BUTLER TWP — Character game, character finish.

The Butler boys basketball team sank 7-of-9 free throws in the final 1:43, came up with a critical steal during that stretch and scrapped its way to a 53-48 section victory over Shaler Tuesday night.

"That was all grit," Golden Tornado coach Matt Clement said. "Those kids dug as deep as they could dig tonight."

Shaler's J.P. Holtz sank 1-of-2 free throws with 3:46 remaining, knotting the score at 44.

The Titans (7-9, 2-6) got the ball back and began to work the clock.

Holtz returned to the line with 2:19 to play and missed two free throws. The rebound was tied up and Shaler retained possession.

With 1:53 left, the Titans' Jesse DellaValle missed the front end of a one-and-one and Butler finally regained possession.

The Tornado's Nate Snodgrass sank two free throws with 1:43 left to give the Tornado (14-1, 7-1) the lead they never lost. Bobby Swartwout added a pair of free throws with 1:14 left for a four-point advantage.

With Butler leading 49-46, the Titans had possession and called a timeout with 35.6 seconds to play. But when Shaler was unable to convert a layup, Butler's Jeff Tompkins scooped up a loose ball and pushed it ahead to Logan Renwick.

"I wanted us to pull it out, get the ball in Nate's hands so they'd foul him," Clement said of the play. "If Logan made a bad pass, I'd have probably yelled at him."

Instead, Renwick drove toward the basket and dished off to Vinny Schmidt, who made the game-clinching layup.

Neither team led by more than six points until Snodgrass hit two more free throws for a 53-46 edge with 13.6 seconds left.

"We knew it'd be this type of game: tight all the way," Snodgrass said. "We relied on our defense late. If we play Butler defense, we know we can win."

Butler defense is holding the opponents to 50 points or fewer, something the Tornado has done in 13 of 15 games this season.

"They do the little things at the end to win games like this," Shaler coach Paul Holzshu said. "That's why they're leading our section. That team is well-drilled, well-schooled, and they do what their coach wants them to do."

Snodgrass paced Butler with a career-high 18 points, including sinking 7-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter. The sophomore point guard is shooting better than 80 percent at the line this season.

Bobby Swartwout had 13 points and three blocked shots, and Schmidt came off the bench to net 11 points for the Tornado. Tompkins and Renwick each had five of 25 Butler rebounds.

J.T. Schwartz paced Shaler with 21 points. Dan Taylor added 12 points and four of 20 Titan rebounds.

Butler clinched a WPIAL playoff berth with Tuesday's win.

"That's all about those kids in there," Clement said, pointing to Butler's locker room. "I opened the gym and put the basketballs out during the summer. They came in and did the work."

SHALER 48Jesse DellaValle 0-2 2-5 2, J.T. Schwartz 7-13 5-7 21, Brandon Bauer 1-4 1-1 3, J.P. Holtz 0-3 4-8 4, Dan Taylor 4-6 2-2 12, Craig Feehan 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Sieber 2-3 0-0 6, Zach Kreke 0-2 0-0 0, Greg Friend 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14-34 14-23 48.

BUTLER 53Nate Snodgrass 4-10 9-10 18, Eli Christy 1-1 0-0 2, Logan Renwick 1-4 0-1 2, Brian Jendesky 0-0 1-2 1, Cody Herald 0-3 0-0 0, Jeff Tompkins 2-3 2-2 6, Vinny Schmidt 4-7 3-4 11, Bobby Swartwout 5-7 2-2 13.

Totals: 17-35 17-21 53.

Shaler 14 11 13 10—48Butler 16 9 10 14—533-point goals: Shaler 6 (Schwartz 2, Taylor 2, Sieber 2); Butler 2 (Snodgrass, Swartwout).

Junior varsity: Shaler, 48-29 (S: Brian Bittner 14, Zach Taylor 11, Sean Gavin 11; B: Zach Slater 9, David Tompkins 8)

Friday: Butler at Pine-Richland