BUTLER TWP — Butler scored 72 points Tuesday night, easily the most surrendered by Seneca Valley this season.

The Golden Tornado won their third consecutive boys basketball game, 72-59, to square their Section 3-AAAA record at 3-3.

Butler coach Matt Clement didn't care to talk about either of those things. Defense — or the lack of it — was on his mind.

Butler (7-6, 3-3) had a 49-27 lead with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

“They were kicking our butts,” Seneca Valley coach Vic Giannotta said. “They wanted this game a lot more than we did.”

Up until that point.

Just over four minutes later, the Raiders (6-6, 1-4) trailed by only six points with 5:10 left, the result of a 21-5 run.

“We lost our focus,” Tornado senior guard Cody Herald said. “Defense was what built us that lead and we got away from it.”

Clement couldn't have agreed more.

“We just can't let that happen. It's inexcusable,” the coach said. “The whole thing is mental. Nobody's tired out there because we're playing 10 guys.

“It comes down to pride. You just don't let your man beat you. You say to yourself I'm not going to get burned.”

Seneca Valley scored 15 points in the first half, and the Raiders had 12 turnovers to Butler's one in the first two quarters.

The Raiders scored 44 points in the second half, hitting 15 of 27 shots after attempting only 14 shots in the first two periods.

“That was all tempo, those 44 points,” Giannotta said. “The game moved to a faster pace. We had no choice but to play that way, we were behind by so many.”

With their lead down to six points, the Tornado came out of a timeout and scored on layups by Vinnie Schmidt and Bobby Swartwout, jumping the margin back to 10.

Treys by Christian Durbin and Austin Bream helped the Raiders cut it back to six at 62-56 with 2:02 to play. But Seneca Valley managed only three points at the foul line the rest of the way.

Butler sank only 9 of 17 free throws in the first three quarters. Zach Slater hit 5-of-6 in the fourth period. Nate Snodgrass added a pair with 1:08 to play, giving Butler a 68-57 lead and icing the game.

Swartwout led Butler with 17 points and eight rebounds. Herald had 16 points and Schmidt 15.

The Tornado blocked eight shots.

“You can't allow 44 points in a half and get away with it,” Swartwout said. “We let down. We lost our intensity defensively. We were lucky to get this win.

Durbin paced Seneca Valley with 21 points, 17 in the second half. Matt Smith had 12 points and six boards.

The Raiders had a 26-20 edge on the boards and had 16 turnovers to Butler's nine.

SENECA VALLEY 59Matt Smith 5-8 0-2 12, Beau Barclay 1-3 0-0 2, Christian Durbin 6-12 8-9 21, Chad Albert 1-2 0-0 2, R.J. McCauley 2-5 0-0 4, Ryan Conn 1-1 0-0 2, Alex Maxfield 4-6 0-0 8, Jordan Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Austin Bream 1-3 3-4 6.

Totals: 22-42 11-15 59.

BUTLER 72Nate Snodgrass 2-5 2-2 6, Trevor Wideman 1-1 0-0 2, Cody West 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Herald 5-10 4-10 16, Zach Slater 1-1 5-6 8, Jake Hilliard 2-4 1-2 5, Bill Smith 1-1 1-2 3, Vinnie Schmidt 7-10 0-0 15, David Tompkins 0-3 0-0 0, Bobby Swartwout 7-11 3-3 17.

Totals: 26-46 16-27 72.

Seneca Valley 9 6 21 23—59Butler 19 12 20 21—723-point goals: Seneca Valley 4 (Smith 2, Durbin, Bream); Butler 4 (Herald 2, Slater, Schmidt).

Junior varsity: Seneca Valley, 54-43 (SV: Zach Spangler 14, B: Luke Hartung 12, Matt Baranchak 10)

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