FOX CHAPEL — Nate Snodgrass buried a 3-pointer 48 seconds into the fourth quarter.

On Butler's next possession, the senior point guard hit a fade-away jumper and the Golden Tornado were within 34-28 of defending WPIAL Class AAAA champion Gateway with 6:36 to play.

“I felt sure we were going to win at that point,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “That's been the pattern of our games lately. We come back.”

But not on this night.

The Gators scored 13 of the game's next 17 points and pulled away for a 62-51 WPIAL boys basketball semifinal triumph Wednesday night at Fox Chapel High School.

Gateway (19-6), the tourney's No. 11 seed, will face 12th seeded Central Catholic — a 46-44 winner over top-seeded Shaler — for the Class AAAA title Saturday at the Palumbo Center.

“People can criticize us, say we don't do this or don't do that ... We're going back to the Palumbo Center for the third year in a row. That speaks volumes about our kids,” Gateway coach Mitch Adams said.

“We challenged our guys at that point (early in the fourth period) and they responded.”

The two Snodgrass field goals polished off a 7-0 Butler run. Seconds later, Gateway's 6-foot-6 Tyler Scott nailed a trey. The Gators' 6-10 center Barnett Harris then stole the ball from Snodgrass and sent point guard D.J. Boyce the other way for a layup in transition.

Three more fastbreak layups soon followed — one each by Scott, Luke Kochka and Tom Kromka — and the Gators had a 47-32 lead with 3:57 remaining.

Scott was in the starting lineup for Gateway after sitting out the team's quarterfinal win over Seneca Valley for undisclosed reasions.

“I told him early in this game that I wasn't gonna watch him sit back and shoot 3's all night,” Adams said. “If he's doing that, he was gonna be on the bench.

“Tyler hit a big three for us, but only after he started taking the ball to the basket. When he starts penetrating, he's tough to guard.”

Butler's last lead was at the 3:53 mark of the first quarter when a Cody West trey gave the Tornado a 5-4 edge. Gateway scored the next 12 points to assume control of the game.

“Just too much athleticism,” Clement said. “They're big, but they're athletic as well and that's how they make plays. That's why Division I schools are looking at a lot of their guys.

“Besides my point guard, Tyler Scott is the most talented player I've seen in my three years of coaching. I thought Trevor (Wideman) and Dom (Pusateri) did a good on him.”

Four Gators scored in double figures. Kromka had 12 points and 11 boards, Harris 12 points and nine rebounds, Boyce 12 points and five boards, Scott 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Gateway enjoyed a 37-26 rebounding advantage. The Gators had 13 turnovers to Butler's eight.

“Two things made the difference in this game tonight,” Clement said. “Their rebounding was one. The other was that we needed this to be a close to the vest game, a game in which hand-checks were gonna be called.

“I'm not complaining about the officiating at all. These guys were three of the best and they called a fair game. But they allowed it to be a physical game and that hurt us.

“If they call the bumps out beyond the perimeter, Nate's shooting free throws all night,” Clement added.

Snodgrass paced Butler (13-12) with 22 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. Luke Hartung produced 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench and David Tompkins had five rebounds.

“I thought we did a great job on Snodgrass,” Adams said. “We just wanted to keep him in front of us. We were all over him and he still scored 22 points.

“I love that kid. He is a great, great player. He deserves all of the praise, everything he gets ... I'm just glad we don't have to prepare for that team again.”

Gateway's defenders swatted away numerous Butler shots when the Tornado did penetrate inside. The Gators came out aggressively on the outside shooters as well.

“We were able to pound them inside,” Adams said. “Our size was a definite advantage.”

Butler was eliminated by Gateway in the semifinals for the second straight year, but will join the PIAA Tournament next week.

“Besides Bobby Swartwout last year, we don't have a kid in that locker room bigger than 6-2 and we've won seven playoff games in two years,” Clement said. “These kids have done some phenomenal things.

“I believe we have one more run left in us.”

GATEWAY 62Barnett Harris 4-9 4-8 12, Tyler Scott 4-10 2-5 11, D.J. Boyce 5-11 2-4 12, Luke Kochka 2-6 1-2 6, Tom Kromka 5-7 2-2 12, Tyler Wright 0-1 0-1 0, Nick Paulino 1-2 7-8 9, Matt Schorr 0-0 0-0 0, Tim Bell 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 21-46 18-30 62.

BUTLER 51Nate Snodgrass 6-17 8-10 22, Keenan Krause 0-0 0-0 0, Cody West 2-9 0-0 6, Seth Horwat 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Wideman 1-3 1-2 3, Dom Pusateri 1-2 1-2 3, Luke Hartung 5-10 0-0 13, Matt Baranchak 1-1 0-1 2, David Tompkins 1-4 0-0 2.

Totals: 17-46 10-15 51.

Gateway 9 13 12 28—62Butler 5 12 6 28—513-point goals: Gateway 2 (Scott, Kochka); Butler 7 (Snodgrass 2, West 2, Hartung 3).

Saturday: WPIAL Class AAAA championship-Gateway vs. Central Catholic, Palumbo Center, time TBA