PINE TWP— Butler needed a jump-start. Cole Harvey provided the jumper cables.

The junior guard, one of three new starters in the Golden Tornado lineup Friday night, sank 3-pointers on consecutive possessions late in the first quarter at Pine-Richland.

The buckets got Butler back in the game and began an offensive surge that carried the Tornado to a 54-44 boys basketball section win.

"It felt like the lid was taken off the basket,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said of Harvey's shots. "The whole team seemed to relax after that."

And how.

Butler (2-3, 1-1) fell behind 13-4 before sinking its first field goal — a Brian Jendesky layup — with 3:38 left in the opening quarter. Harvey's two first-quarter treys followed, Jeff Tompkins hit a layup and the Tornado had a 14-13 lead by quarter's end.

After missing its first eight shots from the floor, Butler sank 12 straight shots to close out the first half with a 34-25 lead.

Pine-Richland's last lead of the night was at 25-24 with 3:03 left before intermission. But sophomore Vinny Schmidt, who joined Jendesky and Harvey as new starters Friday, nailed a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play.

Tompkins used assists by Nate Snodgrass to hit a pair of layups as the Tornado ended the half with a 10-0 run.

"We've sorely lacked outside shooting in our last couple of games," guard Logan Renwick said. "Cole got us going tonight."

The host Rams (2-4, 1-1) got within seven points in the early moments of the third quarter, but never got closer than 10 in the game's final 18 minutes.

"When you're struggling offensively like we were, sometimes you have to explore changes that can serve the entire team better,"Lewandowski said. "Tonight, those changes worked.

"Defense and tempo haven't been the problem. I told the guys we can guard. We had to start scoring some points."

Harvey paced Butler with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Schmidt added 11 points. Tompkins produced five rebounds off the bench.

Tom Johnson paced Pine-Richland with 14 points and seven boards.

"Coach told us the starting lineup at practice yesterday," Harvey said. "He just said these are the five guys we're gonna start the game with.

"There were no special instructions. Just go out and play."

Harvey didn't play basketball last year. He had been playing since sixth grade.

"I wanted to take a year off to concentrate on football, but I really missed basketball," he said. "I couldn't wait to come back."

Lewandowski is happy to have him back.

"The kid's a competitor and a winner,"the coach said. "We have a lot of kids like that."

Harvey missed only one shot from the field and all five of his field goals came from beyond the arc.

"Was I surprised by their outside shooting?"Pine-Richland coach Brian Gaetano repeated a question. "Butler was surprised by their outside shooting.

"We saw nothing like that on film from any of their previous games. Then again, we didn't come out and guard very well, so I guess you're supposed to make those shots."

Butler received a scare when center Bobby Swartwout fell to the floor, writhing in pain with an apparent ankle injury midway through the third quarter. He returned to the game later.

"This was a good team win in that a lot of guys contributed,"Lewandowski said. "This was the first road section game for a lot of our players, especially our bench. And this was the liveliest our bench has been this year. They were really into the game, and that's important."

BUTLER 54Cole Harvey 5-6 2-4 17, Brian Jendesky 3-3 0-0 6, Logan Renwick 1-3 3-6 5, Jeff Tompkins 3-3 0-0 6, Nate Snodgrass 0-0 0-0 0, Vinny Schmidt 4-8 2-3 11, David Schmidt 1-3 0-0 2, Bob Swartwout 1-6 5-5 7. Totals: 18-32 12-18 54

PINE-RICHLAND 44Eric Holmes 1-5 2-2 5, Erik Kordenbrock 2-7 2-2 6, Ian Hennessy 3-9 1-1 8, R.J. White 3-7 2-4 8, Mike Felker 0-0 0-0 0, Andy Andrle 1-3 0-0 3, Chris Rader 0-1 0-0 0, Tom Johnson 6-9 2-3 14. Totals: 17-41 9-15 44

Butler 14 20 12 8—54Pine-Richland 13 12 11 8—443-point goals: Harvey 5, V. Schmidt; Holmes

JV: Butler, 42-38 (B:John Barkus 15, Cody Herald 12; P-R:Collin Ryan 11, Andy Andrle 11)

Saturday: Shady Side Academy at Butler