BUTLER TWP — The shot chart told the story.

"Four missed shots from within four feet of the basket in the first quarter, five within four feet in the second quarter, eight in the third quarter ...,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said, his voice trailing off as he spoke.

The failure to finish resulted in a 45-39 boys basketball loss to Shaler Saturday afternoon in the Golden Tornado gym.

Butler (3-5, 1-3) failed to score 40 points for the fifth time in eight games.

"We're getting the shots we want. We're getting to the basket,"Lewandowski said. "It's not like we can change who we are. Those are the shots we have to take.

"We have to find a way to finish. We'll just keep working at it."

A pair of Bobby Swartwout free throws tied the game at 23 with 6:24 left in the third quarter. Neither team ever led by more than five points by that point in the game.

But Butler failed to score a point for the next seven minutes and 53 seconds. The Titans (4-3, 2-1) went on a 12-0 run during that stretch to assume a 35-23 lead early into the fourth quarter.

"Thankfully, we built a big enough lead to withstand our lapses in judgment late in this game," Shaler coach Paul Holzshu said.

Shaler did not turn the ball over at all during the third quarter and had just seven turnovers entering the fourth period.

But the Titans turned it over six times in the final eight minutes as the Tornado crept back into the game.

With his team trailing 37-26 with 4:44 left, Butler's Logan Renwick missed a pair of free throws. Brian Jendesky grabbed the offensive rebound and laid it in, however.

David Schmidt canned one of two free throws following a steal and Jendesky sank two free throws after yet another Titan turnover. When Renwick hit a free throw with 2:11 left, Butler was within 37-32 with 2:11 remaining.

"We're getting better, but our mistakes could have cost us this game,"Holzshu said. "The free throws at the end were big."

Butler crept no closer than that five-point margin as J.T. Schwartz sank both ends of a one-and-one with 1:12 to play and Dan Taylor did likewise with 57 seconds left. The Titans' final eight points came from the charity stripe.

"These games turn into foul-shooting contests when you're playing from behind,"Lewandowski said.

Schwartz led Shaler with 12 points. Freshman John Holtz added nine points and six rebounds, Taylor nine points and five boards. Both teams had 27 rebounds.

Jendesky had 12 points and five rebounds for Butler. Swartwout contributed 10 points and nine boards while freshman Nate Snodgrass came off the bench to deliver 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Shaler has one senior on its roster, two sophomores and a freshman in its starting lineup. The Titans are still dealing with the loss of head coach Howie Ruppert, who died of a heart attack earlier this month.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks for these kids,"Holzshu said. "We're still in transition and I still think we can be a good basketball team by the end of the year."

Butler hosts its Christmas Tournament tonight and Tuesday and travels to New Castle this Saturday night.

"We've got some non-section games here where we can work on some things,"Lewandowski said.

SHALER45Brian Batko 3-7 4-4 12, John Holtz 3-8 3-6 9, Dan Taylor 3-6 3-4 9, Craig Feehan 0-1 1-2 1, Greg Friend 3-4 0-0 6, Jesse Della Valle 2-5 0-0 4, Zach Kreke 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 15-34 13-18 45

BUTLER39Cole Harvey 2-6 0-0 4, Brian Jendesky 3-7 6-6 12, Logan Renwick 0-6 1-4 1, Jeff Tompkins 0-2 1-2 1, Nate Snodgrass 4-5 0-0 10, Vinny Schmidt 0-6 0-0 0, David Schmidt 0-1 1-2 1, Bobby Swartwout 2-7 5-6 10. Totals: 11-40 14-20 39

Shaler 11 9 11 14—45Butler 6 11 6 16—393-point goals: Schwartz 2; Snodgrass 2, Swartwout

JV: Butler, 38-34 (B:Cody Herald 14, Bill Smith 14; S:Brandon Bauer 12)

Monday: Butler Christmas Tournament:Jeannette vs. Knoch, 6 p.m.; Butler vs. Summit Academy, 7:30 p.m.