BUTLER TWP — A three-peat — again.

Following in the footsteps of Mars graduate Robby Carmody — who he shared the honor with as a sophomore — Butler senior point guard Ethan Morton has become a three-time Butler County Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The honor is determined by the Butler Eagle sports staff.

Carmody, now playing at Notre Dame, won the county player of the year honor from 2016-18. Morton will be playing at Purdue next season.

Morton averaged 22.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game this season. He has scored 2,198 points in his high school career.

And he appreciates everyone who's helped him through the years.

“The relationships that have been built along the way is what I appreciate the most about all of this,” Morton said.

With Morton running the offense, Butler reached the WPIAL 6A championship game three times in the last four years. That run was topped off by this season's WPIAL championship.

Butler was 80-25 over the past four seasons.

While Morton's been the ringleader, he's had plenty of help — and he says that help also molded him into the player he's become.

“I can go all the way back to my freshman year when (volunteer assistant and Seneca Valley graduate) Matt Smith helped me with my free throws and gave me a lot of one-on-one attention with the mental part of high school basketball,” Morton said.

“Cody Herald coached the freshman team I played on in eighth grade. He was such a hard worker with great passion for the game and the program.”

Morton recalls “butting heads” with volunteer assistant Tanner Wahler through the years because of different ideas and because “we both just wanted to win.”

He said he appreciated the old-school approach of longtime assistant Jim “Duck” Gallagher and the “grit and toughness” he picked up on defense from assistant coach Don Hilliard.

Josh Harbison was another assistant who spent a lot of one-on-one time drilling Morton in different aspects of the game.

“He helped my shooting and dribbling through different workouts,” Morton said. “He was one of those behind the scenes type of guys ... very effective.”

The presence of first-year varsity assistant Bobby Swartwout meant a lot to Morton as well.

“I loved watching him when he played,” Morton said. “Having him on the bench as a coach for my senior year ... Everything just came full-circle.”

When it came to his teammates, Morton was quick and to the point.

“They all contributed. Everyone played a role,” he said.

He described how Luke Patten did positive things on the floor “that only somebody who really knows basketball would have noticed.” He pointed out how Devin Carney “took a lot of the scoring pressure off of me and stepped up to fill much of the void Luke's injury created.”

Patten was lost for the year to a knee injury suffered in preseason.

Morton said the play of Mattix Clement at the top of Butler's 1-3-1 zone would quicken the game's tempo at times.

“Mattix triggers some of our runs with his defense,” Morton said. “He has long arms and he's all over the place. He makes the opponent uncomfortable with the ball.

“Mattix, Luke and I played together when I was in second grade. We've been teammates practically ever since.”

Morton referred to Mason Montag as the unsung senior on the team.

“He'd hit clutch 3's at key times in games,” he said. “He would take a charge at a critical time, crash the boards for rebounds ... Mason is just a grinder.

“Charlie (Kreinbucher) knows what it means to play Butler basketball because his dad played here. He finishes plays inside and is one of our best rebounders. And Raine (Gratzmiller) came off the bench and gave us a spark in so many different ways.

“Like I said, it takes everyone. I love all of these guys. It's hard for me to wrap around the thought I may have played my last game with this team,” Morton added.

When Morton does move on, he holds no doubt the program will continue to win.

“These younger players, what they went through this year, facing and beating adversity, they're only scratching the surface of what they're capable of,” he said.

“I loved playing here. And I'm going to love following where those guys take it from here. You can beat any team if you don't stop believing.”