WEXFORD— Butler just couldn't stay dry Tuesday night.

North Allegheny rained 11 3-pointers on the Golden Tornado and Butler got lost in a sea of turnovers while dropping a 63-48 boys basketball decision.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Tornado (12-8, 5-6) and prevented the team from clinching its first WPIALplayoff berth since 2000.

Butler will qualify for postseason play if it defeats New Castle Friday night or gets a loss from North Hills or Pine-Richland that same evening.

"They came out and just lit it up,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "They didn't miss — and we couldn't even make our free throws."

The section champion Tigers (20-2, 10-1) sank 11 of 20 3-point shots, led the entire game and took a 51-41 lead into the final period.

They put the game away in the first minute of the final quarter as Damian Founds sank a layup and a free throw, and Jeff Finke nailed NA's 11th and final trey of the night. That flurry gave the hosts a 67-51 lead with 6:56 remaining.

"We had about a two-minute stretch there in the second quarter where we missed some defensive assignments and they were getting a few layups,"Tigers coach Dave DeGregorio said. "Other than that, I was pretty pleased with our defensive effort."

The tone of the contest was set early as Butler, which suffered 25 turnovers, lost the ball on its first two possessions and the Tigers turnined both into easy layups.

"Turnovers are bad enough because you're giving up possessions,"Lewandowski said. "When points are tagged on in transition, they're even worse."

Butler played without guard Christos Klutinoty, who suffered a knee injury last Friday night against Pine-Richland. Cody Fleeger went to the bench with three personal fouls with 6:09 left in the first half.

Still, Butler trailed only 32-26 at intermission.

"Christos is our second ballhandler and we had to find someone else to fill that role,"Lewandowski said. "Eventually, Nick Rossmiller did a good job with that for us.

"But, yeah, we missed Christos and his dribble-drive penetration. Sometimes injuries happen at inopportune times," he added.

Founds paced NAwith 15 points and five steals. Nick Dvorsky added 13 points and Jeff Finke 10.

The Tigers implemented a full-court press from the opening tip.

"That's the way we like to play,"DeGregorio said. "We want to establish a quick tempo. We use four- and five-man rotations to give everybody a break at some point."

Mike Pratkanis was Butler's lone player in double figures with 14 points. He added five rebounds. Rossmiller had 16 of 37 Butler rebounds.

When Lewandowski told Rossmiller of his rebound total as the player left the locker room after the game, Rossmiller replied:"They weren't enough to get it done, coach."

Lewandowski could only smile.

"That's why these guys are winners,"the coach said. "All they care about is winning.

"Three minutes after this game was over, our focus was on New Castle. We can't play this (North Allegheny) game over again in 20 minutes or tomorrow.

"What concerns us now is what's in front of us."

BUTLER 48Mike Pratkanis 5-10 3-7 14, Jeff Slater 3-7 0-0 6, Cody Fleeger 3-10 1-4 9, Austin Snodgrass 2-3 0-0 5, Logan Renwick 3-5 0-0 7, Nick Rossmiller 2-7 0-0 5, Jeff Tompkins 0-2 1-2 1, Ryan Melder 0-0 1-2 1, Nick Powers 0-0 0-1 0.

Totals: 18-44 6-16 48

NORTH ALLEGHENY 63Ted Connolly 2-4 1-2 6, Nick Dvorsky 5-6 0-1 13, Damian Founds 5-9 4-6 15, Steve Kirsch 2-3 0-0 6, Jeff Haus 1-6 1-2 3, Jeff Finke 4-8 0-1 10, Stephane Batton 1-2 0-0 2, Dan Kusyner 3-5 0-2 8, Geoff Greco 0-4 0-0 0.

Totals: 23-47 6-14 63

Butler 11 15 15 7—48North Allegheny 18 14 19 12—633-point goals: Pratkanis, Fleeger 2, Rossmiller, Snodgrass, Renwick; Connolly, Dvorsky 3, Founds, Kirsch 2, Finke 2, Kusyner 2

JV: North Allegheny, 51-40 (NA:Ryan Besonson 13, Jordan Baierl 8, B:Jon Noel 11, Bob Swartwout 8)

Friday: New Castle at Butler (girls-boys DH), 6:30 p.m.