BUTLER TWP — The foul line was a stranger to Butler for most of the evening.

At the end of the night, it was the Golden Tornado's best friend.

Senior Alan Jackson drained two free throws to tie the game with 55.4 seconds left, then sank two more with 2.7 seconds remaining to give the Butler boys basketball team a 48-46 triumph over Woodland Hills Wednesday night.

Before those four free throws, the Tornado were a collective 0-for-4 from the charity stripe.

"I'm not concerned about that," Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "We've been doing a lot of perimeter-oriented stuff lately, along with getting steals and quick layups the other way.

"You're not going to get to the line much playing that way. Our style of play will change in section games. We'll post up more, we'll get to the line more — and our kids can knock them down."

Lewandowski is more concerned about the health of his team. Already without would-be starters Noah Hartung and Sean Lowry, the Tornado lost point guard Blake Anderson to a concussion Monday night.

Anderson will be examined by a doctor Friday and could be cleared to play in Friday's section opener against Pine-Richland.

"But we don't know that," Lewandowski said. "We'd love to have Blake out there, but we have to prepare as if he's not going to be cleared to play."

If he isn't, junior Brian DeAngelis will man the point. He did so Wednesday, dishing out five assists, and he didn't commit a turnover.

DeAngelis also hit a baseline jumper to give Butler a 39-32 lead — its widest margin of the game — with 1:55 left in the third quarter.

"Brian handled their pressure the entire game," Lewandowski said. "He's more athletic than people think. Their defenders kept coming up on him and he'd zip right past them."

"He took care of the ball for us and did a great job, especially considering it was his first varsity start," Jackson said.

Woodland Hills' biggest lead of the game was five points — 20-15 with 6:43 left in the second quarter — and the lead changed hands six times.

When the Wolverines' Gerald Richardson stole the ball and drove the other way for a layup with 1:55 left in the game, Woodland Hills had a 46-44 lead.

Jackson knotted the score with his first two free throws with 55.4 seconds left. Woodland Hills then played for the last shot.

"I knew I needed to hit those shots because Woodland Hills is so quick. … We would have had a hard time guarding them if they were just holding the ball," Jackson said.

The Wolverines ran the clock down to 12 seconds and called a timeout. Mike Spearman then took an 8-foot jumper that Butler's Jade Burka blocked.

Jackson scrambled for the loose ball, grabbed it and was fouled by Spearman with 2.7 seconds left.

"Jade made a great block, the ball was on the floor … and I knew we had to have it," Jackson said.

Woodland Hills coach Larry Anderson didn't fault Spearman for committing the foul.

"He was trying to make a play, and you can't fault a kid for that," Anderson said. "One play doesn't win or lose a game. We made a few mistakes before that to put ourselves in that position."

After Jackson made the go-ahead free throws, the Wolverines' Nate Carter got off a deep baseline jumper at the buzzer that deflected off the far end of the rim.

Nick Martini paced Butler with 14 points and drained four treys. Jackson had 10 points and three assists. Burka contributed 10 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.

Eight of Burka's points came on layups in the game's first two minutes.

"We put in a bigger kid to play him more physically, and we did a good job on him after that," Anderson said. "But they hit some big shots all night."

Richardson and Carter scored 11 points each for Woodland Hills. Spearman had eight points and seven rebounds.

The Wolverines had a 31-25 rebounding edge. Butler had 14 turnovers to Woodland Hills' nine.

WOODLAND HILLS 46

Mike Spearman 3-10 2-2 8, Vondre Griffin 3-7 0-0 6, Gerald Richardson 5-12 1-3 11, Antoine Flowers 0-2 0-0 0, Darius Taylor 1-3 0-2 2, Ryan Lee 2-3 0-0 4, Jason Werkin 0-3 2-2 2, Nate Carter 4-10 2-2 11, Michael Dykes 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-51 7-12 46

BUTLER 48

Cody Fleeger 3-9 0-1 6, Nick Martini 5-9 0-0 14, Adam Monday 2-4 0-0 6, Alan Jackson 3-6 4-4 10, Brian DeAngelis 1-3 0-0 2, Jade Burka 5-9 0-3 10. Totals: 19-40 4-8 48

3-point goals:

Carter; Martini 4, Monday 2

JV:

Butler, 45-30 (B-Jeff Slater 11, WH-Antoine Flowers 8)

Friday:

Pine-Richland @ Butler