Butler falls; SR rules Knoch
BUTLER TWP — The shot was there. The points were not.
Looking to tie the game, Butler sophomore Vinny Schmidt's baseline jumper caromed off the rim with 20 seconds remaining Saturday.
Cleveland Central Catholic secured the rebound, sank four free throws at the other end in the final 16 seconds and defeated the Golden Tornado 44-38 in the finals of the King of the Court Boys Basketball Classic Saturday at Butler High.
"We got everything we wanted out of this game except a win,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said.
"It was a good shot to take. The ball just didn't go down. That's the way it goes in this game sometimes."
The lead changed hands 10 times and the final margin was Central Catholic's biggest lead of the day. Schmidt canned a 3-pointer less than a minute into the third quarter to give Butler its largest lead at 23-15.
But the Ironmen had too much talent to stay down for long.
Central Catholic returns four starters from a team that finished 15-7 a year ago. Second-year Ironmen coach Kevin Noch is friends with Lewandowski.
"We've been competitive with each other for a long time,"Noch said. "We used to play one-on-one full court when we were in college.
"It was pretty intense coaching against him. I hope it didn't get out of hand between us."
It didn't. The two embraced after the contest.
The game was tied at 36 with 2:55 remaining, but Central's Brandon Campbell sank a layup with 1:45 to go and Tra'Vaughn Moore turned a steal into a layup with 1:22 on the clock.
Bobby Swartwout's layup pulled Butler within a field goal and the Tornado stole the ball, but failed to pull even.
Two free throws each by Campbell and 6-foot-8 sophomore Anton Grady sealed the deal.
Grady, already receiving looks from Florida, Wisconsin, Xavier, Ohio State and Louisville, had 13 points, 11 blocked shots and 10 rebounds. Central's Chall Montgomery is being recruited by MACschools.
"The officiating in this tournament was like nothing we've ever seen,"Noch said. "We were called for 17 travels today. We normally get called for two travels a game.
"I thought it (officiating) was pretty one-sided in both of our games this weekend. But this was a good experience for our kids. I liked the way they played through it."
Swartwout led the Tornado with 13 points and four rebounds. Schmidt had 10 points. Butler was outrebounded 42-23.
"They were playing volleyball on our glass most of this game,"Lewandowski said. "Their athleticism got us.
"We've got a lot of kids who are seeing varsity minutes for the first time. We can't use that as a crutch or an excuse. It's just who we are right now and we're going to have to deal with it."
<B>Slippery Rock 56, Knoch 37 — </B>The Rockets used a 12-1 run late in the first half to run away from the Knights in Saturday's first game.Derrick Orloski had 15 points and 14 rebounds, including 10 boards in the first half. Brian Giesler had 11 points and eight boards while Ryan Gordon had 10 points.Gordon sank seven 3-pointers in the tournament."You can't teach heart, and that's what Derrick plays with,"Slippery Rock coach Phil Bushre said. "He's our Energizer bunny. He's all over the court."Jake McTighe had 10 points and nine rebounds to pace Knoch. Knights 6-8 junior Micah Lio had seven points in the first quarter, but managed only one field goal attempt the rest of the game."They did a good job of packing in defensively and we couldn't do much from outside,"Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said. "We're going to have to keep working on it."<B>CENTRAL CATHOLIC 44Isaiah Shakespeare 1-6 0-0 3, Chall Montgomery 3-7 0-0 6, Derrick Buford 2-4 0-0 4, Brandon Campbell 4-8 2-2 10, Tra'Vaughn Moore 2-2 0-0 4, Marcus Arendas 0-6 2-2 2, Demetrius Bennett 1-5 0-0 2, Kennedy Lockhart 0-0 0-2 0, Anton Grady 5-13 3-6 13, Marvin Davis 0-2 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 18-53 7-12 44<B>BUTLER 38Cole Harvey 0-3 3-4 3, Eric King 0-1 1-2 1, Logan Renwick 1-4 1-2 3, Jeff Tompkins 2-6 2-3 6, Nate Snodgrass 1-3 0-0 2, Vinny Schmidt 4-7 1-4 10, Dave Schmidt 0-2 0-0 0, Bob Swartwout 5-9 2-3 13.</B> Totals: 13-35 10-18 38<B>Central Catholic 8 7 12 17—44Butler 7 13 6 12—383-point goals:</B> Shakespeare; V. Schmidt, Swartwout<B>JV:</B> Butler, 54-39 (B:Vinny Schmidt 31, Bill Smith 8; CC:Marcus Jones 11, Tevin Locklear 10)<B>Tuesday:</B> Woodland Hills at Butler<B>SLIPPERY ROCK 56Ethan Geisler 2-5 2-2 7, Ryan Gordon 4-13 0-1 10, Alec McDeavitt 0-2 1-4 1, Derrick Orloski 6-11 3-4 15, Brian Giesler 4-11 2-2 11, Caleb Whitney 1-2 1-2 3, Brent Ayers 3-4 0-0 6, Justin Bennett 1-1 1-2 3. </B>Totals: 21-49 10-18 56<B>KNOCH 37Cory Miller 2-3 0-0 5, Kevin Wood 0-3 0-0 0, Michael Gallagher 4-15 0-0 8, Andrew Wirtz 2-7 1-2 6, Chris Cetnar 0-2 0-1 0, Brandon Flick 0-0 1-2 1, Jake McTighe 3-8 4-7 10, Michah Lio 3-4 1-3 7, Ethan Danner 0-1 0-0 0, Tim McNerney 0-1 0-0 0.</B> Totals: 14-44 7-15 37<B>Slippery Rock 9 16 17 14—56Knoch 9 6 15 7—373-point goals:</B> Geisler, Gordon 2, Giesler; Miller, Wirtz<B>JV:</B> Slippery Rock, 52-44 (SR:Caleb Whitney 12, Steve Drake 10; K:Jake Hickey 10<B>Tuesday:</B> Slippery Rock at West Middlesex, Knoch at Upper St. Clair
