Maybe it was the 31-point loss to section rival North Allegheny that triggered it.

It doesn’t matter.

It needed to be said.

And Matt Clement said it.

Without being prompted, the Butler boys basketball coach released his frustration following the Golden Tornado’s 86-55 loss to the Tigers in the Butler gym a week ago.

“I’m tired of hearing how good our section is, that we play in a tough section,” Clement said. “We have to compete in that section and find a way to compete with those teams.

“North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Shaler, North Hills — yeah, they’ve got tradition, they’ve got first-class facilities, they’ve got money and we’ve got to find a way to beat them. That’s our job.”

Clement’s debut season a year ago began with 13 straight victories, but ended with five defeats in eight games, including a first-round WPIAL playoff loss to Peters Township.

This year, he toughened the schedule with appearances in tournaments in Hollidaysburg and San Diego, and Butler lost six of its first 10 games. Included among those defeats were a second-half collapse at Pine-Richland and losses at home by 18 and 31 points to Shaler and North Allegheny.

It adds up to a 1-3 section record entering play this weekend.

The Tornado must escape from that hole, but it’s not a canyon. More than half of the section schedule remains.

“I believed our team was ready to take on a schedule like we put together and I still believe that,” Clement said. “When I took this job, I knew who was in our section, who we had to beat out to be successful. It’s a challenge I was willing to take on and one I won’t back away from.”

Neither will his team.

The mental toughness Clement needed to pitch in the major leagues is being passed on to his players.

First-year Butler baseball coach Todd Erdos pitched in the major leagues as well and undoubtedly will use those experiences to keep the Tornado successful on the diamond.

Butler is probably the only high school in the country with two former major league pitchers serving as varsity head coaches.

It’s doubtful that a third ex-big league pitcher is available to coach football, but a lesson can be learned from Clement’s outburst.

The woe is us mentality needs to go away — not just in football, but in all sports at Butler.

Clement admitted he wasn’t asked about the quality of Butler’s section.

“You didn’t bring it up,” he told me. “But the subject would have come up. It always comes up.”

Butler boys won at North Allegheny last year. But they lost their edge somewhere down the stretch last season.

They may find that edge down the stretch this year.

Butler knows its task — and won’t blame the section if it fails to complete it.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle