VANDERGRIFT — When Kiski Arra’s Colin Keller drove for a layup with just under three minutes to play, Butler’s 11-point lead of two minutes earlier was shrunk to four.

The Cavaliers could get no closer, however, as Golden Tornado guards Braylon Littlejohn and Donovan Carney controlled the tempo and the scoreboard the rest of the way in a 74-65 Butler road win.

The duo combined to score the final 10 points for the Tornado (2-0).

“We kept the ball in their hands. They took control,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.

Keller’s bucket pulled Kiski (3-1) within 64-60. Littlejohn drove for a layup on Butler’s next possession and a pair of free throws by Carney upped the lead to 68-61 with 1:52 left. Carney’s drive through traffic for a layup with 58 seconds left gave Butler a 70-63 edge and basically salted the game away.

“Donovan knows when to go,” Clement said. “He knows he has the go-ahead to attack the basket. That was a big possession because we were able to run off a lot of clock before scoring.”

Littlejohn led the Tornado with 27 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and five steals. Carney had 23 points and four boards.

Clement wasn’t sure if Littlejohn would even be able to play the game. He took ill the night before.

“I wasn’t feeling well at all,” Littlejohn said. “I puked four times last night, but I felt better when I got up in the morning. I went to school, then came here.

“Donovan and I have developed a connection with each other. We have it on the court, we have it off the court. Everyone is is learning their roles and we’re in the process of coming together.

“When we get everything down, I think we’re gonna be pretty good.”

Ayden Davis contributed seven points in the first half for the Tornado. Coleton Welter had six rebounds. Tayt Lucas and Ayden Andrews sank key treys in the fourth quarter.

“This is an exciting win for us,” Clement said. “Kiski’s been on a roll. They just beat New Castle by 13 and they were on their home floor tonight with nothing to lose. They really wanted to beat us.

“We got to play at our tempo and we’re still figuring out our lineup. I had Kyle Casteel on the floor late because he can rebound and make free throws.”

Isaiah Gonzalez paced the Cavaliers with 29 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Keller added 18 points. Three players fouled out in the game: Keller and Jacob Musselman for Kiski, Davis for Butler.

Kiski Area 48, Butler (girls) 38

The Golden Tornado (1-2) played the Cavaliers for the second time in this early season and were victimized by a 13-0 KIski run in the fourth quarter.

An Ashton Huff layup less than a minute into the final period gave Butler a 32-31 lead. The Tornado did not score again until an Avery Maier trey with 45 seconds remaining. By that time, Kiski had built a 43-32 advantage.

“We were right in this game,” Butler coach Mark Maier said. “We missed a lot of layups. We drove to the hoop well, but we didn’t finish.”

Butler sank only 13 of 47 field goal attempts. Nine of those field goals were 3-pointers.

“Butler started this game playing faster than us and hurt us with some early treys,” Kiski coach Dave Williamson said. “(Amelia) McMichael is a great player and we decided to make somebody else beat us.

“We got right up on her jersey and once we forced Butler into running a half-court offense, they seemed to struggle with it.”

Abbie Jones, headed to Shippensburg University to extend her basketball career, led the Cavaliers (3-1) with 20 points. She sank seven of eight free throws in the fourth quarter. Cora Coleman had 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“We have four starters back and our leadership took this game over,” Williamson said.

“McMichael had nine points, five rebounds and two steals for the Tornado. Cameryn Booher had eight points.

“They beat us to the 50-50 balls and we didn’t shoot well tonight,” Coach Maier said. “Opponents are going to try to neutralize Amelia. We have to be ready for that.”

Boys

BUTLER 74

Mavrik Clement 1-1 0-0 2, Donovan Carney 7-15 4-7 23, Ayden Davis 3-5 0-2 7, Andrew Lucas 0-0 0-0 0, Braylon Littlejohn 9-13 9-15 27, Kyle Casteel 01 0-0 0, Jordan Epps 1-2 0-0 2, Tayt Lucas 2-7 0-0 6, Ayden Andrews 1-2 0-0 3, Coleton Welter 0-2 1-2 1, Andrew Gettinger 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 25-48 14-26 74.

KISKI AREA 65

Isaiah Gonzalez 9-17 7-13 29, Amaree Gonzalez 2-6 0-0 4, Terry Martin 3-5 0-4 6, Colin Keller 6-9 3-5 18, Owen Pearson 3-5 0-0 6, Jacob Musselman 0-0 0-0 0, Carson Heinle 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 24-42 11-24 65.

Butler 17 18 16 23 — 74

KIski Area 13 20 12 24 — 65

3-point goals: Butler 10 (Carney 5, Davis, Lucas 2, Andrews, Gettinger), Kiski Area 7 ( I.Gonzalez 3, Keller 4)

Tuesday: North Hills at Butler

Girls

BUTLER 38

Jessica Chwalik 2-7 0-0 6, Cameryn Booher 3-6 0-0 8, Sydney Patterson 2-11 1-2 6, Avery Maier 1-52-2 5, Amelia McMichael 3-12 0-0 9, Ashton Huff 2-5 0-0 4, Malina McElroy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-47 3-4 38.

KISKI AREA 48

Abbie Johns 5-10 9-10 20, Cora Coleman 3-5 3-3 10, Gianna DeVito 3-8 0-0 6, Zoe Holm 0-4 1-4 1, Rikiya Garcia-Broaden 3-6 0-0 7, Ali Pencak 1-2 0-0 2, Jada Blanciak 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 16-36 13-19 48.

Butler 15 7 8 8 — 38

Kiski Area 9 15 7 17 — 48

3-point goals: Butler 9 (Chwalik 2, Booher 2, Patterson, Maier, McMichael 3), Kiski Area 3 (Johns, Garcia-Broaden, Coleman)

Monday: Hampton at Butler