BUTLER TWP— Basketball games can be won late. This one was lost early.

Butler's boys failed to score a point in the first quarter and fell behind 16-0 before finally marking the scorebook two minutes into the second period Friday night.

After that, Pine-Richland never was threatened with losing the lead in posting a 52-41 section victory.

"We lost by 11 and what was the score after the first quarter?... 11-0,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said.

Butler (6-7, 0-4) missed eight shots from the floor and suffered six turnovers in the first quarter. It was the Golden Tornado's second scoreless quarter this season.

The visiting Rams (8-5, 3-1) built their big lead early without the services of 6-foot-8 senior center Eric Duerr, who went to the bench with two fouls barely two minutes into the game.

Duerr did not return for the remainder of the first half.

"We applied some effective ball pressure and disrupted their offense,"Pine-Richland coach Dave Krakoff said. "I was very pleased with our defensive pressure tonight."

While Pine-Richland didn't have Duerr, it did have junior point guard Brett Matson — and he was more than enough.

Matson scored 20 of the Rams' first 39 points and contributed eight assists, six steals and six rebounds to his team's performance.

"That kid is the best player in the section,"Lewandowski said. "He can do everything for them. He makes shots and creates shots for everybody else."

A third-year starter, Matson has grown into a reliable playmaker, Krakoff said.

"Brett has matured. He's grown up, especially in a section road game like this," The Pine-Richland coach added. "Butler makes a run at us and he comes up with a big play to stem the tide."

Matson sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Rams an 11-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. He knocked down a long jumper to beat the third-quarter buzzer for a 37-23 Pine-Richland lead.

The Rams enjoyed another buzzer-beater just before halftime as Eric Schlegel knocked down a trey for a 23-11 lead at intermission.

"Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals,"Lewandowski said. "We talk about them all the time, but we got away from them in the first quarter.

"We were tossing up shots off one foot instead of jump-stopping. We try taking on big defenders inside instead of kicking it out. At the end of the period, we don't secure the rebound and they get it back out for a 3-pointer. Those were huge plays tonight.

'Besides, the longer you go without scoring, that rim gets smaller and smaller,"Lewandowski added.

The Tornado got as close as eight when a Ryan Melder trey cut the deficit to 25-17 with 5:15 left in the third quarter. But Brian Felker responded with a lay-up and Doerr completed a three-point play for Pine-Richland, which maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Felker had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Rams, who held a 31-17 rebounding edge. Cody Fleeger paced Butler with 13 points and six boards.

After a Saturday night non-section home game against Woodrow Wilson from Youngstown, Ohio, Butler travels to North Allegheny to face the section-leading Tigers Tuesday.

"It's still early (in the section season) and we have a next-game mentality,"Lewandowski said. "We don't get too high after a win or too down after a loss. Just keep improving. That's what we want to do."

PINE-RICHLAND 52Brandon Bove 0-1 1-2 1, Brett Matson 9-11 1-3 20, Kevin Wissinger 0-1 0-0 0, Eric Schlegel 2-3 1-2 6, T.J. Kuban 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Felker 3-11 3-6 10, Nick Madia 3-4 0-2 7, Tommy Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Eric Duerr 2-4 4-5 8.

Totals: 19-39 10-20 52

BUTLER 41Matt Pratkanis 2-5 0-0 4, Aaron Dorondo 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Fleeger 4-6 2-2 13, Jace Lumley 1-1 0-0 2, Brian Deangelis 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Melder 1-2 0-0 3, Sean Lowry 4-11 0-1 8, Chris Klutinoty 3-9 2-4 9, Austin Snodgrass 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Cuffman 0-1 0-0 0, Bill Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Slater 1-4 0-0 2.

Totals: 16-40 4-7 41

Pine-Richland 11 12 14 15—52Butler 0 11 12 18—413-point goals: Matson, Schlegel, Felker, Madia; Fleeger 3, Melder, Klutinoty

JV: Butler, 48-35 (B-Bill Coleman 9, Nick Powers 9; P-R:T.J. Kuban 9

Saturday: Youngstown Woodrow Wilson atButler