PINETWP— Cody Fleeger winced as Pine-Richland point guard Brett Matson sank a pair of free throws with 7:48 left in the game.

Fleeger's disappointment wasn't because Matson scored a couple of critical points for the Rams.

It's because he scored at all.

Butler's 6-foot-2 senior guard- forward guarded Pine-Richland's all-section standout all night and limited him to a season-low two points.

"I didn't want him to score any,"Fleeger said.

Defense was the name of Butler's game Friday night as the Golden Tornado posted a 55-38 boys basketball section victory on the road.

Pine-Richland (6-3, 2-2) scored just nine points in the middle two quarters, failing to score at all for a stretch of nearly 8Z\x minutes.

Tommy Johnson's layup pulled the Rams even at 12 with 5:45 left in the first half. The next time they scored, there was 5:21 left in the third quarter and Butler (6-3, 2-2) had a 26-12 lead.

Fueling the Tornado run was point guard Jeff Slater, who drove to the hoop for a pair of layups and canned a 3-pointer during the surge.

Pine-Richland never got closer than nine points.

"Their defense just shut us down,"Rams coach Dave Krakoff said. "They shut off the passing lanes, had hands in our faces. ... We couldn't do very much out there.

"We offer no excuses, but Brett wasn't at his normal energy tonight. He's been fighting the stomach flu. We had to sub in for him quite a bit."

A healthy Matson might not have mattered, as Slater scored a career-high 24 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, and the Tornado sank 16 of 18 free throws.

"I didn't think the kid they had on me could guard me,"Slater said. "I was having trouble with the entry (pass), so I just took it to the basket."

Fleeger added 12 points for Butler, but his biggest contributions came on defense.

"Cody was really out there on him (Matson),"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "The key was he stayed disciplined. You don't want to put him on the line and you don't want to give him clean looks. Cody accomplished both of those things."

Pine-Richland's 38 points marked a season-low. Its previous low was 53 in a 10-point win over Peabody on Dec. 8.

"Defense is all about heart,"Fleeger said. "You don't have to be a good basketball player to play great defense. You just have to work hard and want to do it.

"We wanted to take Matson and No. 1 (Eric Holmes) away from their offense. Christos Klutinoty guarded him. Those are their scorers."

Holmes scored only five points for Pine-Richland. Junior forward Tommy Johnson led the team with 13.

While Butler senior center Mike Pratkanis sat for most of the second quarter after picking up his second foul, teammate Nick Rossmiller took over the board work. Rossmiller wound up with nine rebounds while Pratkanis had seven.

Butler had a 28-23 edge on the boards. Slater contributed three assists and deflected four passes to go with his 24 points.

Through three quarters, Pine-Richland had 14 turnovers to Butler's seven.

Lewandowski said the return of senior guard Clark Liebler, who sat out the first eight games while recovering from knee surgery, played a factor in Slater's performance.

"Jeff's been getting winded late in games because we've asked him to carry so much of the load (at the point),"Lewandowski said. "With Clark spelling him throughout the game tonight, you could see the difference in the fourth quarter.

"Eleven seconds left in the game and Liebler's diving after a loose ball out of bounds. That kid only knows one way to play and that's full throttle. It's great having him back."

BUTLER 55Mike Pratkanis 2-7 0-0 4, Jeff Slater 7-11 9-10 24, Cody Fleeger 4-6 3-4 12, Austin Snodgrass 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Rossmiller 2-5 4-4 8, Ryan Melder 0-0 0-0 0, Christos Klutinoty 2-9 0-0 5, Nick Powers 1-1 0-0 2, Clark Liebler 0-1 0-0 0, Jeff Tompkins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 18-41 16-18 55

PINE-RICHLAND 38Eric Holmes 2-5 0-0 5, Eric Kordenbrock 2-4 0-0 4, Brett Matson 0-6 2-2 2, Kevin Wissinger 2-6 0-1 6, Ian Hennessy 1-3 1-12 3, R.J. White 2-4 0-0 5, Eddie Baranowski 0-2 0-0 0, Tommy Johnson 55-9 3-4 13, Mike Felker 0-1 0-2 0. Totals: 14-41 6-10 38

Butler 10 11 9 25—55Pine-Richland 10 2 7 19—383-point goals: Slater, Fleeger, Klutinoty; Holmes, Wissinger 2, White

JV: Butler, 44-34 (B:Brian Jendesky 12, P-R:Colin Ryan 13)

Saturday: Butler at Shady Side Academy