Butler vs. Pine-Richland.

It could happen again on the basketball court before this season is over.

Should the Golden Tornado defeat the Hempfield/Peters Township survivor next weekend and the Rams get past Connellsville and Upper St. Clair, the two would meet in the WPIAL 6A semifinals Feb. 26.

And why not?

During these past four years — since Ethan Morton's freshman campaign — this series has produced some classics.

Buler and Pine-Richland have faced each other 10 times in the past four seasons. The Rams have won six of them. Seven of the 10 games were decided by five points or fewer.

Some of those games had epic moments or performances.

Just this season, Butler defeated Pine-Richland 88-84 in overtime despite the Rams sinking 35 field goals to the Tornado's 28. Butler was 22 of 27 from the free throw line that night, Pine-Richland hitting just two of five.

In the rematch, the Tornado trailed by 10 points in the first half before rallying for a 68-63 win on the Rams' floor. That victory clinched Buler's first section championship in 28 years.

Last year, Morton struck for 51 points at Pine-Richland — in a 79-74 loss. The Rams won both regular season meetings in 2018-19, but Butler nipped them 70-68 in a WPIAL semifinal at Fox Chapel.

Morton fouled out of that game and a furious Pine-Richland rally ended when the Rams missed the front end of a one-and-one in the closing second. That free throw attempt was delayed for several minutes as Luke Patten laid motionless on the floor after tumbling over a Ram player's back while committing the foul.

During the 2017-18 season, Morton sank a game-winning trey from just inside of midcourt at the buzzer, handing Butler a 77-74 victory on the Rams' court.

The previous year at Pine-Richland, the Tornado were saddled with a 56-55 loss to the Rams as Phil Jurkovec laid in the winning points after grabbing a teammate's errant 3-point shot. There were questions whether Jurkovec got the shot off before the final buzzer.

The officials met at midcourt and determined that he did.

Pine-Richland defeated Butler 72-61 in the 2016-17 WPIAL championship game at the Petersen Events Center. Tyler Frederick walked to the bench in tears after fouling out of that game late.

Few high school rivalries in any sport can evoke so many memories in such a short period of time. Butler is 75-25 over the past four years, Pine-Richland 87-21.

Two consistently dominant teams in the same section. Have they met for the final time in the Morton era?

Selfishly, I hope not.

This rivalry has been so memorable — and I'm pulling for one more memory.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle