Oh So Close
OAKLAND — The carrot dangled in front of them all night.
The Golden Tornado just couldn't grab it.
Butler never trailed by double digits, tied the game midway through the third quarter and entered the fourth with just a one-point deficit Saturday night. But the Tornado never led since midway through the first quarter in dropping a 62-57 decision to Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball championship game at the Petersen Events Center.
“This one hurts. We're all feeling it,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We wanted this so badly.
“It's going to be tough to reboot, but we have to find a way.”
Butler (20-5), which lost for just the third time in 16 games, returns to action at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, taking on Chambersburg in the PIAA Tournament at Canon-McMillan High School.
The Tornado knew they would be in the state playoffs. They were hoping to be there as WPIAL champion.
“So close,” junior guard Ethan Morton said. “I don't feel like I played very well tonight. I missed some critical shots.
“I feel like I let my team, the community ... everybody down. I'm supposed to be the leader of this team and I didn't get it done.”
Morton had 21 points, 14 rebounds and six assists on the night. He completed a three-point play to pull the Tornado within 58-55 with 1:05 to play. Butler got the ball back and Morton missed a potential game-tying trey from the top of the perimeter with less than a minute to play.
But that was one shot in a sea of shots and plays in this game.
“Ethan didn't lose us this game. I know he feels like he did. He takes ownership. He's a leader,” Clement said.
A pair of layups by Luke Patten pulled Butler even at 38 with the Blue Devils (22-3) with four minutes left in the third quarter. Mt. Lebanon — which won for the 15th time in 16 games — regained the lead and a Devin Carney trey late in the third pulled Butler back within 47-46.
A layup by Sean Loughran, a steal and layup by Jake Hoffman early in the fourth gave Mt. Lebanon a 51-46 advantage. The Blue Devils played a patient brand of basketball from there.
“There was no instruction to hold the ball and not shoot,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joe David said. “But our guys know how we play. If we have the lead in the fourth, we're not going to do anything silly with the ball.”Butler had just two team fouls when it trailed by seven with three minutes remaining.The Blue Devils had only four turnovers all night, none in the fourth quarter. They had one turnover in their semifinal win over Canon-McMillan.Still, Butler had its chances down the stretch.“Their offensive rebounds killed us,” Clement said. “I thought we did a great job in not fouling and just playing good defense. Eventually, we got opportunities.“They got three offensive rebounds on one possession late in the game and wound up scoring. That was frustrating.”And frustrating was the word of the night.“We deflected balls, got our hands on it, just didn't get some bounces there,” Morton said.Mt. Lebanon didn't put the game away until Hayden Mitchell sank both ends of a one-and-one with 25.7 seconds left for a 60-55 lead. A Morton layup with 7.2 seconds to play cut the gap to 61-57, but the Tornado were out of time.”Carney had 13 points and a pair of assists for Butler. Patten contributed 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.“This was a good game,” Patten said. “I felt it could have gone either way. They hit a few more shots than we did.”Loughran led Mt. Lebanon with 21 points. Hoffman had 19 points, five rebounds and six steals, Mike Palmer 11 points and five assists. Mitchell had seven points, 10 rebounds and six assists.But containing Morton was the critical part of the Blue Devil game-plan in David's eyes.“We just went right at him, tried to make it as hard for him as possible,” David said. “He still made an impact on this game. The kid is a great player.“This is our first (WPIAL) title in nine years. It's tough to get here and this was a grind of a game. You forget how much it takes to win this thing.”Butler nearly avenged an 87-60 loss at Mt. Lebanon in December.“We had a million turnovers that night. Tonight, we only had 12,” Clement said. “That's pretty good against that team.“Besides New Castle, we're probably the youngest team down here (in the WPIAL finals) this weekend. In time, these guys will realize what they accomplished in getting here.”BUTLER 57Devin Carney 4-12 3-3 13, Colby Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Mattix Clement 2-6 1-2 7, Luke Patten 5-6 0-0 12, Charlie Kreinbucher 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Montag 1-5 0-0 2, Ethan Morton 8-15 4-5 21, Isaiah Scribner 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 21-45 8-10 57.MT. LEBANON 62Hayden Mitchell 2-6 3-4 7, Lucas Decaro 0-1 0-0 0, Blaine Gartley 2-10 0-1 4, Mike Palmer 3-8 5-6 11, Sean Loughran 9-17 0-0 21, Tommy Peters 0-0 0-0 0, Andy Sapp 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Hoffman 7-14 0-2 19. Totals: 23-56 8-13 62.Butler 11 15 20 11 — 57Mt. Lebanon15 15 17 15 — 623-point goals: Carney 2, Clement 2, Patten 2, Morton; Loughran 3, Hoffman 5Saturday: PIAA 6A Tournament, Butler vs. Chambersburg, 4:30 p.m., at Canon-McMillan
