BUTLER TWP— Need the lead?Put the ball in Jeff Slater's hands.

Need the ball?He'll get that for you, too.

Butler's 5-foot-10 senior point guard snapped a 21-21 tie by dropping in a running layup high off the glass with two seconds left in the first half Friday night.

He wound up scoring 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and took home the Butler Christmas Tournament MVPAward as the Golden Tornado boys basketball team defeated Bethel Park, 65-52.

The Golden Tornado (9-3) have won four straight games and have never lost their Christmas tournament in Joe Lewandowski's six years as head coach.

They never lost the lead after Slater's layup at the end of the first half, either. Butler had trailed the entire first half.

"That play Slater made at the end of the half was a big momentum boost going into halftime,"Lewandowski said. "It picked everybody up."

Butler went on to outscore the Black Hawks (7-4) 19-6 in the third quarter, then survived the visitors' press in the fourth period.

Slater had 16 points, seven assists and four steals in Thursday night's win over Burrell. Lewandowski was not surprised by his double-digit rebounding effort Friday.

"We had a small junior varsity team last year and Jeff played the post,"Lewandowski said. "He's one of those kids who will do whatever you ask him to do for the team. He's a winner."

Butler placed four in double figures against Bethel. Mike Pratkanis had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Nick Rossmiller had 11 points and three assists, Cody Fleeger had 11 points.

"That's every night for this team,"Slater said of the balanced scoring. "Every box score seems to look the same. All five starters are in double figures or close to it."

Fleeger also guarded Nick Thorsen, the Black Hawks' biggest scoring threat, and held him to one field goal and five points.

"When they run their sets, that kid (Thorsen) is responsible for 85 percent of their points,"Lewandowski said. "We told Cody if we can take him out of the game, we stand a great chance of winning."

Point guard James Barton led Bethel Park with 16 points while Shane Gilchrest added 15 points and a team-leading five rebounds.

Butler had a 32-23 edge in rebounds. Rossmiller had six caroms.

"Nick is the unsung hero of this basketball team,"Lewandowski said. "He's our pressure breaker. When a defense is pressing you, you have to attack the basket. Rossmiller and Slater are among the guys who want the ball in those situations."

While Slater was the tournament MVP, Pratkanis and Fleeger joined him on the all-tournament team.

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Bethel Park, which had to score 25 points in the fourth quarter to avoid being held below 50 for the first time this season.

"We got away from what was working for us in the first half,"Bethel Park coach Mark Gaither said. "We stopped using our big men to set up open shots from outside.

"Butler is very good, though. They play aggressive defense and use their big man well. Our section race will go to the wire and theirs probably will, too. That's Quad-Abasketball."

Burrell 63, Summit Academy 52 — Jake Sharick scored 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, for the Bucs (5-6). Chris Betza added 11 points and 16 rebounds in the consolation game.Matt Vaughn scored 15 points for Summit Academy (5-6). Elexis Rosario added 12 and LaRon Green 10.

Notes: Barton, Sharick and Vaughn rounded out the all-tournament team. ... Butler's Fleeger won the 3-point shooting contest, edging Bethel Park's Thorsen 13-12 in the finals.

Consolation GameSUMMITACADEMY 52Tarrel Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, LaRon Green 4-13 0-0 10, John Leggett 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Vaughn 5-13 1-2 15, Darryl Reese 0-1 0-0 0, Henry Brown 5-12 0-0 10, Derrick Elliot 1-3 0-2 2, Elexis Rosario 5-6 2-2 12, Will Jordan 1-2 1-1 3.

Totals: 21-52 4-7 52

BURRELL 63Brandon Nichols 3-6 2-5 11, Dave Yakopec 1-5 4-6 6, Chris Betza 4-10 3-4 11, Jake Sharick 9-17 2-3 27, Seth Napierkowski 2-6 2-4 6, Zack Yerace 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Linden 0-2 2-2 2, Devon Doutt 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Gazo 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 19-48 15-24 63

Summit Academy 12 8 18 14—52Burrell 11 17 14 21—633-point goals: Vaughn 4, Green 2; Nichols 3, Sharick 7

Friday: Summit Academy at Mohawk

Championship GameBETHEL PARK 52James Barton 5-14 3-4 16, Ryan Warren 2-3 1-2 5, Jim Meyer 0-4 0-0 0, Shane Gilchrest 5-12 3-6 15, Pete Bogan 3-4 0-0 6, Alex Edgar 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Thorsen 1-7 2-2 5, Mike Zarochek 2-5 1-2 5, Grant Warford 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 18-50 10-125 52

BUTLER 65Mike Pratkanis 5-12 6-7 17, Jeff Slater 8-9 1-2 18, Cody Fleeger 3-8 5-6 11, Clark Liebler 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Rossmiller 4-6 3-3 11, Jeff Tompkins 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Melder 0-0 0-0 0, Christos Klutinoty 4-9 0-0 8.

Totals: 24-44 15-18 65

Bethel Park 14 7 6 25—52Butler 9 14 19 23—653-point goals: Barton 3, Gilchrest 2, Thorsen; Pratkanis, Slater

JV: Butler, 53-25 (B: Bob Swartwout 15, Brian Jendesky 12, Logan Renwick 10, BP:Grant Warford 6)

Friday: North Allegheny atButler