Emotional Wave
FOX CHAPEL — From euphoria to fear, prayers, right back to euphoria.
Through the bizarre range of emotions in the game's final seconds, Butler held on for a 70-68 upset of rival Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball semifinals Wednesday night at Fox Chapel High School.
The Golden Tornado (20-4) led 70-59 with 58 seconds left, building the lead by sinking 12 of 14 free throws from the 4:24 mark to the 1:04 mark of the fourth quarter.
That's when craziness arrived.
Tornado turnovers resulted in five quick points for the Rams (21-3). Butler junior guard Ethan Morton fouled out with 31 seconds left, going to the bench with 40 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
“All I could ask was for my teammates to play their hearts out for me ... and they did,” Morton said.
But free throws by Kyle Police and Dan Petcash pulled Pine-Richland within 70-68 with 16 seconds left. And after Butler missed two free throws with 8.8 seconds to go, the Rams had a chance.
Police and Butler's Luke Patten had a violent collision st the top of the perimeter with :00.2 seconds left. Patten was called for a foul and he laid motionless on the floor.
The raucous gym was immediately silent.
“I never saw anything like that emotion,” Butler assistant coach Jim Gallagher said. “So many things were going through everybody's mind.”
Patten was placed on a stretcher and taken to Children's Hospital for observation. While he was being treated, Polce was awaiting his trip to the foul line.
“Luke could move all of his extremities and that is the most important thing on this crazy night,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.
After Butler called a timeout, Police missed the front end of his one-and-one, the rebound was knocked out of bounds and the Tornado had the victory.
“We knew it wouldn't come easy,” Morton said. “They were gonna make a late run. I told our guys in the huddle, up by 11, it wasn't over.”
Devin Carney added 17 points for Butler while Patten has nine points and five rebounds. Polce had 20 points and nine rebounds for Pine-Richland, which had its 20-game winning streak snapped.
Greg Shulkosky had 17 points, Dan Petcash 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Rams.The lead changed hands nine times and the score was tied on seven occasions.“Pine is the dominant program right now in all sports,” Clement said. “We take pride in being able to play with them.”Butler will now face Mt. Lebanon on Saturday in the WPIAL 6A championship game at the Petersen Event Center at 9 p.m.Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackerman was unavailable for comment.BUTLER 70Devin Carney 5-9 2-2 17, Mattix Clement 1-4 0-2 3, Luke Patten 2-2 3-3 9, Charlie Kreinbucher 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Monrag 0-2 1-2 1, Ethan Morton 13-21 14-20 40, Isaiah Scribner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-39 20-29 70.PINE-RICHLAND 68Greg Shulkosky 5-22 3-4 17, Colin Luellen 4-8 1-2 9, Dan Petcash 4-15 2-2 12, Pat Shanahan 2-4 1-4 5, Kyle Polce 7-9 2-4 20, Logan Murray 1-5 2-3 5, Levi Wentz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-63 11-16 68.Butler 11 15 22 22 — 70Pine-Richland16 16 20 16 — 683-point goals: Carney 5, Clement, Patten 2; Shulkosky 3, Petcash 2, Polce 4, Murray.Saturday: Butler vs. Mt. Lebanon, WPIAL 6A title game at the Petersen Event Center, 9 p.m.
