SHALER TWP — Butler slowed the game down, played stellar defense, got a well-timed turnover and two missed one-and-ones.

The Golden Tornado did everything but win the game.

Despite missing the front end of two one-and-ones in the final 30 seconds, unbeaten Shaler held on for a 40-39 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball victory over Butler Tuesday night.

“I'm not one for moral victories, but Shaler is ranked somewhere by USA Today, they're ranked high in the state and the WPIAL, and we went toe-to-toe with them tonight,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.

The Titans (15-0, 8-0) never led by more than four points. That was at 34-30 with 7:25 left in the contest, capping a 10-0 run buoyed by three consecutive Butler turnovers in the final minute of the third quarter.

“We don't do it very often, but we went into a 1-3-1 zone that kept them from getting into their sets offensively,” Shaler coach Paul Holzshu said. “They struggled with that for a while and gave us some momentum.”

The Titans were unable to maintain that momentum, however.

A free throw by Zach Slater, a David Tompkins layup and two Nate Snodgrass free throws gave Butler (8-7, 4-4) a 35-34 edge with 4:48 to play. It was the last Tornado lead of the night.

Slater's trip to the foul line was Butler's first of the night.

Two three-point plays by sophomore Geno Thorpe accounted for the game's fifth lead change and a 40-37 Titans edge with 2:59 remaining.

“Butler plays basketball the way I like to see it played: organized, disciplined and structured,” Holzshu said. “They never lost their composure.”

Bobby Swartwout misfired on a 3-point attempt from the baseline and Shaler rebounded. Trying to kill time, the Titans lost the ball on a steal by Cody Herald with 1:18 left.

A Snodgrass layup cut the gap to one point with 1:09 remaining.

The Titans' Craig Feehan missed the front end of a one-and-one with 24 seconds left, and Swartwout got the rebound. Snodgrass drove the lane, stopped and let loose with a jumper that fell short of the rim and went out of bounds with four seconds left.

“The play we called was to get the ball to Bobby down in the blocks,” Clement said. “That play never materialized, so our next option was to have Nate go one-on-one.”

When Zach Taylor missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2.1 seconds to play, the Tornado had life. Vinnie Schmidt got off an off-balance shot from just beyond midcourt that clanged off the back of the rim as time expired.

“We got a couple of pretty good shots off at the end. They just didn't go,” Clement said.

“We missed a couple of free throws. They're kids. It happens. They miss ‘em in the pros,” Holzshu said.

Herald paced Butler with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and had two steals. Snodgrass had 13 points and three assists. Swartwout had five of 18 Tornado rebounds.

The loss snapped Butler's four-game winning streak.

“We can be proud and we can be sad tonight,” Clement said. “The challenge for our kids is to get up and be ready for Pine-Richland Friday. I think we're up to that challenge.”

Thorpe had 15 points and five of 20 Shaler rebounds. Schwartz contributed 14 points. Thorpe scored all eight of his team's fourth-quarter points.

BUTLER 39Nate Snodgrass 5-10 2-2 13, Trevor Wideman 0-1 0-0 0, Cody West 0-2 0-0 0, Cody Herald 6-9 0-0 15, Zach Slater 0-2 1-2 1, Jake Hilliard 0-0 0-0 0, Bill Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Vinnie Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0, David Tompkins 2-5 0-0 4, Bobby Swartwout 3-7 0-0 6.

Totals: 16-37 3-4 39.

SHALER 40Zach Taylor 1-2 0-1 2, J.T. Schwartz 5-9 2-2 14, Jake Sieber 0-0 1-2 1, Sean Gavin 0-0 0-0 0, Craig Feehan 1-2 0-1 2, Mike Titterington 0-0 0-0 0, Geno Thorpe 5-10 4-5 15, Ryan Mincher 0-1 0-0 0, J.P. Holtz 2-6 0-0 4, Brian Bittner 1-1 0-0 2.

Totals: 15-31 7-12 40.

Butler 10 14 6 9—39Shaler 8 11 13 8—403-point goals: Butler 4 (Herald 3, Snodgrass); Shaler 3 (Schwartz 2, Thorpe).

Junior varsity: Butler, 55-50 (B: Cody West 26, S: Sean Gavin 16, Sean Bittner 13)

Friday: Pine-Richland at Butler