UPPER ST. CLAIR — Chalk some of it up to old fashioned growing pains.

Chalk the rest of it up to stifling defense and a deliberate offense.

The Butler boys basketball team ran into all of that Saturday afternoon at Upper St. Clair HighSchool, shooting just 28 percent from the floor, committing nearly 20 turnovers and struggling to score in a 36-31 loss to Peters Township.

"They're troopers," said Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said about his team. "For as terrible a first half as we had, they came back and stuck with it and had an opportunity to win."

Butler (1-1) scored only 12 points in the first 24 minutes and trailed by four.

It had committed as many turnovers in the first quarter (eight) as it had in its entire first game againstUpper St. Clair the night before in an upset win.

The Golden Tornado finished with 18 turnovers.

Part of that had to do with Peters Township's deliberate style on offense and a pack-it-in zone on defense that neutralized Butler senior Sean Lowry.

After scoring 20 points against Upper St. Clair in the season opener, Lowry had only two points against the Indians and fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

"Our plan coming in was to take (Lowry) out of the game," Peters Township coach Gary Goga said. "Our goal was to play good, hard defense and don't let them get into rhythm.

It was even more difficult for Butler to get into rhythm on offense because Peters Township played keep-away on offense.

On one possession, the Indians held the ball for nearly three minutes before a layup by Mark Majoras, who led the team with 10 points.

"You have to have a pretty talented team to hold the ball for that long," Lewandowski said. "They really try to slow the game down."

If not for Cody Fleeger, Butler might not have cracked 20 points.

The junior forward scored 17 of Butler's 31 points, hit four 3-pointers and also had nine rebounds.

His 3-pointer late in the third quarter gave Butler a 24-23 lead.

Jeff Slater hit a 3-pointer with 3:37 left to give the Tornado a three-point lead, but Butler didn't score again as Peters Township netted the last eight points of the game.

Butler was 6-of-22 from beyond the 3-point arc, but many of those misses came early in the game.

"I thought early we were really out of sync with what we were trying to do," Lewandowski said.

There's been nothing out of sync so far when it comes to Peters Township's defense.

It won on Friday 40-31 over WestMifflin.

"We want to hold teams in the 40s," Goga said. "That's our goal every game. Anything less than that is a bonus. We aren't going to win shootouts.

"We want to play ugly basketball. The uglier the better," Goga added.

This one certainly qualified.

PETERSTOWNSHIP 36Mark Majoras 2-9 5-6 10, Kevin Noone 0-3 0-0 0, Pat Russo 2-8 3-4 8, Justin Bak 2-4 0-0 6, Spencer Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Nick Wilcox 0-2 0-0 0, John Matthis 3-3 2-5 8, Craig Wolcott 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 11-35 10-15 36

BUTLER 31Mike Pratkanis 1-7 2-2 5, Cody Fleeger 4-13 3-4 17, Brian DeAngelis 0-1 0-0 0, Sean Lowry 1-4 0-0 2, Christos Klutinoty 0-2 0-0 0, AaronDorondo 0-0 1-2 1, Mark Leibler 0-0 0-0 0, Jereme Buffington 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Rossmiller 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Lumley 1-2 0-0 2, Jeff Slater 2-3 1-2 6. Totals: 9-32 7-10 31

Peters Township 7 9 7 13—36Butler 4 8 14 5—313-point goals: Majoras, Russo, Bak 2, Fleeger 4, Pratkanis, Slater

Tuesday: Altoona at Butler