BUTLER TWP — Timing is everything — and it wasn't on Butler's side Friday night.

Section 1-6A leader North Allegheny invaded the Golden Tornado gym and handed Butler an 85-62 boys basketball defeat. The Tornado played without starting point guard Raine Gratzmiller and center Charlie Kreinbucher.

Gratzmiller has an ankle injury and is wearing a boot. Kreinbucher had a procedure done on his thumb.

“Both are out for an indefinite period,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We won't use that as an excuse. Nobody is going to feel bad for us.

“This is why you have 25 guys on the roster. This is why you have a youth program. We have to find a way to be competitive and win games and that all starts with me.”

Butler (3-3, 0-3) scored only four points in the first quarter Friday, sinking two of 14 shots while turning the ball over six times. The Tornado trailed 31-11 midway through the second quarter.

“We missed a lot of easy shots. You can't afford to do that against a team like this ... they're too good,” Clement said.

A sudden 18-4 Butler run trimmed that deficit to 35-29 with 55 seconds left in the half.

“We didn't quit. It would have been easy to. But that's not what's inside these guys,” Clement said.

“We got complacent,” NA coach Dan DeRose admitted. “That can happen when you get a quick lead that early. We had too many turnovers, too many empty possessions.”

Madden Clement hit a trey and Mattix Clement drove to the hoop for a pair of layups during the run. Devin Carney and David Leslie got to the hoop for layups as well.

The Tigers (5-2, 4-0) used a 14-0 run to build that second quarter lead. A 12-2 run to begin the second half hiked NA's lead to 51-32. Butler never got within single digits again.

Four NA players reached double digits. Greg Habib scored 21 points, had three steals and three assists. Matt McDonough contributed 20 points and five rebounds, sinking five treys.

Khalil Dinkins had 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals, Ethan Lake 12 points, six rebounds and three assists.

“You always want to have multiple guys who can score,” DeRose said. “Once they put a triangle-and-two on us, that became doubly important.

“We had a good night shooting the ball.”

The Tigers sank 34 of 59 shots from the floor. Both teams had 18 turnovers.

“They put together a couple of spurts against us, but we responded well both times,” DeRose said. “Part of the problem was that our bench didn't give us the same intensity our starting five did.”

Carney led Butler with 28 points, adding three assists and three steals. Mattix Clement scored 18 points, sinking four treys. Clement scored 16 of his points in the second half.

Colin Patterson had five assists and four rebounds. The Tornado lost the rebound battle, 42-24.

“It didn't feel like it was that bad,” Coach Clement said of the rebound differential. “Of course, when we didn't have Kaleb (6-foot-9 Proudfoot) in there, our tallest player was 6-1.

“I thought Devin made some good decisions running the point tonight. There's a lot on him right now and he knows it, but he didn't try to force things and he didn't turn the ball over.”

North Allegheny snapped a 10-game losing streak to Butler. The Tigers' last win over the Tornado was in December of 2015.

Butler hosts undefeated Erie Saturday.

“We're basically starting over right now,” Clement said. “We're running different rotations, different plays, different guys are in different roles.”

Patterson is among them.

“I'm going to play guys who I think can help us win,” Clement said. “Coli Patterson didn't play one second of basketball in seventh grade. He rode the bench the whole time, but never quit.

“No one thought he'd be playing this much for us, but he really works at his game. He'll get a lot more opportunities to show what he can do now. So will a lot of other guys.”

NORTH ALLEGHENY 85

Greg Habib 8-13 5-9 21, Jack Christy 0-0 0-0 0, Greg Phillips 2-7 0-0 5, Jared Black 0-0 0-0 0, Matt McDonough 7-9 1-2 20, Connor Casten 0-0 0-0 0, Erik Sundgren 1-7 0-0 2, Robby Jones 2-7 1-2 6, Khalik Dinkins 6-8 3-3 15, Ethan Lake 6-8 0-0 12, Kyrell Hutcherson 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 34-59 10-16 85.

BUTLER 62

Mac Schnur 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Carney 11-23 5-8 28, Logan Koegler 0-0 0-2 0, Mattix Clement 7-18 0-0 18, Jordan Stutz 0-1 0-1 0, Colin Patterson 1-2 1-2 3, Madden Clement 2-6 0-0 6, David Leslie 2-5 0-0 5, Kaleb Proudfoot 0-5 0-0 0, Derek Butterworth 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 23-59 8-15 62.

North Allegheny 14 25 23 23 — 85

Butler4 25 17 16 — 62

3-point goals: Phillips, McDonough 5, Jones; Carney, Mat.Clement 4, Mad.Clement 2, Leslie

JV: North Allegheny, 74-49 (NA: Jack MacMurdo 14, Anthony Howard 13, Varum Kaveti 10, Kolin Dinkins 10; B: CJ Singleton 12, James Desmond 11)

Saturday: Erie at Butler