Butler overcomes slow start in road win at Hampton
HAMPTON TWP — Trailing 11-0 and 21-5 during the first quarter, memories of Butler’s recent 24-point loss to Central Catholic found their way into the Golden Tornado’s heads Tuesday night.
“Yeah, we thought about it,” senior guard Braylon Littlejohn said. “But we learned from that game. We’re not going to let that happen again.”
They certainly didn’t on this night, pulling to within two points at Hampton at halftime before edging the Tallbots, 55-52, in a non-section boys basketball game.
“We just had to grind and grind and grind, especially on defense,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “These kids showed their mettle tonight.”
Butler (12-2) won for the 10th time in 11 games while Class 4A Hampton (13-3) saw an eight-game winning streak come to an end.
The Tornado outscored Hampton 22-9 in the second quarter to get back in the game. Donovan
Carney sank three treys during that surge. He and Littlejohn combined to score 19 of Butler’s 22 points in the period as the visitors trailed 36-34 at halftime.
“I had no idea what the second half was going to look like,” Clement admitted. “So much energy was expended during that second quarter. The atmosphere here was like a playoff game.
“We had a large contingent of people from Butler come down here and they were loud. They were into it. At times, they made this feel like a home game. No doubt, they played a big part in us coming back to win this game.”
Butler did not have the lead until a Carney trey with 3:27 left in the third quarter. The lead would change hands four times from that point.
The game was even at 48 entering the fourth quarter. Layups by Alex Nyilas and Peter Kramer gave the Talbots a 52-48 edge with under two minutes to play.
The Tornado missed their first eight shots in the fourth quarter.
“They came out in a diamond-and-one on Donovan and we had open looks for three’s,” Clement said. “We took good shots. They just weren’t going in.”
“You forget about the mistakes, the missed shots ... It’s always about the next play,” Lucas said.
That mindset came into play moments later.
A short jumper by Littlejohn pulled Butler within two at 52-50 with 1:25 left. Hampton tried running clock, but was whistled for a traveling violation with 24.5 seconds left. Clement called time with 20.6 seconds to play.
“We drew up a play for Tayt to take the three,” Clement said. “It was Duck’s (assistant coach Jim Gallagher) idea and I signed off on it. We have a short version of that play and a longer version. We ran the longer version.”
Littlejohn stole the ball in the waning seconds and sank two free throws with 2.8 seconds left. A desperation Hampton shot from the corner was knocked away at the buzzer.
“This was a good high school basketball game,” Hampton coach Joe Lafko said. “We didn’t have Liam (Mignogna) tonight, but we had a chancetio knock off one of the top teams in 6A. I’m proud of my term’s effort.”
Mignogna, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, missed his first game with a foot injury. He is sidelined indefinitely. Kramer, a 6-5 guard, led Hampton with 31 points — scoring 23 in the first half — along with 10 rebounds and two steals.
“Butler began this game in a zone. Peter’s a scorer. Give him space and he’s gonna score points,” Lafko said. “They pressed more and went to a half-court man-to-man in the second half.”
“We talked a lot more defensively in the second half, leaned on him more,” Littlejohn said of Kramer. “But he’s tough to defend.”
Littlejohn had 24 points and three assists for Butler while Carney had 17 points and six rebounds. Hampton had a 27-17 rebounding edge, with Robert Coll collecting seven boards and four assists.
BUTLER 55
Donovan Carney 6-9 0-0 17, Ayden Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Braylon Littlejohn 7-13 8-8 24, Kyle Casteel 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Epps 1-1 0-0 3, Tayt Lucas 2-6 0-0 6, Stainton Forbes 2-6 0-0 5, Coleton Welter 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Gettinger 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 18-42 8-8 55.
HAMPTON 52
Alex Nyilas 4-8 0-0 9, A.J. Prodente 1-4 0-0 2, Brock Borgo 2-2 0-0 4, Peter Kramer 11-23 7-7 31, Robert Coll 3-5 0-0 6. Totals: 21-42 7-8 52.
Butler 12 22 14 7 — 55
Hampton 27 9 12 4 — 52
3-point goals: Butler 11 (Carney 5, Littlejohn 2, Epps, Lucas 2, Forbes), Hampton 3 (Nyilas, Kramer 2)
JV: Hampton, 57-47 (B: Jordan Epps 17, H: Griff Jarrell 18)
Friday: Butler at Seneca Valley
