ROSS TWP — Three wasn't one of Butler's favorite numbers Friday night.

The Golden Tornado trailed throughout their 46-32 boys basketball loss at North Hills Friday night, with two 3-pointers and a three-point play helping the Indians to keep Butler at bay.

Trailing 19-6 early in the second quarter, Butler cut the deficit to 22-16 and had North Hills scrambling for an open shot in the closing seconds of the half. Indians junior guard Scott Zubik got free deep in the right corner and let a shot go just before the buzzer.

The ball bounced off the rim, hit the glass and dropped in to give the Indians a nine-point lead at the break.

"That was a big shot for them,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "We had a defensive breakdown just before time ran out."

A 3-pointer by Vinny Schmidt and a layup by Logan Renwick pulled the Tornado (1-3, 0-1) to within nine points late in the third period, but Sean White canned a 3-pointer with 40 seconds on the clock.

Butler cut the deficit to 37-30 with 5:20 left in the game when Nate Snodgrass nailed a 3-pointer and Bobby Swartwout stuck back an offensive rebound. But NH senior point guard Cody Patton completed a three-point play at the other end to extend the margin to 40-30.

The Tornado never got closer than eight points.

"We won by 14 and those three plays accounted for nine points,"North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. "Those were huge plays.

"This was a section opener and it was a typical game in our section: a half-court grind-it-out type. Most of the teams in our league play that way."

And North Hills is built to play that way.

"They really are,"Lewandowski said. "They do a good job of getting back on defense and they execute their possessions really well.

"That's where we have to do a better job: executing our half-court offense. We're getting guys in position and we're getting good shots. We're just not finishing."

The Tornado sank 12 of 46 shots from the floor, including seven of 28 in the second half. Butler didn't get to the foul line in the first, third or fourth periods.

"You have to play through the physicality and we're not doing that,"Lewandowski said. "You have to get yourself to the foul line."

Patton, who entered the contest averaging seven assists per game, paced North Hills (3-1, 1-0) with 15 points and seven rebounds. Zubik had 10 points and senior forward R.J. Miller had 13 of his team's 28 rebounds.

Swartwout paced Butler with eight points and five boards while Renwick contributed five rebounds and four assists. Freshman guard Snodgrass had eight points.

Snodgrass has been a summer AAUplayer for Shaler coach Howie Ruppert, who died Thursday of a heart attack.

"Nate played with a heavy heart tonight,"Lewandowski said. "It was very hard for him to play this game. But to come out and perform like he did ... it speaks volumes for his character."

Butler's home game Tuesday night against Shaler was postponed because of Ruppert's death.

BUTLER 32Cole Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Eric King 0-4 1-2 1, Jeff Tompkins 3-3 0-0 6, Nate Snodgrass 3-6 0-0 8, Vinny Schmidt 2-10 0-2 5, David Schmidt 0-2 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 2-9 0-0 4, Bobby Swartwout 2-11 3-4 8, Brian Jendesky 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 12-46 4-8 32

NORTH HILLS 46Cody Patton 3-10 8-11 125, Sean White 3-3 0-0 8, D.J. Scott 0-2 1-2 1, Scott Zubik 4-7 1-1 10, Nate Marx 0-1 1-2 1, Jeff Witt 3-5 2-2 8, R.J. Miller 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 14-32 13-18 46

Butler 5 11 7 9—32North Hills 16 9 10 11—463-point goals: Snodgrass 2, V. Schmidt, Swartwout; Patton, White 2, Zubik, Miller

JV: Butler, 43-22 (B:Cody Herald 11, Vinny Schmidt 9)

Friday: Butler at Pine-Richland