ROSS TWP — The game turned into a yo-yo ... and Nick Smith pulled the final string.

North Hills' junior point guard drove to the hoop for the go-ahead lay-up with 1:06 to play — putting the Indians ahead for good — and added two free throws with 10 seconds left in a 62-59 boys basketball win over Butler Friday night.

The lead changed hands eight times in the second half before the Indians (2-2, 1-0) finally snared the victory in this mutual Section 3-AAAA opener.

“This was a tough loss,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “It's going to take a while to get over this one.

“We fought back so hard to take control of this game and we let it slip away.”

The Golden Tornado (3-1, 0-1) hit just two of 18 shots in the first quarter and trailed 27-12 with 4:42 left in the first half. A 24-0 Butler run — that didn't end until 3:59 remained in the third period — gave the Tornado a 36-27 lead.

Butler's advantage peaked at 38-28 with 3:02 left in the period.

“It looked like we had turned things our way,” Clement admitted.

But North Hills closed the quarter on a 16-4 run and took a 44-42 lead into the final quarter. The teams repeatedly traded the lead from there.

“This was a weird game with all of those spurts,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “It wound up being a three-point game, but Section 3 games are usually nip-and-tuck all the way through.

“This game was anything but that.”

The respective big men on both teams got in foul trouble. Butler's Tyler Frederick picked up two fouls early in the second quarter. North Hills' 6-foot-6 center Ishmail Waldron also fouled twice in the second period and picked up his third and fourth fouls within the first two minutes of the third quarter.

“Those two guys figured to be final points tonight, but it turned into a small game with them sitting out,” Gabos said. “Both teams proved they have other players who can get things done.”

Butler trailed 58-53 with less than two minutes to play before Luke Michalek and Joel Stutz buried treys, the latter's shot handing the Tornado a 59-58 edge with 1:06 left.

That's when Smith took over.

“He's an excellent player,” Clement said. “We lost No. 2 (Smith) a couple of times (on defense) late and he hurt us.”

Smith wound up with 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Indians. Andrew Paulauskas had 17 points and eight boards in the win.

“Andrew came up big with Ish out of there,” Gabos said.

Connor Ollio paced Butler with 18 points. Jace Stutz had 13 while Michalek had six assists and four steals.

North Hills had 18 turnovers, eight in the second quarter while Butler began its 24-0 run.

“We got out and started to run the floor effectively, but we seemed tentative tonight,” Clement said. “It was like we were testing the waters instead of driving in hard.”

Butler attempted only two free throws all night. Frederick missed both early in the second quarter. North Hills had a 39-33 edge in rebounding.

The Indians sank 13 of 21 free throws.

“There's the game right there,” Clement said. “They had a lot of 'and-1s' tonight and we weren't aggressive enough.”

BUTLER 59

Damien Pickett 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden Rock 3-7 0-0 7, Luke Michalek 2-6 0-0 6, Kelley Kuharic 0-1 0-0 0, Jace Stutz 5-11 0-1 13, Jason Gray 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Frederick 4-13 0-2 8, Connor Ollio 9-14 0-0 18, Joel Stutz 2-7 0-0 5, Jefferson Ford 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 26-64 0-2 59.

NORTH HILLS 62

Jonny Stuckert 1-6 1-1 3, Nick Smith 8-18 8-9 27, Austin Babjak 1-2 0-0 2, Luke Chutko 2-4 1-1 6, Andrew Paulauskas 7-12 3-8 17, Ishmail Waldron 3-5 0-2 6. Totals: 22-46 13-21 62.

Butler 5 22 15 17 — 59

North Hills16 11 17 18 — 62

3-point goals: Rock, Michalek 2, Ja. Stuutz 3, Jo. Stutz; Smith 3, Babjak, Chutko

JV: Butler, 53-49 (B: Jason Gray 17, Andrew Yonkers 12, Ian McCarrier 11; NH: Kameron Taylor 13, Danny Ritchie 12)

Tuesday: Shaler at Butler