BUTLER TWP — Getting it half-right wasn't good enough.

Butler's boys basketball team limited the third-highest scoring team in the WPIAL to 59 points Wednesday night, but still dropped a 59-33 decision to Section 3-AAAA rival North Allegheny.

The Tigers (15-2, 9-2) average 74.1 points per game and were held below 60 for only the third time this season. But Butler's 33 points marked a season-low.

“Defensively, we played them well enough to win this game,” Golden Tornado coach Matt Clement said. “But you have to do it at both ends of the floor.”

Butler (5-13, 2-9) fell behind 15-4 in the first five minutes and never made a run offensively. The Tornado trailed by as many as 29 late in the third quarter.

Through three periods, Butler had 21 turnovers — and only 20 field goal attempts.

“They scored some points off transition and turnovers,” Clement said. “When we gave ourselves a chance to play defense, we dug in. I applaud that. But, obviouisly, we still have a lot of work to do.”

The Tigers are known for their 3-point shooting, sinking nine treys in an 83-45 win over the Tornado in their first meeting this season. Wednesday night, they sank only three treys.

“They jumped out and took away the 3's,” North Allegheny coach Dave DeGregorio said. “When teams do that to us, we space out and take the ball to the basket.

“I was impressed with our defensive effort tonight. We were focused on defense the entire game and that was good to see.”

Cole Constantino paced North Allegheny with 16 points. Elijah Zeise contributed 14 points and five rebounds. David Haus had four steals for the Tigers.

“We've had nine different players score in double figures this year,” DeGregorio said. “You don't know where the points are going to come from on a given night.

“It's an unselfish group and everyone but our two post guys can shoot the three.”

Nick Patten had 15 points and six rebounds for Butler. Keenan Krause had seven points and three assists, but no other Tornado player scored more than four points.

Tyler Frederick had six rebounds and Mark Gross five.

“It's a puzzling thing because we have good offensive players who just aren't hitting shots,” Clement said. “We had a number of good looks tonight, but our 3-point shooting percentage across the board was terrible.

“We missed our first three free throws, the front ends of two one-and-ones. missed our first six 3's ... It's tough when you're that slow coming out of the blocks.

“The hard work is there, but hard work isn't enough. We have to step up and start making shots,” Clement added.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 59

Elijah Zeise 6-11 2-4 14, Mie Fischer 1-2 0-0 3, Luke Gwaltney 4-8 0-0 8, David Haus 3-5 0-0 6, Will Sandherr 1-1 0-3 2, Mike Carter 1-4 0-0 2, Cole Constantino 6-8 3-3 16, Joe Mancini 1-6 0-0 3, Griffin Sestili 1-2 0-0 2, Blake Constantakis 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Sudo 0-1 0-0 0, Keegan Phillips 0-1 1-2 1, Jordan Lake 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Beuth 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-53 6-12 59.

BUTLER 33

Justice Lewandowski 1-3 0-0 3, Rich Marnic 0-1 0-0 0, Keenan Krause 3-4 1-4 7, Andrew Paterno 1-7 0-0 2, Nick Patten 6-10 2-2 15, Cory Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Frederick 1-5 0-0 2, Eric Hindman 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Gross 1-2 2-2 4, Kelly Kuharic 0-3 0-0 0, Kaiden Rock 0-0 0-0 0, Joel Stutz 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Stutz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-35 5-9 33.

North Allegheny 17 12 19 11 — 59

Butler6 6 9 12 — 33

3-point goals: Fischer, Constantino, Mancini; Lewandowski, Patten

JV: North Allegheny, 73-42 (NA: Keegan Phillips 15, Jordan Lake 12, Jake Beuth 11, Blake Constantakis; B: Joel Stutz 16)

Friday: Butler at North Hills