SOUTH FAYETTE TWP — At halftime, a South Fayette fan won a $25 gas card for hitting a half-court shot.

Butler’s Zach Neudorfer could have won about $75.

The Golden Tornado senior hit six 3-pointers — three of them from way beyond the arc — and scored 20 points to lead the Butler boys basketball team to a 56-53 road win over South Fayette in the season finale Monday night.

Neudorfer was coming off a scoreless game against Seneca Valley Friday.

“I know he was pretty disappointed in his last game against Seneca Valley,” said Butler coach Matt Clement. “I didn’t want to see him leave on that note and he came out and had the best game he’s ever had tonight.”

Neudorfer hit all three of his long 3-pointers in the third quarter to help Butler erase a nine-point deficit.

The Golden Tornado trailed by four with 1:18 remaining, but scored the game’s final seven points to secure the win.

“I give them a lot of credit,” said South Fayette coach Rich Bonnaure. “They weren’t going to come in here and not play hard.”

The Lions (13-9) are headed to the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs after finishing third in their section behind Chartiers Valley and Montour.

“That was a very, very tough team,” Bonnaure said. “We made some mental mistakes at the end. Hopefully, we won’t do that in the playoffs. This is what this game was about for us. To play a tough team and learn.”

The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Tornado (6-15) and sent them into the offseason on a positive note.

“I said to those guys, ‘This is the first time I’ve had a postseason speech after a win,’” Clement said. “I said, ‘I’d prefer it to be at the Bryce Jordan Center (the site of the PIAA Basketball Championships) or after the WPIAL title game.’ But I’m proud of them because they had some heart and some pride at the end. It would have been easy and no one would have blamed them a bit if they didn’t have it.”

From the start, Butler was treating this game like it was playoffs.

The Tornado led 12-6 early, but watched that lead disappear thanks to a 10-2 run by the Lions.

South Fayette led 31-23 late in the second quarter, but Dom Pusateri drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Butler into the locker room down by five.

Pusateri finished with 12 points.

“I told them, ‘This is it,’” Clement said. “‘We’re not going home with a loss.’”

And the Tornado didn’t.

Trailing 53-52, Arum Krause hit a pull-up jumper from the right elbow to give the Tornado the lead for good.

Krause scored 12 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line.

“There’s a lot of people who have come up to me this week said, ‘I bet you can’t wait for this to be over,’” Clement said. “No. No, I’ll play all year. And Arum, he’s just getting going. He doesn’t need a break right now.”

Butler lost seven games this season by eight points or less — six of them section games.

Through it all, Clement said, no one on his team gave up on the season.

“Guys who have spent so much time in the gym with me, to see them come through and get a win at the end — it’s a consolation prize, but it’s a special moment for me as a coach.”

BUTLER 56

Dom Pusateri 3-10 5-7 12, Seth Cook 2-8 0-0 4, Zach Neudorfer 7-13 0-0 20, Seth Horwat 1-1 0-0 2, Luke Tincha 1-3 0-2 2, Mark Gross 1-2 0-1 2, Arum Krause 2-10 8-8 12, Nick Patten 0-2 0-0 0, Keenan Krause 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 18-52 13-18 56.

SOUTH FAYETTE 53

C.J. Rusisill 2-6 1-2 6, Zach Challingsworth 8-19 0-0 17, Evan Bonnaure 3-9 6-6 13, Pat Martinelli 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Russell 5-11 0-0 11, Justin Watson 2-5 0-0 4, Brett Brumbaugh 1-2 0-1 2, Nick McKee 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Guadagnino 0-0 0-0 0, George Slater 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-53 7-9 53.

Butler 14 12 17 13—56

South Fayette12 19 13 9—53

3-point goals: Butler 7 (Pusateri, Neudorfer 6). South Fayette 4 (Rudisill, Challingsworth