JACKSON TWP — It wasn't the shot Christian Durbin wanted, but it was nearly the shot Seneca Valley needed.

Durbin's desperation 40-footer rolled round the rim and out just before the buzzer Tuesday night as the Butler boys basketball team held on for a 52-50 section victory.

"I thought it was going in. It felt good. ... But it wasn't," Durbin said.

Butler (13-0, 6-0) managed to stay unbeaten despite missing two free throws in the final 15 seconds to give the Raiders (6-6, 1-5) a chance to win.

"The basketball gods were with Butler tonight," SV coach Vic Giannotta said while forcing a smile. "But, hey, they're making plays at the end to win games this year. That's how you get that kind of record."

Butler took a 9-0 lead in the game's first three minutes and led by as many as 12 points with 1:08 left in the first half. The Golden Tornado led throughout until a 3-pointer by the Raiders' Nate Herrmann knotted the game at 30 with 2:57 left in the third quarter.

A Durbin layup and a Joe Belechak trey gave the Raiders a 35-30 lead — their biggest edge of the night — and forced Butler coach Matt Clement to use a timeout.

"They had all the momentum. They were in a position to take the game over at that point," Clement said.

Enter Logan Renwick.

The Butler senior guard drained a 3-pointer to cut the gap to two, then a Vinny Schmidt steal and layup tied the score. Two Brian Jendesky free throws gave the Tornado a 37-36 edge at quarter's end.

"Logan's shot may have been the play of this game," Clement said. "Tonight was a case of our seniors just refusing to lose."

The teams continued to trade punches, the lead changing hands four times in the final 10 minutes. A Durbin trey gave SV a 48-45 lead with 3:17 to play.

Butler senior Jeff Tompkins sank a jumper to pull the Tornado within one point as the Raiders turned the ball over on their next two possessions.

Seneca Valley had 18 turnovers on the night to Butler's 11.

"The ball hasn't been bouncing our way this year and turnovers have had a lot to do with it," Durbin said.

Butler took the lead for good on a Nate Snodgrass layup with 1:34 remaining. But the Tornado never did put the game away.

A pair of Tompkins free throws upped the count to 51-48 with 43.7 seconds on the clock. Alex Maxfield answered with a layup while being fouled with 21.5 seconds left.

Maxfield missed the potential game-tying free throw. But Renwick missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15.5 seconds remaining.

Again, the Raiders turned it over and were forced to foul Snodgrass with 8.5 seconds to go.

"It was back and forth, but we have a coach who believes in us and we believe in ourselves," Renwick said. "We just kept fighting."

Snodgrass made the front end of the one-and-one, but missed the second shot. The Raiders got the ball to Durbin heading the other way.

"That missed free throw may have helped Butler because it took us about three seconds to corral the ball and get going," Giannotta said. "We were trying to spot up either Herrmann or Belechak for the last shot. Christian was to decide which was open."

The final play never materialized.

"I wanted to get the ball to Nate on the elbow, then we were going to set a pick for Belechak to shoot a 3," Durbin said. "The whole thing broke down. I got the ball to Nate, but he was tripled or quadruple-teamed and he gave it back to me.

"All I could do was fire it up from deep. That's the way it's been going for us."

The Raiders dropped their fourth straight. Four of SV's six losses are by five points or fewer.

Jendesky and Snodgrass paced Butler with 10 points each. Bobby Swartwout had eight of 21 Tornado rebounds.

Durbin had 26 points, and Belechak had 10 points and eight of 29 Seneca Valley rebounds.

"We knew this would be a tough one because Vic is a great coach, an intense coach, and he was going to have his team prepared for us," Clement said. "They outboarded us, so we couldn't get the ball and go.

"We were having problems all night, but the kids found a way to get a win. That's a good sign."

Notes: Most of the game was officiated by two men. The third left the game with an apparent foot injury late in the first quarter. ... Butler committed one team foul in the first half. ... The Golden Tornado are ranked No. 10 in the state in Class AAAA by the Harrisburg Patriot-News. Unbeaten Mount Lebanon is ranked third.

BUTLER 52Nate Snodgrass 4-8 1-2 10, Eli Christy 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 3-4 0-1 7, Brian Jendesky 3-5 4-4 10, Cody Herald 3-6 0-0 8, Jeff Tompkins 3-4 2-2 8, Vinny Schmidt 2-10 0-2 5, Bobby Swartwout 2-6 0-0 4.

Totals: 20-43 7-11 52.

SENECA VALLEY 50Pete Vincente 0-0 0-0 0, Marco Corona 0-1 0-0 0, Evan Mitro 1-4 0-0 2, Christian Durbin 10-18 4-5 26, Nate Herrmann 2-5 0-0 6, Joe Belechak 4-10 0-0 10, Pat Kulp 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Maxfield 3-4 0-1 6.

Totals: 20-42 4-6 50.

Butler 18 6 13 15—52Seneca Valley 9 7 20 14—503-point goals: Butler 5 (Snodgrass, Renwick, Herald 2, Schmidt); Seneca Valley 6 (Durbin 2, Herrmann 2, Belechak 2).

Junior varsity: Butler, 46-41 (B: David Tompkins 12, Bill Smith 10; SV: Pat Kulp 12, Matt Smith 10)

Friday: Butler at North Hills, Central Catholic at Seneca Valley