BUTLER TWP — Time for Butler to play the waiting game — again.

The Golden Tornado boys basketball team never did get to finish a potential state championship run in the PIAA playoffs last season. The COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that.

Now the pandemic has reared its ugly head again, short-circuiting the 2020-21 winter sports season after just one game.

“This time it will be better,” Butler senior guard Mattix Clement said. “We know we're coming back.”

They just don't know when nor under what circumstances.

Gov. Tom Wolf's shutdown of high school athletics is in place until Jan. 4. That date could be extended as time goes on.

“Winter time is Butler basketball time around here,” Golden Tornado coach Matt Clement said. “A lot of people in the community look forward to this.

“I miss the packed gym, all that atmosphere. Maybe toward the end of the year, people will be allowed back in here. Who knows?

“We all know how serious this is. We understand it. The hospitals are full. People are getting sick. This has to be done. We acknowledge the severity of the situation,” the coach added.

Following Friday night's 82-72 win over Latrobe, the gym fell silent.

No more games. No more practices. No more team get-togethers.

Players will have to stay in shape on their own.

“The gyms are closed, so you can't work out there,” junior guard Devin Carney said. “We have a weight room in our house. I'll do workouts at home, get out on the track at the school and run a little bit.”

Junior center Charlie Kreinbucher plans to “get together with some friends and run up and down a hill in Center Township.

“We're gonna do what we have to do,” Kreinbucher added. “It's up to us as individuals. We're going to stay in basketball condition. Hopefully, that will set us apart from other teams when we do come back.”

Coach Clement is confident his players will stay conditioned.

“This basketball team means a lot to every single person in that room,” he said, pointing to the locker room. “They are very committed to each other. This is their season and they want to make it count.”

Whenever it is.

“As long as it happens, we're OK with it,” Kreinbucher said. “I really believe we would have won the state championship last year. We had so much momentum on our side.”

Butler athletic director Bill Mylan believes the season will return.

At what point and in what form is anybody's guess.

“So many things have to be determined yet,” Mylan said. “There will be a lot of Zoom meetings involving athletic directors over the next couple of weeks.

“Schedules for all of these winter sports have to be re-done. Basketball will be the toughest. We were originally going to play each team in the section three times this year. Section games are more important than non-league games because they count toward the playoffs.”

When Gov. Wolf gives the OK for high school sports to return, teams will have to get four practices in before being permitted to play a game.

When play does resume, the Class 6A schedule may revert back to playing each section opponent two times.

“The schedule may be reduced, the season may be extended ... everything is up in the air,” Mylan said. “We may re-do all of these schedules over the next couple of weeks, then have to do them all over yet again. There is so much uncertainty.”

Butler got one game in for now.

“We got a win. That was important to us,” Mattix Clement said. “Now we have to keep people in shape.”

“I told the guys to cherish every moment, cherish every second out there tonight,” Coach Clement said of his words to the team prior to Friday's game. “We've learned to appreciate this a lot more because we don't know when we'll have it again.”