BUTLER TWP — The end was encouraging.

The start was disastrous.

Pine-Richland raced out to a 32-7 lead on Butler in the first quarter of their Section 1-6A boys basketball game Friday night in the Golden Tornado gym, only to watch the Tornado pull within six with 3:15 to play.

The Rams put together a 9-2 run at that point and put away an 87-72 victory.

“We're resilient and we did some good things, but it can't be about that anymore,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “I thought we were ready to come out with some defensive energy ... we worked on that in practice and talked about it just yesterday.

“But we didn't come out that way and that's on me. I'm the coach. I have to do a better job in that regard.”

The Rams (6-4, 3-3) sank 13 of 16 shots in the first quarter, including six treys. The Tornado, on the other hand, hit just three of 14 field goal attempts in the opening period.

“We got caught standing around,” Butler senior guard Mattix Clement said. “We gave them open shots and they hit them.”

Coach Clement emphasized the importance of playing a solid four-quarter game against Pine-Richland.

“That team is very good,” the coach said. “They have five guys who play together and don't care who scores. Whoever has the open shot, takes it.

“You have lapses against them and they can kill you. And that's what they did.”

Butler (5-6, 1-5) pulled within 15 by the end of the first half and got within 13 on four occasions in the third quarter. The Tornado's real surge came early in the fourth.

Mattix Clement stole the ball in the backcourt and drove for a layup to cut the gap to nine with 7:20 to play. A Devin Carney trey sliced the deficit to eight with 4:20 left. Mattix Clement stick back the rebound of his own missed shot and the margin was 71-65 with 3:15 to play.

“We always get off to fast starts,” Pine-Richland coach Bob Petcash said. “The key is playing solid ball for four quarters. We emphasize winning every quarter, every possession.

“I knew this game wasn't over after the first quarter. Butler can shoot 3-pointers and Matt runs a lot of create offensive sets for those guys. I'm not surprised they got back in it.”

But the Tornado ran out of steam.

Joey Dudkowski and Andrew Alexander got free for layups, Dudkowski executed a three-point play and the Rams' lead was 80-67 with two minutes to go.

“It all goes back to that first quarter,” Mattix Clement said. “You fall behind by that many and use all that energy to get back in it ... it's hard to keep it going.”

Four Pine-Richland players scored in double figures. Joey Petcash had 22 points and three steals, Dudkowski 20 points and five rebounds, Luke Shanahan 15 points and three assists, Dylan Serafini 10 points.

Alexander had eight assists for the Rams.

“We probably had a season-low in assists tonight,” Coach Clement said.

Carney paced Butler with 34 points and two steals. Mattix Clement had 26 points and six rebounds. The Tornado tallied only seven assists on the night.

Charlie Kreinbucher returned to action, coming off the bench to grab three rebounds. He played with his injured thumb heavily wrapped.

“I thought Charlie gave us some energy,” Coach Clement said. “He was on the floor when we made our runs.”

“Butler is a strong team,” Petcash said. “When they get healthy, no one will want to play them.

“With the open tournament this year, the key is to peak in late February. I know that's what we're trying to do.”

PINE-RICHLAND 87

Eli Jochem 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Alexander 3-7 2-3 8, Andy Swartout 2-4 2-2 7, Joey Petcash 8-12 1-1 22, Luke Shanahan 5-9 2-2 15, Dylan Serafuni 5-5 0-1 10, Joey Dudkowski 6-9 6-7 20, Jameson O'Toole 2-6 0-0 5. Totals: 31-53 13-16 87.

BUTLER 72

Decin Carney 10-26 12-12 34, Logan Koegler 0-0 0-0 0, Mattix Clement 8-16 6-7 26, Jordan Stutz 0-2 0-0 0, Derek Butterworth 0-0 0-0 0, Colin Patterson 1-2 0-0 2, CJ Singleton 1-1 0-0 3, Charlie Kreinbucher 0-0 0-0 0, Madden Clement 0-2 0-0 0, David Leslie 2-5 0-0 5, Kaleb Proudfoot 1-4 0-1 2. Totals: 23-59 18-20 72.

Pine-Richland 32 14 17 24 — 87

Butler7 14 19 22 — 72

3-point goals: Swartout, Petcash 5, Shanahan 3, Dudkowski 2, O'Toole; Carney 2, Mat.Clement 4, Singleton, Leslie

JV: Pine-Richland, 77-44 (PR: Andy Swartout 16, Nate Zavasky 14, Andrew Lamendola 13, Josh Gimble 11, Jameson O'Toole 10, Owen Luellen 10; B: Ryan Porch 9, CJ Singleton 9, Colin Casteel 9)

Tuesday: Butler at North Allegheny