SHALER TWP — Butler changed defenses — and found a different result.

The Golden Tornado limited Shaler to four field goals in the second half, forced 13 turnovers during that time and cruised to a 69-42 Section 3-AAAA boys basketball victory Friday night on the Titans’ home floor.

The win marked Butler’s first section triumph of the season and reversed a trend of eight losses in nine games.

“It’s only one win, but there are a lot of happy faces in that locker room,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We can’t do anything about the past.

“Hopefully, this will serve as a springboard for our future.”

Butler (4-9, 1-5) had a 32-27 lead at halftime, using a 14-4 run to take the lead it never lost after the Titans had tied the game at 16 with 1:26 left in the opening period.

But the true domination occurred in the third.

By the time Shaler’s Tanner Reinheimer drained a 3-pointer — the Titans’ first field goal of the second half — with 29 seconds left in the third quarter, Butler had built a 47-28 lead.

Shaler (2-11, 0-6) managed six field goal attempts in the third quarter and turned the ball over nine times. The Titans were 4-of-15 from the field with 13 turnovers in the second half.

“They switched to a zone with three guys up high and we never solved it,” Shaler coach Brian Bibey said. “It crippled us offensively.”

Tornado junior Nick Patten referred to the defense as a “triangle zone,” which featured Andrew Paterno, Keenan Krause and Cory Wheeler up front.

“Those guys were all over the place,” Patten said. “They didn’t let them have anything. They couldn’t get anything set up.”

Paterno wound up with seven steals, three assists and five rebounds in the contest. Krause had five assists while Patten produced a game-high 22 points, three assists and two steals.

“We came down here feeling like we had nothing to lose,” Paterno said. “We left it all on the floor, just relaxed and played basketball.”

“We used the athleticism of Andrew, Keenan and Cory defensively tonight,” Clement said. “That was all hustle, effort and determination.

“We finished shots tonight, too. That was nice to see.”

Butler sank 25 of 46 field goal attempts despite missing 10 3-point shots. Patten produced a rare five-point play in the fourth quarter. He sank a trey and was fouled after the shot. Stepping to the line for the one-and-one, he sank both free throws to widen the Tornado lead to 56-34 with 5:05 remaining.

Butler’s lead peaked at 68-37 with 1:21 left.

Tyler Frederick came off the bench to score 15 points and grab four rebounds. He sank seven of nine field gpal tries. Fellow forward Mark Gross had 13 points and six boards, sinking five of eight shots.

“We cleaned things up nicely inside and the put the ball in the hoop,” Clenment said.

Shaler is the lowest scoring team in WPIAL Class AAAA, averaging just 41.3 points per game. When reserve Nick Fuch sank a trey at the buzzer, the Titans avoided a seventh straight game of scoring less than 40 points.

Kevin Mincher paced Shaler with 11 points and three assists.

Butler returns to action Tuesday, hosting Seneca Valley.

“We knew we were gonna take Shaler’s best shot ... That’s just where we are right now,” Clement said. “But we’re still trying to get back in this (playoff) thing. There’s a long way to go.”

BUTLER 69

Justice Lewandowski 0-1 0-0 0, Joel Stutz 0-0 1-2 1, Kaiden Rock 0-0 0-0 0, Keenan Krause 2-4 1-4 6, Andrew Paterno 2-9 1-2 6, Nick Patten 6-10 8-9 22, Cory Wheeler 2-3 0-0 4, Tyler Frederick 7-8 1-1 15, Eric Hindman 1-2 0-0 2, Mark Gross 5-8 3-4 13, Kelly Kuharic 0-0 0-4 0, Jake Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Trevor Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-46 15-27 69.

SHALER 42

David Spagnolo 0-0 0-0 0, Rob Reinheimer 3-4 0-0 6, Kevin Mincher 4-6 0-0 11, Zach Weaver 3-14 2-4 8, Jake Mathias 2-3 0-0 4, Austin Critchlow 2-7 0-0 5, Tanner Reinheimer 1-2 0-0 3, Micah Denmon 0-1 0-0 0, E.J. Posa 0-0 1-2 1, Austin Bauer 0-0 1-2 1, Brennan Keillon 0-0 0-1 0, Nick Fugh 1-1 0-0 3, Zach Roman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-38 4-9 42.

Butler 18 14 15 22 — 69

Shaler16 11 4 11 — 42

3-point goals: Krause, Paterno, Patten 2; Mincher 3, Critxcghlow, T.Reinheimer, Fugh

JV: Butler, 55-42 (B: Joel Stutz 12, Kelly Kuharic 11; S: Micah Denmon 14)

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Butler