PINE TWP — All night, Butler didn't have much of a lead at Pine-Richland.

Then again, it never needed one.

The Golden Tornado's biggest advantage of the night was six — 48-42 with 31.5 seconds to play — in a 49-44 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball victory Friday night.

“Our pressure on the ball was tremendous tonight,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We didn't want to let up at all defensively in this game and we didn't.

“I'm so proud of these guys. We held Perry to 51 points, Hampton to 49, gave up 44 tonight ... keep doing that and we'll be in a lot of games. It feels good to see us finish one.”

The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Tornado.

Butler's six-point edge was the biggest for either team. The lead changed hands four times and was tied on five occasions — the last at 36-36 with 1:34 left in the third period as Luke Tincha sank two free throws to knot the score.

“This was a true team win,” Clement said. “We played about 13 guys in a tight section game on the road.”

Senior guard Dom Pusateri hit a jumper with 58 seconds left in the third quarter to finally give the Tornado (2-4, 1-2) the lead for good. But they had to work to keep it.

Pusateri completed a three-point play early in the fourth period. He drove for a lay-up off an in-bounds play to give the Tornado a 45-40 edge with 2:55 left.

“We treated this like a must-win,” Pusateri said. “Our game-plan was to pressure the ball, wear them down, show that we were the team that was in better shape. We didn't wamt to give them any space.”

The Rams had only 11 turnovers, but saw few open looks all night.

Pine-Richland (6-3, 0-3) trailed 41-40 and had five consecutive possessions with a chance to take the lead at that point — and never did.

The Rams played without senior point guard Brock Baranowski due to injury. It was the team's first game without Baranowski, who will return to the lineup after Christmas.

“We're like a horse without a head when he's not in there,” P-R coach Brian Gaetano said. “On those five possessions, we had numbers going the other way each time and took a bad shot each time.

“Butler is very good in its half-court defense, so missing those chances hurt. When they have the lead late, they can hold the ball forever because there's no shot clock.”

The Rams did pull within 45-42 with 1:48 left and Tornado point guard Keenan Krause missed a lay-up with 1:27 to go. But Seth Cook stole an in-bounds pass with a minute to play and Krause drained two free throws with 52 seconds to go. Cook added a free throw with 31.5 seconds left and Butler was home free.

Krause had five assists on the night.

“Keenan's only a sophomore and he's already maturing out there,” Clement said. “He has a chance to be a very good point guard.”

Pusateri paced Butler with 17 points. Cook added 11 points and nine rebounds, Luke Hartung seven points and 11 of 34 Butler boards.

Pat Sullivan paced Pine-Richland with 11 points and seven rebounds. C.J. Jackson and Dean Steliotes had 10 points each and Tim Williams had eight of 32 Ram rebounds.

“We needed this win, but it's only one win,” Pusateri said. “We need to take it up a notch and get on a roll.”

Clement agreed.

“This is the first time I've won at this place in four years,” the coach said. “These kids aren't used to having a record of one and something, but that's what we were. Their backs were to the wall and they responded. Maybe this is the start of something.”

BUTLER 49

Dom Pusateri 7-10 2-5 17, Seth Cook 3-8 5-7 11, Keenan Krause 1-4 2-2 4, Seth Horwat 2-4 2-2 6, Luke Hartung 2-8 1-4 7, Shae Stobert 0-0 0-0 0, Arum Krause 0-4 0--0 0, Nick Patten 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Gross 1-1 0-0 2, Luke Tincha 0-1 2-2 2, Andrew Paterno 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-40 14-26 49.

PINE-RICHLAND 44

Shea Sullivan 0-3 0-0 0, Tom Hartman 0-0 3-4 3, Dean Steliotes 4-9 1-1 10, Tim Williams 3-8 0-0 6, Sam Dunsmore 2-5 0-4 4, Pat Sullivan 3-12 5-7 11, C.J. Jackson 3-13 4-6 10, Nate Roberts 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-51 13-22 44.

Butler 9 15 14 11—49

Pine-Richland6 15 15 8—44

3-point goals: Pusateri, Hartung 2; Steliotes

JV: Butler, 54-46 (B: Andrew Paterno 20, Nick Patten 12, Mark Gross 12; P-R: Blake Schultz 13, Ben DiNucci 11, Jamie Switalski 10)

Saturday: Kiski Area at Butler