PITTSBURGH — Butler boys basketball coach Matt Clement was looking for the prescription to help his ailing team.

He found it Monday night in Carrick as the Tornado stormed out to an early 18-3 lead and cruised to a 75-56 victory over the Raiders.

“We needed a little more attitude and a lot more defense,” Clement said. “The last six quarters coming into this game our defense was pathetic.

“The guys gave a ton of energy early to take control of the game,” he added.

Butler (5-6) allowed 130 points over the previous six quarters in section losses to Pine-Richland (64-56) and to North Allegheny (86-55), but the team seemed to respond against Carrick (6-2) of the Pittsburgh City League.

Butler scored 13 of the game's first 14 points — eight coming from Zach Slater — before Robert Fields scored Carrick's first field goal with 3:17 left in the quarter.

Butler's Vinnie Schmidt connected on a three-point play and Nate Snodgrass sank two free throws to open the 15-point advantage.

“Even though they came in at 4-6, Butler's a great team. Matt's a great coach,” said Raiders coach Tom Milinski. “Our weakness tonight was our defense.”

Carrick recovered by going on a 9-2 run, capped by a Lofon Pace 3-pointer to make it a 20-12 game with 6:45 until halftime.

Butler answered with a 16-4 run — highlighted by 3-pointers by Cody West, Slater and Cody Herald — for a 36-16 lead with 2:05 left before the break.

“We beat a good team. We did it our way,” Clement said. “This was a team win. ... Guys are sick of losing.”

Ten different Tornado players scored, led by Bobby Swartwout, who came off the bench and provided 13 points and 10 rebounds. Snodgrass and Schmidt had 12 points apiece and Slater had 11.

The Raiders received 11 points from Lance Archer.

BUTLER 75Nate Snodgrass 3 4-4 12, Cody Herald 3 1-2 8, Zach Slater 4 2-2 11, Vinnie Schmidt 5 1-1 12, Matt Baranchak 1 0-0 2, Trevor Wideman 0 0-0 0, Luke Hartung 1 0-0 2, Cody West 2 0-0 6, Jake Hilliard 3 0-1 6, Bill Smith 0 0-0 0, David Tompkins 1 1-2 3, Bobby Swartwout 4 5-6 13.

Totals: 27 14-18 75.

CARRICK 56Rasheed McKamey 1 0-0 2, Jaquan Wheaton 3 0-0 7, JaJuan Thomas 1 2-5 4, Lofon Pace 2 3-6 9, DaMario Patterson 3 0-0 7, Robert Fields 2 2-2 6, Tonyea Curry 1 0-0 2, Lance Archer 4 3-4 11, Michael Talton 3 3-6 9, Nate Kiger 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 20 13-23 56.

Butler 18 24 23 10—75Carrick 7 16 13 20—563-point goals: Butler 7 (Snodgrass 2, West 2, Herald, Slater, Schmidt); Carrick 3 (Wheaton, Pace, Patterson)

JV: Butler, 53-35

Today: Franklin Regional at Butler