WEST VIEW — North Hills hung around — then it hung the first loss on Butler's season.

The Indians never led Friday night until a pair of Nate Marx free throws gave them a 44-43 advantage with 38.4 seconds remaining.

Brody Zangaro then made a free throw with 7.8 seconds left Friday night as the North Hills boys basketball team escaped its home floor with a 45-43 victory.

The loss snapped Butler's 13-game winning streak to start the season. The win broke a three-game losing streak for North Hills (4-10, 2-5).

"It's the second half of the season and it's win or go home for us. We know that," North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said.

Butler (13-1, 6-1) led 9-0 with 2:26 left in the first quarter and led by as many as 11 in the first half.

"We kept getting leads of six points, seven, nine. ... We never put them away when we had chances to do so," Butler coach Matt Clement said. "Buzz kept his kids' heads in the game, even though they've been struggling.

"They never quit getting after it and they got us. We ducked a punch the other night (a 52-50 win at Seneca Valley). We didn't duck this one."

After falling behind by 11, the Indians scored the final six points of the first half. Butler had a 24-19 lead at intermission, with Bobby Swartwout scoring 20 of those tallies.

Swartwout netted only two points in the second half.

"We began the game playing man and he was killing us," Gabos said. "We switched to a 1-3-1 zone and that forced him out into the high post a lot more."

Butler's Vinny Schmidt scored eight of his 10 points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers, against that zone.

"Bobby was still getting his touches and we were scoring against that defense. It was just hard to free him up down low," Clement said.

North Hills tied the game at 26 midway through the third quarter, only to watch the Tornado respond with an 8-0 run.

Swartwout stuck back an offensive rebound and Jeff Tompkins hit a layup to extend Butler's lead to 41-31 with 6:24 left in the game. But the Indians went on a 9-0 run and Butler scored only two points the rest of the night.

The Tornado led by five points when Swartwout lost a chance for an offensive rebound. The ball went out of bounds under the North Hills basket and still would have belonged to Butler, but Swartwout smacked the wall in frustration and was whistled for a technical foul.

D.J. Scott sank both free throws, then a layup on the ensuing possession. Suddenly, North Hills trailed by a single point.

"Bobby hit the wall and said 'Come on' in the process. No matter what his intent was there, the official called it," Clement said. "We can't allow that to happen. We can't put ourselves in that position."

The Tornado led 43-42 with 45 seconds left when Schmidt missed two free throws after being fouled while trying to convert a layup.

"We got lucky there," Gabos said. "Our point guard was giving it to Nate Snodgrass pretty good and the official didn't blow the whistle. Snodgrass had to get rid of the ball to the corner, then Schmidt made an athletic play to receive a pass above the rim.

"A three-point play right there would have been a dagger. Instead, he goes to the line, and making free throws on the road with the crowd into the game isn't easy."

After Marx's free throws gave the Indians their long-awaited lead, Butler still had chances. Schmidt missed a baseline jumper with 10 seconds left. After Zangaro missed his second free throw with 7.8 seconds to go, Swartwout rebounded, drove the length of the floor and attempted a layup.

The ball got wedged between the rim and the glass with :00.6 on the clock. The alternate possession belonged to North Hills and the game was over.

Butler played without forward Brian Jendesky, who injured his heel Tuesday at Seneca Valley. Results of an MRI are due Monday and Clement lists Jendesky's status as day to day.

"I hate losing. It's the worst feeling in the world," Clement said. "I won't sleep tonight. I never slept when I lost as a pitcher.

"Now we'll find out what kind of men are in that locker room. We have to turn the page. We have five section games left and they're all going to be gunning for us."

Swartwout had nine of the Tornado's 29 rebounds. Scott had 18 points and five rebounds for North Hills with Jeff Witt adding 13 points and six of his team's 22 boards.

BUTLER 43Nate Snodgrass 1-5 0-2 2, Eli Christy 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 1-4 0-0 2, Cody Herald 1-5 0-0 3, Jeff Tompkins 2-4 0-0 4, Vinny Schmidt 4-10 0-2 10, Bobby Swartwout 8-15 5-5 22, David Tompkins 0-0 0-0 0, William Smith 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17-43 5-9 43.

NORTH HILLS 45D.J. Scott 6-10 6-7 18, Scott Zubik 1-7 3-6 6, Nate Marx 0-0 3-4 3, Jeff Witt 6-10 1-2 13, Joe Dice 1-3 1-2 4, Brody Zangaro 0-2 1-2 1, Conor McIntyre 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 14-33 15-23 45.

Butler 11 13 10 9—43North Hills 7 12 10 16—453-point goals: Butler 4 (Herald, Schmidt 2, Swartwout); North Hills 2 (Zubik, Dice).

Junior varsity: Butler, 52-45 (B: David Tompkins 17, Cody West 12; NH: Sam Tovissi 15)

Tuesday: Shaler at Butler