FOX CHAPEL — Everything Butler boys basketball coach Matt Clement was looking for finally manifested itself Friday night.

Trailing by double digits late in the game, the Golden Tornado’s full-court pressure prevented Bethel Park from crossing the half-court stripe on four straight possessions.

It didn’t alter the result as the Blackhawks (6-2) held on for a 64-52 win during a Peter Sauer Memorial Tournament consolation game at Shady Side Academy. But Butler found the defensive intensity Clement has wanted to see all season.

Now, the challenge is to maintain it for 32 minutes.

“They didn’t give up,” Clement said. “After a string of tough games and tough results, giving up was probably an option. The guys that were in there played hard. We’ll see, I’ll let you know how important it was tomorrow. Can we come out and play that way from the get-go tomorrow? I haven’t seen it yet (this season).”

Butler (2-7) will meet South Park in the seventh-place Saturday at 3 p.m. The Eagles lost 77-75 to Riverside in double overtime in the other consolation game.

Keenan Krause, who finished with nine points and four rebounds, helped spark a late surge from the Golden Tornado. Trailing 57-43 with 1:22 left in the game, Krause made layups on consecutive possessions to cut the gap to 57-47.

Both teams traded baskets after that before Mark Gross scored a layup with 36 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 60-51.

“We buckled down and played as a team,” siad Butler guard Nick Patten, who scored 11 points and had three assists. “We helped each other out and had each other’s back.”

In the first half, Bethel Park was determined to get out to an early lead. Joey Mascaro, who finished with a game-high 19 points, and Jacob Murphy scored on consecutive possessions to give the Blackhawks the lead for good, 7-4, with 5:16 left in the first quarter.

Bethel Park coach Ben O’Connor wanted to avoid what happened in the Blackhawks’ first-round loss to Penn-Trafford Thursday.

“What we did was play tougher and hard,” O’Connor said. “I thought last night we played scared and timid. We got a little more tougher and a little tougher by making more simple plays.”

Foul trouble for Gross, combined with early struggles shooting, stagnated the Golden Tornado’s offense. Gross, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, picked up his second foul with 2:19 left in the first quarter.

With Gross on the bench for most of the half, Butler shot 25 percent (7 of 27) from the floor.

Clement believes the shooting will improve.

“It’s experience. A lot of those guys haven’t played with the bright lights on in the varsity games,” Clement said. “Nobody may else may believe it, but I’m 100 percent confidence these guys are going to shoot well.”

Justice Lewandowski made a 3-pointer with 2:30 left before halftime for Butler that cut the lead to 23-17 when Bethel Park responded. The Blackhawks went on a 7-0 run to take a 30-17 lead into halftime.

Balance helped propel Bethel Park’s offense. Jacob Murphy and Jonathan Scarsella both finished with 13 points apiece.

“We had a full-contact practice this morning just because of how soft we played yesterday,” O’Connor said. “Butler made a couple of nice runs, but we answered them. It wasn’t always answering them with buckets. We answered them with defensive stops and with buckets.”

Patten believes if Butler can maintain the intensity it showed in the fourth quarter, good things will follow.

“We can do it. It’s possible, if we play like we can in the last two minutes, to go up from here,” Patten said.

BETHEL PARK 64

Sam Volpatti 0 0-2 0, Jacob Murphy 4 3-5 13, Joe Mascaro 6 6-9 19, Daniel Briet 0 1-2 1, Josh Krafczynski 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Scarsella 5 3-3 13, Richard Pfeuffer 0 5-8 5, Anthony Bomar 3 1-2 9, Levi Metheny 0 2-2 2, Cass Wisniewski 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 2-35 64.

BUTLER 52

Keenan Krause 4 0-1 9, Andrew Paterno 2 0-0 6, Nick Patten 5 0-0 11, Eric Hindman 1 0-0 2, Mark Gross 4 4-5 12, Cory Wheeler 1 2-4 4, Arum Kraus 0 2-2 2, Tyler Frederick 0 0-0 0, Trevor Young 0 0-0 0, Justice Lewandowski 2 0-0 6, Damien Pickett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 9-12 52.

Bethel Park 21 9 13 21—64

Butler11 8 11 22—52

3-point goals: Bethel Park 6 (Murphy 2, Mascaro 2, Bomar 2); Butler 6 (Paterno 2, Lewandowski 2, K. Krause, Patten)

Saturday: Butler vs. South Park at Shady Side Tournament