Butler can't escape early hole in loss to the Vikings

By MIKE KILROY Eagle Staff Writer

January 10, 2009 Last Updated: January 10, 2009 01:19 PM High School

Lewandowski

PITTSBURGH — Butler won three of the four quarters.

Oh, but that pesky first one.

The Golden Tornado boys basketball team was outscored 21-10 in the opening period and spent the rest of the game chipping away at the deficit and giving Pittsburgh CentralCatholic a scare on its home floor in a 53-49 loss Friday night.

"All those guys played like warriors," said Butler coach Joe Lewandowski. "To come into their gym and win (three quarters) is a compliment to our guys. We just have to find a way to finish now."

The Tornado (5-7, 1-4) were poised to do just that.

After falling behind big in the first quarter and trailing by as many as 13 late, in the third Butler closed to 48-46 with 44 seconds left in the game and had sophomore Bob Swartwout at the free throw line.

His first attempt fell through with a swish. His second attempt bounded off the left side of the rim, then bounced high in the air twice on the right side of the iron before falling out.

"If we make that one, all of a sudden there is a ton of pressure on them," Lewandowski said. "Instead, they are up one and we're scrambling, we have to foul and it's a 3-point game."

Butler was forced to send the Vikings to the line late in the fourth quarter and Central Catholic (8-4, 4-2) kept making them.

The Vikings were 7-of-8 from the line down the stretch to salt away the win.

"This section — it looks like every game is going to be close," said Central Catholic coach Chuck Crummie. "Evan (Tsudis) hit two big free throws and so did (Daniel Schnelbach)."

But Crummie was unhappy with the way his team handled Butler's defense.

Central Catholic came into the contest averaging 65 points per game but didn't come close to achieving that number.

The Vikings built their big early lead predominantly with the transition game.

Schnelbach scored 14 points in the first quarter, with many of his buckets coming on slashing moves to the hoop on fast break opportunities.

He didn't take a shot in the final three quarters, but still led the Vikings with 16 points.

Once the Golden Tornado were able to play more crisply on offense and force Central Catholic into a halfcourt set on defense, the points were hard to come by for the Vikings."You can't set your defense when you are turning the ball over," Lewandowski said. "When we set our defense, we know it is one of the best in the WPIAL."Crummie said he saw nothing to disprove that statement."We like to run," Crummie said. "We like to get up and down the court. When we didn't, we struggled to score. (Lewandowski) does such a great job with them. We didn't handle the pressure very well."Brian Jendesky led Butler with 19 points. Swartwout added 11 points and was an imposing figure defensively for the Tornado, who have already had their fill of white-knucklers.Butler (5-7, 1-4) has lost two straight section games by a combined nine points."Without a doubt this will help us," Lewandowski said. "We have to find a way to finish the deal."BUTLER 49Cole Harvey 0-3 0-0 0, Brian Jendesky 7-10 4-5 19, Logan Renwick 2-8 0-0 4, Jeff Tompkins 3-8 0-0 6, Nate Snodgrass 1-4 3-3 5, Bob Swartwout 4-8 3-4 11, Eric King 0-1 0-1 0, Vinny Schmidt 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 19-44 10-13 49CENTRAL CATHOLIC 53Brian Radjakovich 0-2 0-1 0, Tim Lackner 1-2 0-0 2, Liam Halferty 2-5 0-0 5, Anthony Horne 0-2 1-2 1, Dylan Layton 0-1 0-2 0, Lucas Mickens 6-12 0-1 12, Evan Tsudis 3-8 5-6 11, Will Burgess 2-5 2-2 6, BryanWard 0-0 0-0 0, Daniel Schnelbach 5-5 5-5 16. Totals: 19-42 13-19 53Butler 10 13 13 13—49Central Catholic 21 12 11 9—533-point goals: Jendesky; Halferty, SchnelbachJV: Butler 49-45 (Cody Herald 13)Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Butler