BUTLER TWP — He might not be able to remember it, but Blake Anderson had a big game.

The senior point guard for the Butler boys basketball team scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and overtime to lift the Golden Tornado to a 63-60 home win over Plum Monday night.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Anderson fell hard to the floor and came up holding his head in his hands.

Anderson was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital with an apparent concussion. Information on his condition unavailable at press time today.

"We'll just have to wait and see. He got hit pretty good," said Butler coach Joe Lewandowski.

In the trainer's room after the game, Anderson asked teammates and coaches if the Tornado had won. He also was showing all the signs of suffering a severe concussion.

"He was throwing up pretty bad back there in the locker room," Lewandowski said. "He was a little bit unaware at times."

Plum (4-1) was just unaware of how to stop him.

Showing off a mid-range jumper that was on the mark, Anderson scored seven points in the third quarter to keep Butler in a tight game and eight more points in the fourth quarter to help the Tornado keep pace with Plum.

"He literally kept us in the basketball game with his play," Lewandowski said. "He just put us on his back and made every big play. He's really tough to guard because he can shoot the 3 and he has a mid-range game and can go to the basket."

Plum coach Ron Richards just shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer for Anderson during the game and few explanations after it.

"He hit some tough shots for them," Richards said. "He hit some intermediate shots that you don't see kids shoot anymore. To his credit, he pulled up and knocked them down when it counted. But I don't think we did a good job defending him."

Jade Burka also was a force for Butler (3-3), particularly in overtime.

Burka hit two free throws at the beginning of the overtime period to put Butler up 58-56 and then put the Tornado up by three with a layup with 1:25 remaining.

Plum made things a little interesting when Mike Fisher hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining, but Anderson hit one of two free throws seconds later.

Fisher then misfired on a desperation 3-pointer as time expired.

Fisher helped send the game to overtime by hitting two clutch free throws to tie the score at 56 with 7.3 seconds left in regulation.

Butler struggled with foul trouble again. Burka picked up two fouls early and spent much of the first half on the bench.

That helped Plum's big man in the middle, Nathan Caldwell, go off for 15 first half points.

But in the second half, Butler did a better job defensively in the post, holding Caldwell to 10 points.

Michael Pratkanis and Aaron Dorondo played valuable minutes in spelling Burka.

Brian DeAngelis also assumed some of the point guard duties.

"He's a guy who would be a starter as a junior in another situation," Lewandowski said of DeAngelis.

Butler trailed by as many as nine points late in the first half, but stormed back to cut the lead down to four.

The Tornado continued its run in the second half and led by four early in the third quarter.

Butler is happy to emerge with a win in another tough non-section test.

"If this doesn't get you ready for section play, then I'm not sure what is going to get you ready for section play," Lewandowski said.

PLUM 60

Jarred Barbarino 0-9 3-4 3, Nathan Caldwell 9-15 7-14 25, Andrew Crossler 2-4 0-0 4, Anthony Della Sala 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Fisher 5-9 6-6 17, Dylan Grazier 0-3 0-0 0, Nick Russo 1-1 0-0 3, Jon Sharp 1-6 6-6 8. Totals: 18-47 22-30 60

BUTLER 63

Blake Anderson 9-13 3-5 22, Jade Burka 5-6 3-4 13, Cody Fleeger 2-7 0-0 5, Nick Martini 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Monday 4-7 2-3 11, Alan Jackson 4-7 0-1 8, Michael Pratkanis 2-2 0-0 4, Brian DeAngelis 0-1 0-0 0, Aaron Dorondo 0-0 0-0 0, Joshua Marchinoski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-44 8-13 63

3-point goals:

Fisher, Russo, Anderson, Fleeger, Monday

JV:

Butler 69-51

Wednesday:

Woodland Hills at Butler