CHURCHILL — The game felt like a yo-yo.

Butler had to overcome an early 16-0 Penn Hills run. The Golden Tornado wiped out an 11-point deficit, then a 10-point deficit, watched their own eight point lead disappear in the fourth quarter.

“It was hard just getting the ball up the floor against those guys,” Butler sophomore guard Devin Carney admitted. “They run a pretty effective press.”

The score was tied five times and the lead changed hands on seven occasions.

But with the game up for grabs in the final two minutes Saturday night, the Tornado snatched a 68-63 triumph over one of the top Class 5A teams in the WPIAL.

Butler (11-4) won its sixth straight game while Penn Hills (11-3) saw its own six-game win streak come to an end at the MLK Stand Against Violence Classic at Woodland Hills High School.

“I almost hated to schedule a game like this right in the middle of section play,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “But I’m glad we played this. They (Penn Hills) run a lot of stuff we haven’t seen.

“Games like this make you stronger. We played a 1-3-1 zone for the first time all season.”

A Mattix Clement layup with 6:40 remaining gave Butler its biggest lead of the night at 57-49. Clement drained a trey for a 60-52 lead with 5:17 to play.

The Indians responded with a 9-0 run, grabbing a 61-60 edge when Eddie Daniels stuck back an offensive rebound with 2:16 left.

“Butler’s probably the best there is in (WPIAL) 6A,” Penn Hills coach Dan DeRose said. “We had our chances. We missed too many open shots.”

The free throw line proved deadly to the Indians as well.

Carney hit both ends of a one-and-one with 2:10 to play, putting the Tornado ahead for good. An Ethan Morton layup hiked the lead to 64-61 with 1:17 to go.

Penn Hills’ Deondre Mitchell missed a trey from the left corner, Butler’s Mason Montag securing the rebound as Morton called timeout with 17 seconds left.

Morton sank both ends of a one-and-one with 11.1 seconds on the clock. Wes Kropp stuck back an offensive rebound to pull Penn Hills within 66-63, but a pair of Carney free throws with 2.4 seconds left sealed the win.

The Tornado were 10 of 10 from the foul line while the Indians were only 6 of 14.

“We would have liked to have gotten to the line more often, but they played great defense,” Morton said. “I love competitive nonsection games like this.”

Carney agreed.

“You can never play enough of these,” he said.

Butler’s backcourt duo shined on this night. Morton had 28 points — pulling within 28 of 2,000 for his prep career — while adding nine rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots. Carney had 23 points and a pair of assists.

Charlie Kreinbucher snared 13 rebounds for Butler.

“Charlie’s been a monster on the boards for a month and a half now,” Coach Clement said. “In our backcourt, we have a great scorer in Devin and a great facilitator who can also score in Ethan.

“I don’t talk in absolutes, but we do have one of the better backcourts in the WPIAL.”

Kropp led four Penn Hills players in double figures, scoring 20 points. Eddie Daniels had 15 points and five boards, Daemar Kelly 12 points and seven boards, Deondre Mitchell 10 points and nine rebounds.

Kyree Mitchell had eight assists, six rebounds and four steals. Butler had 18 turnovers to the Indians’ nine.

“We did a lot of things well tonight,” DeRose said. “If we hit our free throws, we don’t have to foul at the end and give them their free throws.

“Six of 14 at the line isn’t going to win a game like this.”

BUTLER 68

Zach Slomers 0-1 0-0 0, Raine Gratzmiller 2-3 0-0 6, Devin Carney 8-17 4-4 23, Mattix Clement 3-10 0-0 8, Charlie Kreinbucher 0-3 0-0 0, Mason Montag 1-4 0-0 3, Ethan Morton 11-16 6-6 28. Totals: 25-54 10-10 68.

PENN HILLS 63

Deondre Mitchell 3-14 2-3 10, Kyree Mitchell 2-10 1-2 6, Wes Kropp 9-13 2-2 20, Eddie Daniels 7-14 1-1 15, Eddie McKissick 0-0 0 0, Daemar Kelly 6-11 0-2 12, Noel Roach 0-2 0-0 0, Alain Tamo-Noche 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 27-65 6-14 63.

Butler 14 12 29 13 — 68

Penn Hills18 16 15 14 — 63

3-point goals: Gratzmiller 2, Carney 3, Mat. Clement 2, Montag; D. Mitchell 2, K. Mitchell

Tuesday: North Allegheny at Butler