BUTLER TWP— Burrell survived the first run — but not the second.

After watching the visiting Bucs pull within 18-17 with 5:52 left in the first half, the Butler boys basketball team went on a 15-2 run, led by 10 at halftime and was never threatened again in a 59-41 victory Thursday in the first round of the Butler Christmas Tournament.

The Tornado (8-3)will play Bethel Park (7-3) — a 66-55 winner over Summit Academy — in the tournament title game at 8 tonight.

"They're a big team with a lot of guys who can shoot the basketball,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said of Bethel Park. "They'll present some matchup problems for us and we'll present some matchup problems for them."

Butler was a major problem for Burrell (4-6) early in Thursday's game, jetting out to a 13-0 lead in the first 2Z\x minutes, only to see the Bucs fight back.

"Our kids don't quit,"Burrell coach Mark Ziemanski said. "Their depth wore us down. They have a lot of seniors and we only play six or seven kids.

"We had a freshman in our starting lineup and our point guard is a sophomore. That kind of stuff catches up to you."

Jeff Slater paced Butler with 16 points, seven assists and four steals. Mike Pratkanis had 11 points, seven blocked shots, five rebounds and four steals, while Cody Fleeger added 11 points.

Nick Rossmiller had seven rebounds and five steals as the Tornado won their third straight game.

"What I like most about this team is these kids are so unselfish,"Lewandowski said. "We had 15 assists on our 25 field goals tonight. I love that percentage."

The Bucs sank only nine field goals, none in the second quarter.

"Besides the season opener, this is the toughest game on the schedule to play," Lewandowski said. "It's right after Christmas, we haven't practiced much and had no time to prepare. I'm happy with the way we came out and got after it."

Sophomore point guard Brandon Nichols, paced Burrell with 12 points. Seth Napierkowski had seven of the team's 25 rebounds.

"Butler was just stronger than us,"Ziemanski said. "And you're not gonna beat anybody with nine field goals."

Bethel Park 66, Summit Academy 55 — The game was tied at 41 after three quarters, but the Black Hawks scored the first 14 points of the final period to put away the win."Ithink we ran out of gas a little bit,"Summit Academy coach Cliff Guy said. "Our kids just got back from being on home passes and I was unsure how we'd play, but we did OK.Mike Zarochek paced Bethel Park with 17 points while Nick Thorsen had 15 points, including four 3-pointers, and Shane Gilchrest had 13 points.Will Jordan scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench for the Knights (5-5). Matt Vaughn added 11 points and Elexis Rosario scored 10 points and had eight of the team's 31 rebounds.

BETHEL PARK 66James Barton 4-9 0-0 9, Ryan Warren 0-1 0-0 0, Jim Meyer 0-2 3-4 3, Shane Gilchrest 5-11 1-1 13, Pete Bogan 3-3 0-1 6, Jordan Westphal 0-0 1-21, Alex Edgar 0-0 2-2 2, Nick Thorsen 5-8 1-2 15, Mike Zarochek 8-11 1-3 17, Grant Warford 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 25-46 9-15 66

SUMMIT ACADEMY 55Tarrel Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, LaRon Green 1-5 0-2 3, John Legget 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Vaughn 4-13 0-0 11, Darryl Reese 2-2 0-0 4, Henry Brown 1-6 0-4 2, Derrick Elliot 4-11 1-3 9, Elexis Rosario 5-8 0-1 10, Will Jordan 7-10 1-2 16.

Totals: 24-57 2-12 55

Bethel Park 14 12 15 25—66Summit Academy 9 15 17 14—553-point goals: Barton, Gilchrest 2, Thorsen 4; Green, Vaughn 3, Jordan

JV: Bethel Park, 55-36

Friday: Summit Academy vs. Burrell, consolation game, 6 p.m.

BURRELL 41Devon Doutt 0-00-0 0, Zack Yerace 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Nichols 2-4 7-7 12, Dave Yakopec 2-4 1-3 5, Chris Betza 1-8 4-6 6, Jake Sharick 2-12 2-2 7, Seth Napierkowski 2-6 5-6 9, Chris Linden 0-0 2-2 2, Nick Lombardo 0-1 0-2 0.

Totals: 9-35 21-28 41

BUTLER 59Mike Pratkanis 3-5 5-6 11, Jeff Slater 7-8 1-1 16, Cody Fleeger 5-8 1-4 11, Clark Liebler 1-2 0-0 2, Brian Jendesky 1-1 0-0 2, Austin Snodgrass 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 0-2 0-1 0, Nick Rossmiller 3-6 0-0 6, Jeff Tompkins 1-2 0-0 2, Ryan Melder 0-0 0-0 0, Christos Klutinoty 3-9 0-2 7, Nick Powers 0-1 0-0 0, John Noel 0-2 0-0 0, Bob Swartwout 1-1 0-0 2.

Totals: 25-47 7-14 59

Burrell 14 9 12 6—41Butler 18 15 14 12—593-point goals: Nichols, Sharick; Slater, Klutinoty

JV: Butler, 37-23 (B-Bob Swartwout 10)

Friday: Butler vs. Bethel Park, championship game, 8 p.m.