien Pickett 1-1 0-0 2, Kaden Rock 3-8 0-0 9, Luke Michalek 0-5 2-2 2, Kelley Kuharic 1-2 0-2 3, Jace Stutz 3-4 0-0 6, Ian McCarrier 0-2 0-0 0, Jason Gray 1-4 0-0 2, Tyler Frederick 3-5 1-2 7, Connor Ollio 2-7 4-5 8, Joel Stutz 1-4 2-4 5, Jefferson Ford 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 15-45 9-13 44.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC 64

Bobby Kiernan 9-12 2-2 21, Steve Votodian 2-5 0-0 4, Luke Nedrow 3-5 1-2 8, Jon DeVito 1-3 4-5 7, Matt Bilyak 4-4 0-0 8, Andrew Derda 0-0 0-0 0, Oscar Marroquin 1-2 0-0 2, John Revak 1-2 0-0 3, Tommy Farkos 0-0 0-0 0, Bricen Garner 2-4 1-3 5, Luke Deasy 1-3 0-0 3, Randall Whitley 1-1 0-1 2, Richard Wallace 0-0 1-2 1, Will Sproule 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-41 9-15 64.

Butler 5 14 14 11 — 44

Central Catholic13 16 24 11 — 64

3-point goals: Rock 3, Kuharic, Jo. Stutz; Nedrow, DeVito, Revak, Deasy, Kierrnan

JV: Butler, 49-45 (B: Jason Gray 14, Andrew Yonker 9; CC: Justin Tarrant 10)

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Butler