BUTLER TWP — Instead of crumbling, Butler cracked down.

The Golden Tornado held Pine-Richland to three points in the third quarter Friday night, turning a six-point halftime lead into a 41-30 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball victory in the Butler gym.

“We weren't too excited about that halftime lead tonight,” point guard Nate Snodgrass admitted. “We were up 11 at the half down at their place and collapsed.”

A 31-20 halftime lead at Pine-Richland turned into a 64-56 loss four weeks ago. Andy Andrle, the Rams' 6-foot-4 junior guard, scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half of that game.

Andrle scored only two points Friday and was shut out for the final three quarters.

“(Andrle) is as good as anyone in our section, from what I've seen,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “Cody Herald was on him for close to the entire game.

“There hasn't been as gritty an individual defensive effort turned in on this floor in a long time.”

And Herald wasn't alone.

David Tompkins and Vinnie Schmidt combined to hold Pine-Richland's other big scoring threat, Eric Holmes, to three points. Zach Slater guarded scoring threat Chris Rader and shut him out in the second half.

“You never expect to hold a Quad-A team to 30 points,” Clement said. “But every kid we sent on the floor tonight went out there with a defensive mentality.”

The Rams could feel it. Pine-Richland's previous season-low points total was 43.

“Their defense was outstanding all night,” Rams coach Brian Gaetano said. “They were very physical and we didn't respond to that very well.”

Butler (9-7, 5-4) limited its third consecutive opponent to 40 points or fewer. The Tornado are 5-1 since an 86-55 home loss to North Allegheny Jan. 7.

Butler travels to NA for the rematch Tuesday night.

“I sat in my office for over an hour after that loss,” Clement recalled. “I knew we had to commit all out to defense at that point. But it was only going to work if the kids got results from it.

“Fortunately, they have.”

Pine-Richland (8-5, 3-5) never led in Friday's game. The score was tied 2-2 and was never tied again.

Bobby Swartwout paced Butler with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Snodgrass had 15 points and Herald had three steals.

Snodgrass sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter. He hit a short jumper to beat the horn ending the first half.

“Those are deflating baskets because they were making us work so hard,” Gaetano said. “They're points you just don't want to give up.”

Swartwout lauded the defensive efforts of his teammates.

“Cody did an unreal job on Andrle,” the senior center said.

Rader led Pine-Richland with eight points, all in the first half. The Rams had 14 turnovers to Butler's 10. The Tornado held a 22-16 rebounding edge.

PINE-RICHLAND 30Eric Holmes 1-5 0-2 3, Andy Andrle 1-4 0-0 2, Chris Rader 3-5 1-2 8, Mike Colosimo 0-0 0-0 0, Jim Williams 2-4 0-0 4, Ed Baranowski 1-5 0-0 2, Pat Sullivan 2-4 0-0 4, Collin Jackson 1-3 0-0 2, Dean Steliotis 2-2 0-0 5.

Totals: 13-32 1-4 30.

BUTLER 41Nate Snodgrass 5-9 3-5 15, Trevor Wideman 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Herald 1-5 1-2 3, Zach Slater 1-3 3-6 5, Jake Hilliard 0-0 0-0 0, Bill Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Vinnie Schmidt 1-1 0-0 2, David Tompkins 0-2 0-0 0, Bobby Swartwout 4-7 8-12 16.

Totals: 12-27 15-25 41.

Pine-Richland 4 12 3 11—30Butler 9 13 11 8—413-point goals: Pine-Richland 3 (Holmes, Rader, Steliotis); Butler 2 (Snodgrass 2).

Junior varsity: Pine-Richland, 46-37 (P-R: Shea Sullivan 17, B: Luke Hartung 10)

Tuesday: Butler at North Allegheny