BUTLER TWP — Just plain ugly.

Central Catholic took a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes, weathered a Butler rally, exploded in the second quarter and ran away from the Golden Tornado, 78-49, in boys basketball action Friday night.

“They came out and just destroyed us,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.

Butler (8-6, 3-2) entered the night playing for the lead in Section 3-AAAA.

“And this is what we get? Lose by 30? ... I'm not going to sleep tonight,” Clement said. “I want to pull my hair out. It bothers me that much.

“I'm the coach of this team. I take the blame. Maybe I've got the wrong combination of kids on the floor ... I don't know. It's my job to figure this out.”

The Tornado used Cody West's early hot hand to get back in the game. West hit three treys in the first quarter, the third pulling Butler within 19-15 with 1:12 left in the period.

But Central's Lincoln Davis hit a buzzer-beating trey from NBA range to end the quarter. The Vikings (7-7, 3-3) went on a 13-1 run to begin the second frame, opening up a 35-16 lead.

Butler trailed by 20 at halftime and Central's biggest lead was 32 — 76-44 — with 2:23 left to play.

“I didn't expect this in a million years,” Vikings coach Chuck Crummie said. “We needed a win. I'd have been happy winning by half a point.”

Central had lost three of its last four, including a 50-45 decision at Pine-Richland — a team Butler defeated by 27 only 10 days ago.

“We faced a zone that night, too, but settled for too many jumpers and weren't aggressive enough getting the ball inside,” Crummie said. “Tonight, we didn't settle for jumpers.

“We were much more patient and got our looks inside and finished. That was the difference.”

Lincoln Davis, a 6-foot-2 guard averaging 18.6 points per game, led Central with 18 points, hitting eight of 12 shots from the floor. Claude Scott, a 6-6 forward averaging 10.6 per game, scored 16 points.

Senior Matt Hoge scored a career-high 13 points and Sam Calhoun had six of 28 Viking rebounds. Mike Anselmo had six assists and three steals.

Central's win was its first on an opponent's court since Jan. 25 of last year, when the Vikings won at North Hills.

“They did a good job on Lincoln, actually, denying him the ball quite a bit,” Crummie said. “But he attracted so much attention that our other guys were able to get their shots.”

West paced Butler with 12 points, all on treys. Nate Snodgrass had nine.

The Tornado managed only 19 rebounds.

“There are 22 guys on this roster and there's two I can count on for consistent effort every night,” Clement said. “Two. I've got young guys who haven't improved defensively and older guys who think they deserve to play.

“I'm going with effort. I can lose by 20 or 30 with anybody. This is a pride thing. We got embarrassed tonight in front of our families and friends. I can't say how our players felt, but I felt embarrassed as the coach.”

CENTRAL CATHOLIC 78Christian Joiner 2-4 3-3 7, Claude Sott 7-11 2-3 16, Lincoln Davis 8-12 0-0 18, Mike Anselmo 2-3 0-0 4, Garret Urbanic 1-2 0-0 2, David Urso 3-6 0-0 7, Pat Drake 3-4 0-0 6, Jordan Edmunds 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Calhoun 1-5 0-0 3, Casey DiBasilio 1-1 0-0 2, Matt Hoge 6-8 1-1 13.

Totals: 34-54 6-7 78.

BUTLER 49Nate Snodgrass 3-9 3-4 9, Keenan Krause 0-0 0-0 0, Cody West 4-10 0-0 12, Trevor Wideman 2-4 2-3 6, Jake Hilliard 3-5 0-0 6, Dom Pusateri 2-4 0-0 4, Luke Hartung 1-4 0-0 2, Matt Baranchak 1-5 1-2 3, David Tompkins 2-4 1-1 5, Mark Gross 0-0 0-0 0, Seth Horwat 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Pilarcik 1-1 0-1 2.

Totals: 19-46 7-11 49.

Central Catholic 22 21 16 19—78Butler 15 8 12 14—493-point goals: Central Catholic 4 (Davis 2, Urso, Calhoun); Butler 4 (West 4).

Junior varsity: Butler, 45-39 (B: Keenan Krause 10, Zach Neudorfer 9)

Tuesday: Butler at Seneca Valley