BUTLER TWP — Butler lost track of Andrew Petcash, lost the basketball and ultimately lost the game.

“We had a chance to put it away and didn't,” Golden Tornado coach Matt Clement said of Friday night's 54-52 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball loss to Pine-Richland.

“We played hard and fought back, but we're disappointed in the outcome.”

Butler (12-5, 5-4) expanded a one-point lead to 52-49 when Kaden Rock sank both ends of a one-and-one with 1:49 remaining. The Rams quickly knotted the game on a Petcash trey with 1:30 to play.

The Tornado missed a jumper and Pine-Richland's Phil Jurkovec snared the rebound with 1:19 to go.

Petcash, a junior guard, led the Rams with 21 points. He netted 24 in P-R's 87-79 home loss to Butler on Dec. 18.

“He was the one guy we couldn't let free there,” Clement said. “We got tangled up defensively and lost him. Then we took too quick a shot and allowed them to hold the ball.

“That was the game in a nutshell.”

The Rams did hold the ball until less than 10 seconds remained in regulation. Senior guard Adam Alexander drove to the hoop and laid in the eventual winning points with 6.8 seconds to play.

“We wanted to take the last shot,” P-R coach Jeff Ackermann said. “We might have gone a little too early, actually, but Adam is quick off the dribble and he had a lane. It was a good decision.”

Joel Stutz drove the length of the floor for Butler, but his runner bounced off the rim short. Alexander corralled the rebound and the game was over.

“Our plan was to get the ball to Joel with a head of steam, then have him either drive or kick it back out,” Clement said. “He saw what he saw and went after it.

“They executed down the stretch better than we did. That was the difference.”

Pine-Richland won its eighth straight game since the early season loss to Butler. The Rams had a 15-4 lead with 7:34 left in the first half.

The lead wound up changing hands 10 times in the final 10 minutes.

“We defensed their guards really well tonight,” Ackermann said. “They torched us at our place. We were embarrassed with the way we played defense that night. Giving up 87 points ... That can't happen.

“That night was our low point. We were 3-4 after that game and this team has too much talent to be 3-4. We made a new commitment to our half-court man defense and we've been playing well since then.”

Jurkovec had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Rams while Alex Goitz contributed nine points, five steals and four assists.

Butler had a 48-44 lead — its biggest of the night — with 5:15 to play. Goitz drained a trey, then stole the ball and laid it in to turn the contest into a see-saw battle again.

Connor Ollio had 18 points and five rebounds for Butler while Tyler Frederick had 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Joel Stutz had five assists.

The Tornado were out-rebounded badly early, but fueled their rally with a resurgence on the boards. Frederick and Ollio combined for four rebounds in the first half, 10 in the second.

“We showed some growth tonight,” Clement said. “We fell behind big early against North Allegheny and Central Catholic and wound up losing control of those games. Tonight, we fought back and got the lead.

“It just didn't end the way we wanted.”

Butler had won seven of its last eight before Friday's loss.

PINE-RICHLAND 54

Adam Alexander 2-7 1-2 6, Andrew Petcash 9-15 0-1 21, Nolan Rausch 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Goitz 3-6 1-2 9, Andrew Kristofic 0-0 0-0 0, Phil Jurkovec 6-11 2-2 14, Kordell Kirkland 1-2 0-0 2, Charlie Tortortice 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 22-46 4-7 54.

BUTLER 52

Kaden Rock 1-4 2-2 5, Luke Michalek 3-7 0-0 8, Jace Stutz 2-3 0-0 4, Tyler Frederick 5-11 1-1 12, Connor Ollio 9-11 0-0 18, Joel Stutz 2-7 0-0 5, Kelley Kuharic 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Gray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-43 3-3 52.

Pine-Richland 13 10 20 11 — 54

Butler4 14 24 10 — 52

3-point goals: Alexander, Petcash 3, Goitz 2; Rock, Michalek 2, Frederick, Jo. Stutz

JV: Pine-Richland, 61-56, OT (P-R: Andrew Kristofic 12, Evan Luellen 11; B: Ian McCarrier 17, Jefferson Ford 13, Andrew Yonker 11)

Tuesday: Butler at North Allegheny