BUTLER TWP — In his coach's words, Jade Burka has been on a tear for the past month.

The 6-foot-5 senior center certainly tore through Seneca Valley Friday night.

Burka scored a career-high 29 points — 21 in the first half — and grabbed 11 rebounds in Butler's 64-59 boys basketball victory over the Raiders.

He sank 13 of 14 shots from the floor — all layups.

"Jade's taken it upon himself to become the best player he can be," Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "It's a different game when he's on the floor.

"He's big, he's strong, he blocks shots and alters shots. Teams can't attack the basket when he's in there."

Seneca Valley attacked the Golden Tornado when Burka was out of there.

Burka fouled out, getting all of his fouls in the second half, with 1:36 remaining and his team holding a 60-47 lead.

A few turnovers against the Raiders' full-court pressure and three missed one-and-ones at the foul line helped Seneca Valley pull within five at the end.

"It doesn't make any difference. We still lost," Raiders coach Vic Giannotta said.

They lost the game in the first half.

Trailing 11-10 with 1:50 left in the first quarter, Butler (8-6, 2-3) went on a 17-0 run to assume a 27-11 lead with 3:32 left in the half.

Until Burka fouled out, that lead never left double digits. Seneca Valley went 6 minutes and 37 seconds without scoring and missed its first eight shots of the second quarter.

Burka scored 10 of the 17 points during the run. He scored 14 of the Tornado's first 20 points of the night.

"I've never played a half like that before," Burka said. "I can't score at all without our guards. Allan Jackson, (Blake) Anderson, (Adam) Monday — all of those guys are great passers."

Jackson had 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for Butler.

"He (Burka) was beating our big kids down the floor," Giannotta said. "The kid showed nice touch around the basket. He played well. He deserved the night he had.

"We were badly outworked and outhustled tonight. We missed a few shots early, then quit playing defense. Meaning no disrespect to Butler, we held North Allegheny to 33 points through three quarters. We shouldn't give up 35 points in a half to anybody."

Butler held a 35-18 lead at intermission. Its biggest lead was 44-26 midway through the third quarter.

The Tornado won their fourth straight game despite suffering seven turnovers in the fourth quarter. Butler had six turnovers combined in the first three quarters.

"It's tough when you get a big lead early and maintain it for that long," Lewandowski said. "We got a little sloppy at the end, but Seneca Valley is athletic and they made some plays."

The Raiders (5-8, 0-5) had a 28-24 edge in rebounding and had just 10 turnovers, but lost for the seventh time in eight games.

"Welcome to our world," Giannotta said. "We can play well when we want to. … I can't figure it out."

Kevin Mayberry paced the Raiders with 22 points. Dave Monteleone added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Notes:

Monteleone did not score in the first half. … Noah Hartung missed his second straight game for Butler with a swollen knee. … Brian DeAngilis sank a jumper at the buzzer to give the Tornado a 38-37 junior varsity win.

SENECA VALLEY 59

Gabe Grinder 2-7 0-0 5, Dan Stanley 0-1 0-0 0, Sean Gress 0-0 0-0 0, Kevin Rohm 0-2 0-0 0, John Bryant 1-4 0-0 2, C.J. Brown 2-2 2-5 6, Shawn Eagle 2-5 0-0 4, Dave Monteleone 4-11 4-4 12, Kevin Mayberry 7-12 5-6 22, Pat Heery 3-7 2-3 8. Totals: 21-51 13-18 59

BUTLER 64

Cody Fleeger 2-4 0-0 5, Nick Martini 0-3 5-7 5, Adam Monday 2-3 0-1 5, Allan Jackson 5-7 1-5 11, Blake Anderson 3-9 1-3 9, Jade Burka 13-14 3-3 29, Aaron Dorondo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-41 10-19 64

3-point goals:

Grinder, Mayberry 3; Fleeger, Monday, Anderson 2

JV:

Butler, 38-37 (B-Jeff Slater 9, SV-C.J. Brown 14)

Tuesday:

Butler @ North Hills; Seneca Valley @ New Castle