SHALER TWP— Defense, defense, defense.

Shaler played plenty of it. Butler was smothered by it.

The Golden Tornado suffered 29 turnovers — many resulting in transition buckets the other way — as Shaler posted a 54-31 boys basketball victory Friday night.

Butler (9-11, 1-7) scored only 15 points in the first three quarters.

"That was the best defensive game any team has played against us since I've been coaching,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "They denied the reverse pass and inside penetration.

"They forced us to play outside on the perimeter, and we couldn't make them pay for their double-team on Sean (Lowry) or their physical play on Cody (Fleeger)."

The Tornado played without inside-outside scoring threat Mike Pratkanis, who missed the game due to illness.

Lowry did not score a point and Fleeger was kept off the scoresheet until he sank a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Fleeger fouled out with 5:46 left in the game. Point guard Clark Liebler fouled out with 3:30 remaining.

"I can't fault our play tonight at all,"Shaler coach Howie Ruppert said. "This was the best defensive performance we've put together as a team in a long, long time — maybe ever.

"We played with a lot of intensity and we took Lowry away by fronting him and not allowing him to make any move toward the basket. We covered him outside because he hurt us with a couple of 3s the last time we played them."

Shaler needed overtime to defeat Butler, 56-48, Dec. 22 on the Tornado's floor.

The Titans worked overtime on defense Friday night. Shaler never pressured the ball beyond midcourt and generated turnover after turnover regardless.

The game was even at six five minutes into the first quarter. A 12-0 Shaler run gave the Titans (14-6, 5-4) an 18-6 lead midway through the second quarter. Butler never got the deficit out of double-digits from there.

John Litwin, Shaler's 6-foot-2 senior forward, scored the first six points of the run, converting a layup, sticking back an offensive rebound and sinking a short jumper from the baseline.

Litwin wound up with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Dan Wirkowski, a 6-2 junior guard, added 18 points and five steals for the Titans.

"He (Litwin) was too big and physical for us. We couldn't handle him,"Lewandowski said.

The 23-point final margin was Shaler's biggest lead of the night.

Chris Klutinoty paced Butler with nine points off the bench. No Tornado player had more than three rebounds and Butler sank only 8 of 28 shots from the floor.

The Tornado did not make a 3-pointer until the fourth quarter, when they trailed 38-15.

"We tried to deny them those opportunities,"Ruppert said. "No. 4 (Fleeger) and No. 33 (Klutinoty) can really shoot the ball once they get their feet set. So we didn't let them get their feet set.

"Our last two practices, we concentrated on defensive intensity. We went back to basics and it paid off."

The win snapped a three-game section losing streak for the Titans.

Lewandowski credited the Titans for dictating tempo through their aggressive defense.

"We were forced into a faster pace than we wanted because our turnovers were resulting in quick layups the other way,"he said. "I wouldn't have changed my game plan at all if I had the chance, except taking better care of the basketball."

BUTLER 31Jeff Slater 0-2 2-2 2, Aaron Dorondo 2-3 0-1 4, Cody Fleeger 1-3 0-0 3, Austin Snodgrass 1-1 0-0 2, Jace Lumley 0-1 0-0 0, Jereme Buffington 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Deangelis 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Melder 1-1 0-0 2, Sean Lowry 0-7 0-0 0, Chris Klutinoty 2-7 4-6 9, Clark Liebler 1-2 4-6 6, Zach Cuffman 0-1 2-2 2, Bill Coleman 0-0 1-2 1.

Totals: 8-28 13-18 31

SHALER 54Dan Wirkowski 7-15 3-7 18, Eddie Sauer 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Szczypinski 0-0 0-0 0, Jimmy Kohan 2-5 3-7 7, Dan Taylor 1-3 0-0 2, Ben Altmeyer 1-6 0-0 2, Kevin Barry 1-2 0-2 2, John Litwin 10-13 1-3 21, Jessie Della Valle 0-0 2-4 2, Dennis Kane 0-1 0-0 0, Greg Dunn 0-3 0-0 0.

Totals: 22-48 9-23 54

Butler 6 4 5 16—31Shaler 10 14 12 18—543-point goals: Fleeger, Klutinoty; Wirkowski

JV: Butler, 39-33 (B-Jeff Slater 15, S-Jesse Della Valle 13)

Tuesday: Seneca Valley atButler