NEW CASTLE - New Castle boys basketball coach John Sarandrea didn't get what he expected Tuesday night.

But he'll take what he got.

Red Hurricanes senior forward Demetrius Searcy, who leads the team with 17.8 points per game, was kept out of double figures for the first time this season. But sophomore guard Anthony Harvey picked up the slack when he scored 22 points to lead New Castle to a 41-33 win over Butler.

Harvey averages only 10.8 points per game.

"I expected this game to be in the 60s somewhere," Sarandrea said. "I never thought we'd only score 41 points.

"I never thought we'd hold them to 33, either. But go try to figure out Section 3 this year. I can't."

Butler (8-7, 3-4) fell behind 17-6 with 5:08 left in the first half. When Blake Anderson sank two free throws - the result of a technical foul on New Castle's bench - with 3:32 left in the first half, he ended a Tornado scoreless streak of more than eight minutes.

"We had to hit some shots to get them out of their zone and we weren't doing it," Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said.

Trailing 25-17 with five minutes left in the third quarter, the Tornado scored eight straight points to pull even.

Nate Hartung stuck back an offensive rebound, Nick Martini drained a 3-pointer and Noah Hartung converted a three-point play to knot the score.

"Both teams seemed to be stuck on 25 forever," Lewandowski said. "We had a couple of chances to take the lead. We couldn't get over the hump."

Harvey broke the tie by sinking two free throws with 34 seconds left in the period. He then stole the ball in Butler's backcourt and drove for a layup with 10 seconds left.

"That four-point swing was huge for us," Sarandrea said. "A four-point lead in this game felt like a dozen."

Searcy hit a 3-pointer, giving the Hurricanes (12-4, 4-3) a 32-28 lead. Noah Hartung answered with a trey of his own.

When Nate Hartung sank a layup with 2:13 left, Butler trailed 34-33. But the Tornado didn't score again.

A 61 percent free throw shooter, Harvey sank nine of 10 shots from the line Tuesday.

"Anthony has good technique at the line," Sarandrea said. "I'm not surprised he hit those free throws."

New Castle's 41 points scored marked a season-low.

"They scored 41 points and he had 22 of them," Lewandowski said. "That shows the kid had a special game.

"We've been in a scoring slump lately and we have to fight our way out of that. We had open looks for 3s and were taking them, but they (New Castle) come flying out you. It's tough to shoot with a hand in your face."

Butler scored a season-low in points for the second consecutive game. The Tornado were held to 44 points in a loss at Plum Saturday.

Tuesday's defeat drops Butler into fifth place in Section 3-AAAA. The top four advance to the WPIAL playoffs.

"Every section game, home and away, is critical at this point if we're serious about getting to the playoffs," Lewandowski said.

Butler had 19 turnovers to New Castle's 10. The Hurricanes had a 33-32 edge on the boards. Searcy had 12 rebounds and Hakeem Fitzpatrick 10 boards for the winners.

Noah Hartung had 12 points and nine rebounds, Nate Hartung 10 points and nine boards for Butler.

BUTLER 33

Nate Hartung 5-9 0-4 10, Noah Hartung 4-9 3-4 12, Jerrod Markle 0-8 0-0 0, Adam Monday 0-1 0-0 0, Blake Anderson 2-6 2-2 7, Alan Jackson 0-0 1-2 1, Sean Lowry 0-0 0-0 0, Jade Burka 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Martini 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 12-37 6-12 33

NEW CASTLE 41

Thomas Canal 1-7 0-0 2, David Richards 0-10 0-0 0, Chris Harvey 0-0 2-2 2, Tony Andrews 0-2 0-0 0, Demetrius Searcy 3-13 2-5 9, Hakeem Fitzpatrick 2-7 2-4 6, Anthony Harvey 6-8 9-10 22. Totals: 12-47 15-21 41

3-point goals:

Noah Hartung, Anderson, Martini; Searcy, A. Harvey

JV:

New Castle, 52-37 (B-Aaron Dorondo 10, NC-Josh Jones 14)

Friday:

Butler @ Pine-Richland