BUTLER TWP— Sometimes you just have to rely on star power.

Anthony Harvey, the only New Castle player averaging in double figures this season, sank a pair of critical 3-pointers in the second half Friday night, sparking the Red Hurricanes to a 54-40 boys basketball win at Butler.

"Talk about big shots. Those were huge shots,"New Castle coach John Sarandrea said.

And they translated into a must-win for New Castle (7-8, 2-4).

"When you're 1-4, 2-4 in section play, they all become must-wins,"Sarandrea said.

Friday's game was tied at 17 at halftime — with neither team ever leading by more than four points in the first half — before the Hurricanes scored the first nine points of the third quarter.

Harvey, a 6-foot-2 senior guard averaging 17.5 points per game, started the run with a layup and ended it by sticking back an offensive rebound and sinking a free throw.

Butler senior Sean Lowry got the Golden Tornado back into the game, however. He sank a 10-footer and a pair of layups on three successive possessions to pull Butler within 26-23 with 1:45 left in the third quarter.

Then came Harvey's treys.

The first gave New Castle a 29-23 edge before the end of the period. The second occurred on the first possession of the fourth quarter and gave the Hurricanes a nine-point lead.

"Those shots changed the complexion of the game,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "We had to come out of our zone, chase the ball a lot more.

"It made us play their game, which was exposing the floor."

Harvey wound up scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. Junior forward Michael Andrews, who averages 6.5 points per game, scored 10 of his 19 points in the final quarter.

Andrews sank all six of his free throws down the stretch, as New Castle sank 16 of 22 free throws in the fourth period.

Lewandowski said Harvey's penetration to the basket opened things up for Andrews.

"It created space for him and he finished plays,"the Butler coach said. "Andrews has always been capable of playing the way he did tonight."

After Harvey's 3-pointers, the closest Butler (7-9, 0-6) got was seven at 38-31 with 3:37 left in the game. But Lowry fouled out with 3:08 remaining and a pair of Chris Klutinoty 3-pointers in the final two minutes was about all the offense the Tornado had left.

New Castle had a 31-19 edge in rebounding and had 10 turnovers to Butler's 12.

Sarandrea picked up his 300th win in 15 seasons of coaching at New Castle. He has 401 wins in his varsity boys basketball coaching career.

"Our kids really got after it and played hard for 32 minutes,"Sarandrea said. "I'm happy for them. Our program is not used to being in this position. We don't always win it, but we're always in the thick of it."

Andrews had eight rebounds and Harvey six for New Castle. Lowry had 15 points and seven rebounds for Butler.

The Tornado attempted only seven free throws all night.

"New Castle deserves credit for that,"Lewandowski said. "They guarded us without fouling us. We were running plays and getting the shots we wanted. We're just not putting the ball in the basket enough."

NEW CASTLE 54Anthony Harvey 6-11 7-11 21, Tyrone Steals 1-5 0-0 2, Nick Colella 0-4 4-6 4, Rodney Parchman 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Andrews 6-9 7-8 19, Chris Richards 2-5 3-6 8, Antonio Matthews 0-2 0-0 0.

Totals: 15-346 21-31 54

BUTLER 40Mike Pratkanis 2-8 0-0 5, Jeff Slater 1-2 0-0 2, Aaron Dorondo 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Fleeger 3-9 0-0 7, Jace Lumley 1-3 0-0 2, Brian Deangelis 1-1 0-0 2, Ryan Melder 0-0 0-0 0, Sean Lowry 6-10 2-3 15, Chris Klutinoty 2-3 1-4 7, Zach Cuffman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-37 3-7 40

New Castle 7 10 12 25—54Butler 8 9 6 17—403-point goals: Harvey 2, Richards; Pratkanis, Fleeger, Lowry, Klutinoty 2

JV: Butler, 52-35 (B-David Schmidt 11, Zach Cuffman 11; NC-Tyrone Steals 15)

Tuesday: Mt. Lebanon atButler