MT. LEBANON — Late in the second half, Butler boys basketball coach Joe Lewandowski ripped off his tie.

It may have been a non-section game for the Golden Tornado against Mt. Lebanon Tuesday night. But that didn't matter. The game against the Blue Devils was less about section and more about status.

"I had to lose my tie in this one," an ecstatic Lewandowski said after his team defeated Class AAAA Section 4 leader Mt. Lebanon 70-64. "I've never done that before."

Butler wanted this game badly, not only to extend a six-game winning streak in the one respite between section clashes, but also to prove to itself that it could hang with the best the WPIAL has to offer.

The Golden Tornado (11-6) did that with sharp shooting, particularly from the outside, where they canned 10 of their 17 shots from beyond the arc.

They also did it with a balanced scoring attack, as four players scored 12 points or more.

"We're excited about all them," Lewandowski said, talking about winning. "We're really excited about this one."

That's because it came on a hostile floor in front of equally hostile fans at Mt. Lebanon (14-3).

In the face of screaming Blue Devil faithful in front of Butler's basket, the Tornado hit 11-of-18 free throws in the final quarter to nurse a lead to the final buzzer.

"I think our composure was the key," said senior guard Alan Jackson, who scored a game-high 17 points — 10 in a pivotal third quarter. "You have to give them credit. Their fans are intense."

Sophomore Cody Fleeger, who scored 13 points for the Tornado, was particularly calm at the free throw line in the final period, shooting 5-of-6 from the stripe. He also hit two big 3-pointers off the bench.

"What can I say about Cody Fleeger?" Lewandowski asked. "That boy has ice water in his veins."

Mt. Lebo showed some gumption, too.

Butler built two 10-point leads against Mt. Lebanon, only to watch them fade away.

The Tornado led 20-10 in the first half before the Blue Devils went on a 13-2 run to regain the lead. Mt. Lebanon took a three-point lead into halftime.

But behind Jackson's whirling moves to the hoop and some poor ball-handling by the Blue Devils, Butler stormed out on a 10-2 run to open the second half and never trailed again.

"Coach always said the third quarter is the most important quarter," Jackson said. "I felt like no one could guard me."

Butler also led 61-51 late in the second half. Mt. Lebo's 11-1 run got rid of that lead — and Lewandowski's tie.

But the Tornado didn't panic and regained control of the game thanks to their free throw shooting adeptness and solid defense.

The Blue Devils were just 18-of-53 from the field.

Lewandowski was generous with his timeouts in the final quarter and each time he gathered his team, he saw what he liked.

"It's a great feeling in the huddle to see 16 confident eyes looking back at you," the coach said. "They had the attitude that they weren't going to lose. That they were going to get it done."

Blake Anderson, who hit four of Butler's 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, said the confidence was by no accident.

The Tornado have won seven straight after starting the section schedule with three straight losses.

"I felt confident on the bus ride down here," Anderson said. "I really felt like we could win this game. It feels great because Butler hasn't had a winning season in so long. We feel we can win all of our games now."

Mt. Lebo coach Joey David said he was worried about this game.The Blue Devils were without point guard Evan Stokar and had several players battling illness."I thought we would have a tough time with this one," David said. "(Stokar) could have played, but I held him out because we need him for our section schedule. Butler shot the ball extremely well tonight."The Blue Devils shot well in spurts.Ryan Lang was on early, scoring all 14 of his points in the first half and Shane Phillips, filling in for Stokar, was hitting in the second half, scoring all 16 of his points in the final 16 minutes.But Butler's balance was a little better than Mt. Lebo's spurts."The dynamics of this is we beat the No. 1 team in the WPIAL," Lewandowski said. "But now we are focused on our next opponent, Pine-Richland. We're excited and all the guys are just happy and elated."BUTLER 70Blake Anderson 5-13 1-3 15, Alan Jackson 8-12 1-3 17, Jade Burka 1-5 5-7 7, Nick Martini 3-5 3-6 12, Noah Hartung 1-3 1-2 4, Aaron Dorondo 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Pratkanis 1-1 0-0 2, Cody Fleeger 3-4 5-7 13, Adam Monday 0-0 0-0 0, Brian DeAngelis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-44 16-28 70MOUNT LEBANON 64Shane Phillips 6-12 0-0 16, Dan Kleifgen 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Sandusky 1-3 5-5 7, Andrew Devlin 3-10 8-10 14, Nathan Gannon 0-2 0-0 0, Adam Porter 2-8 6-10 11, Ryan Lang 6-18 0-0 14. Totals: 18-53 14-25 643-point goals:Anderson 4, Martini 3, Hartung, Fleeger 2, Phillips 4, Porter, Lang 2JV:Butler 33-32 (Pratkanis 15)Friday:Butler at Pine-Richland