BUTLER TWP — There is a fine line in Section 1-6A boys basketball.

Right now, Butler is walking on the wrong side of it.

The Golden Tornado (9-6, 3-4) managed just one point in the final 3:14 Friday night in dropping a 55-50 decision to North Hills. All four of Butler's section losses are by seven points or fewer.

“I don't fault our effort. The kids wanted this one badly,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “I guess you can fault our execution.

“They made more plays down the stretch than we did and that was the difference.”

The Tornado shot out to a 10-4 lead in the first three minutes of the game. That would be the biggest lead either team would possess all night.

The lead changed hands six times in the third quarter. Butler's last lead of the night was at 44-41 with 36 seconds left in the third period.

North Hills (12-3, 5-2) knotted the game at 44 on a Nick Smith steal and lay-up late in the period. The Indians took a 50-46 lead on a Garret Barto lay-up with 4:36 remaining, but Butler freshman Ethan Morton answered with a three-point play with 3:15 to go.

The Tornado had three more possessions with a chance to take the lead. Two of them resulted in turnovers and Morton missed the front end of a one-and-one with 59 seconds to play.

Junior guard Kamron Taylor widened the Indians' lead by sinking two free throws with 56.8 seconds left, two more with 38.7 to play and another with 23.3 seconds on the clock. He had missed three of four free throws earlier in the second half.

“We're normally a good free throw shooting team, but we struggled tonight,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “Their student section was right on top of us there and that makes it a little tough.

“Once you miss a few, though, you tend to start hitting a few. Kam's shots were big there.”

The Indians were 16 of 30 from the line for the night.

After Morton's missed free throw, Tyler Frederick sank one of two free throws with 41 seconds left for Butler's lone point down the stretch. The Tornado sank just two of nine shots in the fourth period.

“We couldn't hit anything,” Clement said. “Finishing games is a process and I know we're going to get better at it.

“We told the kids before the season started that we'd have to take these section games one at a time. A lot of things can still happen.”

Gabos agreed.

“This section is strong from top to bottom pretty much all the time,” he said. “This year is no different.

“This is a good win for us against a very good team. This is a tough place to play.”

Senior point guard Smith led the Indians with 22 points, adding six rebounds and three assists. Barto added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Chutko six assists.

“We knew they were going to get after Nick and they did,” Gabos said. “He called our second timeout in this game because he was exhausted. He had to sit down and get a drink of water.

“He worked for everything he got.”

Clement said he's “seen write-ups in the paper where he's scoring 40. I thought we did a good job on him.”

North Hills entered the game as the highest scoring team in WPIAL Class 6A, averaging 78 points per game.

“We held them down, I can't complain about our defense. We just didn't score,” Clement said.

Morton paced Butler with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Frederick had 13 points and four boards, Joel Stutz 11 points and Connor Ollio seven rebounds.

NORTH HILLS 55

Jonny Stuckert 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Smith 8-14 5-6 22, Chad Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Chutko 1-3 0-0 2, Andrew Paulauskas 1-8 1-4 3, Kamron Taylor 1-2 6-10 8, Alex GlatZ 2-6 0-0 4, Garret Barto 6-9 4-4 16. Totals: 19-43 16-30 55.

BUTLER 50

Luke Michalek 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Stutz 2-3 0-0 5, Ian McCarrier 0-1 0-0 0, Jason Gray 0-5 0-0 0, Tyler Frederick 5-8 3-6 13, Connor Ollio 1-4 3-4 5, Ethan Morton 4-12 6-8 16, Cade Negley 0-1 0-0 0, Joel Stutz 4-12 0-0 11, Jefferson Ford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-47 12-18 50.

North Hills 14 18 12 11 — 55

Butler18 11 15 6 — 50

3-point goals: Smith; Ja.Stutz, Morton 2, Jo.Stutz 3

JV: Butler, 43-38 (NH: Alex Brown 13, B: Pat McLachlan 17, Doug Kostelansky 11)

Tuesday: Butler at Shaler