ROSS TWP — ROSS TWP — In a game of clutch shots, Butler was in position to hit the decisive one.

After Royce Parham made a free throw to put North Hills up 72-71, he missed the second, which was rebounded by the Golden Tornado’s Colin Casteel.

Six seconds remained on the clock and the ball ended up in the hands of freshman guard Donovan Carney. His 3-point attempt from the right corner appeared on target, but bounced off the rim as the Indians escaped with a one-point victory at North Hills Middle School Tuesday night.

Just moments earlier, Carney had drained a trey to tie the game at 71.

“There’s a lot of players who could’ve taken that last shot, but I was totally fine with Donovan getting the ball,” said Butler coach Matt Clement. “That’s how we drew it up and he had just made one on the previous possession.”

Butler took three charges in the game. On almost any other night, the Tornado’s effort would have led to a victory.

“My heart breaks for our kids after a game like this,” added Clement. “Hopefully, we can look back and say we became a better team from it. It certainly felt like we did. We played very well tonight.”

Butler (4-1) enjoyed its last lead at 59-58 with a free throw from Braylon Littlejohn with 43 seconds left in the third quarter. But baskets from Zach Pollaro, Eric James and Parham and two free throws with James at the line helped North Hills (3-1) open up a 66-62 edge midway through the final quarter.

The teams are no longer section foes after the Indians dropped down to Class 5A, but Tuesday’s game had the feel of a Class 6A showdown.

“We have North Allegheny, Butler and Seneca Valley (Friday) right in a row,” said North Hills coach Buzz Gabos. “It helps with strength of schedule, but you also want to win some to build confidence.

“This was a great game with both teams battling hard until the end. It’s exciting to get the win.”

The Tornado opened the game on fire, hitting eight of their first nine attempts from the field in building a 17-6 lead with 3:30 left in the first period. The advantage was 24-13 after eight minutes.

“We’ve been working extremely hard in practice,” Clement said. “North Hills is the No. 1 team in 5A and we wanted to compete with them.”

Led by 12 points in the second quarter from Parham, the Indians took a slim 41-40 lead into halftime.

Littlejohn scored a game-high 26 points. Madden Clement added 15 and Carney 13.

“Butler has some guys who can really let it go and we told our kids that before the game,” said Gabos.

Parham, a junior center/forward, is the only starter who returned from North Hills’ two-loss team a year ago. But his 22-point effort received ample support. Zach Pollaro scored 15, Jake Pollaro 11 and James added 10.

“When you have a 6-8 guy in the middle, the guys around him still have to make shots, but he’s going to make all of them better players,” said Clement.

BUTLER 71

Braylon Littlejohn 10 5-10 26, Donovan Carney 4 2-2 13, Ayden Davis 1 0-0 3, Madden Clement 6 0-0 15, Ryan Porch 4 0-2 8, Colin Casteel 1 0-0 3, James Desmond 0 3-3 3, Lance Slater 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 10-17 71.

NORTH HILLS 72

Jayden Thomas 3 0-0 6, Jake Pollaro 5 0-0 11, Zach Pollaro 7 0-0 15, Eric James 4 2-6 10, Logan Johnson 3 1-3 8, Royce Parham 7 7-12 22. Totals: 29 10-21 72.

Butler 24 16 19 12 — 71

North Hiils 13 28 17 14 — 72

3-point goals: Butler 9 (Carney 3, Clement 3, Davis, Casteel, Littlejohn); North Hills 4 (J.Pollaro, Z.Pollaro, Johnson, Parham).

Friday: Franklin Regional at Butler