PINE TWP — Butler decided to take it old-school Friday night.

The Golden Tornado turned up the defense and wound up with a 40-37 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball victory at Pine-Richland.

“This is how Butler basketball has won a lot of games over the years,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We decided to go back and emphasize intensity on defense this week and it was there tonight.”

The Rams (6-10, 3-7) dropped their third straight section game and their 37 points were a season-low. Pine-Richland sank but seven of 27 field goal attempts in the first three quarters and trailed 31-20 entering the final period.

The loss severely damaged Pine-Richland’s WPIAL playoff hopes.

“We were terrible tonight, from the first minute to the last minute,” Rams coach Brian Gaetano said. “We weren’t surprised by anything Butler did. They did the same stuff on film the past three games.

“We didn’t come out ready to play this game. That’s on me. We couldn’t be more disappointed.”

Pine-Richland never led in the game, but went on a 13-2 run to knot the game at 33 with 4:12 remaining. Ben DiNucci canned a 3-pointer to tie the game, but sank but three of 18 shots all night.

Tyler Frederick assisted on a Keenan Krause layup with four minutes left and Butler (5-12, 2-8) never lost the lead again.

“We knew they were going to make a run at us at some point,” Clement said. “But the pressure was on them. We just had to relax and keep playing.”

Krause missed the front end of a one-and-one with 3:02 to go, but hit a jumper in the paint to extend the lead to 37-33 with 1:37 left.

“We just had to handle the ball and trust everyone, believe we could get the job done,” Krause said of his team’s response to the Rams’ run. “We had a couple of turnovers to help them get back in it.”

A pair of Adam Alexander free throws pulled P-R within two with 1:09 left. Krause sank one of two free throws and Andrew Paterno missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Rams possession with 35.5 seconds left, down 38-35.

Dean Steliotes sank two free throws with 26.3 se onds on the clock. Paterno responded by knocking down a pair of his own with 16.8 ticks on the clock.

DiNucci’s off-balance trey attempt bounced high off the back of the rim, Nick Patten secured the rebound and the Tornado had the win.

“We needed those free throws and I had to step up and make them,” Paterno said. “But our defense won this game.”

Clement agreed.

“Practicing in the gym the other day, Coach (Don) Hilliard mentioned it was the first time we had somebody crash into the door or fly into the bleachers,” Clement said. “instead of beating the crap out of each other on Wednesdays and Thursdays, we needed to bring that intensity to the opponents on Tuesdays and Fridays.

“Everyone we put out there played hard tonight. Team wins are always more fun.”

Krause paced Butler with 11 points and added five rebounds and two assists. Paterno had 10 points, freshman Tyler Frederick seven points and nine rebounds in his first varsity start.

“We decided to mix our starting lineup a bit to find some new energy, so Andrew didn’t start,” Clement said. “Instead of pouting, he came out and probably played his best game of the year.”

“Coach is going to put the team on the floor he feels gives us the best chance to win,” Paterno said. “All I worry about is giving 100 percent whenever I’m on the court.

“This is a team game. It’s not about one guy.”

Steliotes had nine points and eight rebounds for Pine-Richland. Adam Alexander also scored nine points, hitting all seven of his free throws in the second half.

With Eric Hindman, Cory Wheeler and Justice Lewandowski guarding Steliotes, the 6-foot-4 senior guard got off only seven shots.

“They chased him all over the place,” Clement said.

The Rams were out-rebounded 36-24. Mark Gross had seven rebounds, Nick Patten six.

“I hope we didn’t,” Gaetano said of possibly overlooking Butler. “Matt is a good coach and though they’re having a bad year, those kids always play hard and that makes them a dangerous team.

“They showed more character than we did tonight.”

BUTLER 40

Justice Lewandowski 1-2 0-0 3, Rich Marnic 0-2 0-0 0, Keenan Krause 5-11 1-3 11, Andrew Paterno 3-8 3-4 10, Nick Patten 2-8 0-0 4, Cory Wheeler 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Frederick 3-5 1-2 7, Eric Hindman 0-0 0-0 0, Mark Gross 2-5 1-2 5. Totals: 16-41 6-11 40.

PINE-RICHLAND 37

Ben DiNucci 3-18 1-2 8, Adam Alexander 1-2 7-9 9, Blake Schultz 0-2 0-0 0, Dean Steliotes 3-7 2-3 9, Conner Polce 3-4 0-1 6, Paul Nussbaum 0-3 0-0 0, Ryan Weideman 0-1 0-0 0, Jamie Switalski 2-3 1-1 5. Totals: 12-40 11-16 37.

Butler 12 6 13 9 — 40

Pine-Richland7 4 9 17 — 37

3-point goals: Lewandowski, Paterno; DiNucci, Steliotes

JV: Butler, 49-45 (B: Kelly Kuharic 13, Joel Stutz 9; P-R: Alex Goitz 14, Tony Battaglia 12

Tuesday: North Allegheny at Butler