BUTLER TWP — There was no panic.

Instead, Butler boys basketball coach Joe Lewandowski calmly strolled in front of his bench.

Despite a 10-0 deficit midway through the first quarter against Central Catholic Thursday night, Lewandowski didn't call a timeout.

"If we had a bunch of freshmen out there, I might have," Lewandowski said. "But we have an experienced group."

That experienced group turned the tide quickly and wrested the momentum away from the Vikings almost as quickly as they lost it at the onset, winning 57-45.

"It's a good group of kids — very resilient," Lewandowski said. "We missed some easy shots (early). It wasn't like they were doing something we couldn't match up with. We knew the shots would eventually fall."

Butler (2-2) started 0-for-4 from the field and committed six turnovers before Jade Burka made a layup and was fouled for a three-point play with 3:17 left in the first quarter to get the Golden Tornado back on track.

Burka was almost unstoppable inside. He scored 27 points and also had 14 rebounds. He scored 10 of his points in the fourth quarter as his team was nursing a lead.

"Man, was Jade just tremendous tonight?" Lewandowski asked, rhetorically. "I'm not surprised by that, either. … He presents a lot of matchup problems for people."

Central Catholic (0-3) certainly couldn't match up with Burka.

The Vikings tried to take him out of the game by playing an up-tempo game and running the floor. But that strategy failed.

"When we were running up and down the floor, we took (Burka) out of it a little bit," said Central Catholic coach Devin Crummie. "When they got into half court, we couldn't match up against him."

Alan Jackson also gave Butler some good minutes off the bench.

He entered the game after the 10-0 run by the Vikings and helped to change the momentum with his aggressive defense and slick ball handling and passing.

"He came in and gave us a spark," Lewandowski said. "We think he is a very talented player and does some really nice things on the floor."

Butler also got a gutsy performance from point guard Blake Anderson.

The senior was ill before the game and during it, but scored 12 points while providing solid floor leadership.

"It was a great team effort," Lewandowski said. "We had Blake Anderson, sick, coming in and handling the basketball. He was throwing up at halftime."

The only thing Central Catholic was throwing up for most of the game was missed shots.

The Vikings shot just 28 percent from the floor in the contest.

After the poor start, Butler outscored Central Catholic 23-8 over the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a five-point lead.

The Tornado led by as many 12 points early in the fourth quarter before the Vikings made one last push to close the gap to five.

But Butler closed out the game with a 10-3 run.

"It was a good win, but you know what? We think we have a pretty good team," Lewandowski said. "We think we are pretty good. Non-section games get you ready for section games."

CENTRAL CATHOLIC 45

Doug Sheerer 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Devinney 2-10 0-1 5, Santo Berento 2-9 1-2 5, Steven Melick 0-2 0-0 0, Bradley Cameron 2-9 3-4 7, Charles Duggan 0-0 0-0 0, Viktor Duffey 1-8 2-2 5, Nicholas Kasunic 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Parsons 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Saltzman 6-12 1-2 13, Kevin Crummie 3-5 3-4 10, Matt Schnelbach 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-58 10-15 45

BUTLER 57

Mike Pratkanis 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Fleeger 2-7 2-4 7, Nick Martini 1-4 1-3 3, Adam Monday 1-3 0-0 2, Alan Jackson 2-5 2-3 6, Blake Armstrong 4-9 2-3 12, Jade Burka 11-14 5-6 27. Totals: 21-43 12-19 57

3-point goals:

Devinney, Duffey, Crummie, Fleeger, Anderson 2

JV:

Central Catholic 60-55 (OT)

Saturday:

Butler at Connellsville