PINE TWP — It took undefeated Pine-Richland the full 32 minutes to defeat Butler Tuesday night.

Maybe even a second longer.

Rams junior forward Phil Jurkovec grabbed an errant 3-point shot from the right corner and laid it in as the buzzer sounded, giving Pine-Richland a 56-55 Section 1-6A boys basketball victory over the Golden Tornado.

At least, that was the final ruling.

The official nearest the play waved Jurkovec's shot off, saying the ball didn't leave his hand until after the horn. But the three officials convened at mid-court as Butler's players and coaches celebrated an apparent victory.

Both head coaches joined the huddle and Jurkovec's shot was ruled good, touching off a belated Pine-Richland celebration.

“I've never seen points being put on the board at the end of a game. I've seen points taken off,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “The official nearest the play waved that shot off.

“Then an official comes all the way across and rules it good? The way that whole thing happened ... I can't help but feel like we were cheated.”

Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackerman agreed that the losing coaches and players were going to be upset “no matter which way it went.”

“To say this was a wild game doesn't do it justice,” Ackerman said.

The score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands on 11 occasions, including eight times in the third quarter alone.

Butler (6-4, 1-2) turned the ball over only six times in the first three quarters — not at all in the opening period — yet had three turnovers in the final 90 seconds.

“They were all over our point guard when we were bringing the ball up the floor,” Clement said. “There was a lot of contact and they weren't calling anything. It was like a free-for-all.”

Still, it appeared the Golden Tornado were going to escape with the win. A trey by Ethan Morton gave Butler as 55-52 lead with 2:23 remaining. Andrew Petcash got the Rams (8-0, 2-0) within 55-54 by sinking a layup with 35 seconds to go.

Butler turned the ball over and Pine-Richland called timeout with 17.8 seconds left — with Butler having three fouls to give before the Rams entered the bonus.

After a couple of Tornado fouls, Pine-Richland worked the ball around the perimeter as the final seconds ticked off. Evan Luellen took a shot from the far right corner that sailed just over the rim.

Jurkovec snared the ball, laid it in and the controversy began.

“From my vantage point, Phil's feet were in the air as he put the ball back up. He leaped and met the ball,” Ackerman said. “If his feet were on the ground, he could have never beaten the horn.

“Just because there were zeroes on the clock ... The horn has to sound. I thought the ball was out of his hands before that horn went off.”

Clement said it doesn't matter now.

“Moral victories don't do us any good here,” he said. “I've got 25 guys in that locker room crying because they just played their hearts out and feel like it was taken away from them ... I don't know what to tell them. I don't have the words.

“When you're trying to get section wins, trying to make the playoffs, moral victories don't help. We lost the game.”

Tyler Frederick paced Butler with 25 points and seven rebounds. He hit three 3-point shots as well. Morton had 11 points, five assists and five rebounds, Connor Ollio three assists and three steals.

“Not many teams have a Tyler Frederick,” Ackerman said. “He's a tremendous player. When he's hitting from outside, too, there's not much you can do.”

Petcash, who didn't start the game due to a coach's disciplinary action, finished with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. A Division I prospect being recruited by Colgate, VMI, Army, Navy and others, Petcash entered the game less than three minutes into the contest.

Jurkovec had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Nolan Rausch nine points and three assists. Rausch canned three treys during the third quarter.

Butler's biggest lead of the night was 23-12 with 5:11 left in the first half. Pine-Richland responded with a 14-0 run and neither team ever led by more than five the rest of the way.

Three of the Tornado's four losses this season are by two points or less.

BUTLER 55

Jace Stutz 2-4 0-0 5, Ian McCarrier 1-2 0-0 2, Jason Gray 1-4 0-0 3, Tyler Frederick 10-12 2-5 25, Connor Ollio 2-5 0-0 4, Ethan Morton 5-13 0-1 11, Joel Stutz 2-6 0-0 5, Jefferson Ford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-47 2-6 55.

PINE-RICHLAND 56

Daniel Petcash 1-2 0-0 2, Owen Tyndall 1-1 0-0 2, Andrew Petcash 3-6 0-0 9, Evan Luellen 0-7 0-0 0, Phil Jurkovec 7-13 0-0 14, Seb Kosanovich 1-2 0-0 2, Grant Carrigan 2-2 0-0 4, Sean Colosimo. Totals: 22-50 8-10 56.

Butler 18 7 16 14 — 55

Pine-Richland8 18 18 12 — 56

3-point goals: Ja. Stutz, Gray, Frederick 3, Martin, Jo. Stutz; A.Petcash, Rausch 3

JV: Pine-Richland, 51-40 (B: Isaih Scrubner 11, P-R: Greg Shulkosky 13, Alec Swartout 12)

Friday: North Allegheny at Butler