WEST VIEW - Butler stayed close. It just couldn't win.

If Tuesday night's 63-54 boys basketball loss at North Hills sounds like a microcosm of the Golden Tornado's season, it was - at least in coach Joe Lewandowski's mind.

"We have to work on the phases of the game that have been giving us trouble," Lewandowski said. "That's turning the ball over and making good decisions with the basketball.

"You have to make the plays during crunch time. That's the difference between teams making the playoffs and missing, especially in a closely competitive section like ours.

"That was the difference again tonight," Lewandowski added.

That's been the difference through much of the season.

North Hills (15-7, 10-3) never had a double-digit lead, but it never trailed in the second half. The Indians took a 30-27 lead into the locker room after a first half that had six ties and six lead changes.

"This game went exactly the way I thought it would," North Hills coach Joe Falletta said. "I knew it'd be close all the way."

North Hills took advantage of a pair of Butler turnovers to build a 54-45 lead with 4:36 remaining. But a 3-pointer by Jerrod Markle and layups by Jade Burka, Blake Anderson and Noah Hartung cut the gap to 58-54 with 1:07 left.

"If we get a stop, we have a chance to make it a one-possession game," Lewandowski said.

Instead, the Tornado were forced to foul Caleb Dorman with 47 seconds left. He made the first of two free throws, with teammate Brian Long grabbing a long rebound on the miss.

Long wound up canning a layup with 27 seconds to go, upping the Indians' lead to seven.

"Just like that, it's a three-possession game," Lewandowski said.

"There was no special strategy there," Falletta said. "We got a long carom. Sometimes the ball just bounces your way."

Evan Sandherr paced North Hills with 18 points, John Trocchio added 11 and Dexter Bertram contributed nine points and six of 20 Indian rebounds.

If the Indians defeat North Allegheny Friday, they will clinch at least a share of their first section basketball title since 1982.

"We're just trying to get better," Falletta said.

Markle led four Butler players in double figures with 13 points. Nate Hartung added 11, Anderson 10 and Burka produced 10 points and 12 of 27 Tornado rebounds.

Still, Butler (10-12, 5-8) suffered its eighth loss in 10 games.

"What we need to do now is make sure we get better as a team over these last two games," Lewandowski said. "A lot of these guys are coming back next year.

"We're playing for our school and we're playing for pride. We're also playing to improve the program.

"Burka had a very solid game tonight. He's come a long way as a player and he's giving us consistent scoring and rebounding now," Lewandowski added.

Butler had 17 turnovers to North Hills' nine. The Tornado attempted just six free throws all night.

"We have to attack the basket more," Lewandowski said. "We're getting good effort. I can't fault the effort all year, but we can play better."

BUTLER 54

Nate Hartung 4-6 3-3 11, Noah Hartung 4-7 0-0 8, Jerrod Markle 4-10 2-2 13, Adam Monday 0-3 0-0 0, Blake Anderson 4-10 1-1 10, Jade Burka 5-5 0-0 10, Alan Jackson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 22-44 6-6 54

NORTH HILLS 63

Evan Sandherr 6-8 4-4 18, John Trocchio 4-7 0-0 11, Brian Long 4-8 0-3 8, Zach Stutz 0-2 0-0 0, C.J. Wink 3-5 2-2 8, Caleb Dorman 1-5 4-6 7, Dexter Bertram 4-9 1-2 9. Totals: 23-45 11-17 63

3-point goals:

Markle 3, Anderson; Sandherr 2, Trocchio 3, Dorman

JV:

North Hills, 50-44 (NH-Ryan Monahan 17, Matt Timko 12, Kyle Henny 12, B-Adam Zaccari 11)

Friday:

New Castle @ Butler

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