HOLLIDAYSBURG — They shot well inside and outside. They rebounded and hounded on defense. They ran the court and the half court with equal success.

It was a pretty good opening night for the Butler boys basketball team.

The Golden Tornado had three players score in double digits and two others tallied eight points as they routed Erie Cathedral Prep 66-38 in the Golden Tiger Roundball Classic at Hollidaysburg High Friday night.

“When you play Erie Prep, you never expect the score to be like that,” said Butler coach Matt Clement.

But it was largely because of early clutch shooting by Cody Herald and tough, aggressive defense throughout.

The Ramblers led 8-4 early, but Herald hit three 3-pointers to kick start a big Butler run that led the Tornado to a 22-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Butler extended its lead to 34-20 at halftime and seized control of the game with dominating defense in the third period to build a 21-point edge.

Playing without three starters because the Ramblers are in the PIAA football playoffs, Prep had no answer for Butler's balance on offense or desire on defense.

“Butler is a very strong team,” said Cathedral Prep coach Mark Majewski. “They executed the things they wanted to do well and rebounding really hurt us.”

Butler held a nearly 2-to-1 advantage on the boards.

Herald and Bobby Swartwout each scored 13 points to lead the Golden Tornado. Point guard Nate Snodgrass added 11 points and six assists.

But it was Snodgrass' defense that drew Clement's praise.

The Ramblers' top returning scorer, Adam Blazek, was held to two points on 1-of-9 shooting. Snodgrass was given the assignment to hound Blazek, and he did his job well.

“Nate Snodgrass — we don't talk about his defense a lot,” Clement said. “Let's talk about his defense — that was an impressive effort.

“We can talk about Nate after every game this year,” Clement added. “I can go on and on. He's such a team player — sometimes he passes too much. The sky is the limit with his ability. He just needs to keep pushing the envelope.”

Butler certainly did in the offseason.

Clement had his players in the gym and in the weight room for most of the summer and the Tornado showed off the benefits of that in their opener.

“I told them before the game, ‘This is what it's all about,'” Clement said. “‘This is what you work so hard for. This is the fun part now.'”

Butler will play host Hollidaysburg — a 55-53 winner over Franklin Regional — in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

ERIE CATHEDRAL PREP 38Sheldon Zablotney 5-11 2-2 12, Dominic DiRaimo 2-4 0-0 4, Nico Sisinni 1-4 4-4 6, Adam Blazek 1-9 0-1 2, Ben Tate 0-3 0-0 0, Dominic Sansone 5-10 0-0 10, Dan Blazek 1-3 0-0 2, Joe Gnacinski 1-5 0-0 2, Chris Francis 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremy Lynch 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 16-50 6-7 38.

BUTLER 66Nate Snodgrass 3-7 3-4 11, Cody Herald 509 0-1 13, Bobby Swartwout 4-7 4-6 13, Vinnie Schmidt 2-8 1-3 5, Jake Hilliard 3-3 2-3 8, Zach Slater 2-3 0-1 4, Bill Smith 0-0 0-0 0, David Tompkins 4-6 0-2 8, Cody West 0-0 0-0 0, Trevor Wideman 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Baranchak 0 2-2 2, Luke Hartung 0-0 0-0 0, Dom Pusateri 0-0 2-2 2, Zack Pularsik 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23-43 14-24 66.

Cathedral Prep 14 6 4 14—38Butler 22 12 11 21—663-point goals: Cathedral Prep 0; Butler 6 (Snodgrass 2, Herald 3, Swartwout).

Saturday: Butler vs. Hollidaysburg, 5:30 p.m.