ROSS TWP — Butler was in scramble mode.

A traditional three-point play by Mattix Clement had given the Golden Tornado a 66-55 lead at North Hills with 1:22 left in their Section 1-6A boys basketball game Saturday.

Game over, right?

Wrong.

Butler turned the ball over four times in the final minute against the Indians' full-court pressure before holding on for a 69-68 victory.

“The old me would have been upset by the way this game ended,” Butler coach Matt Clement admitted. “The new me is happy about how well we ran our sets and played defense today. This may have been our best defensive effort of the season.”

North Hills (4-8, 2-6) had used pressure defense to come back for a 72-68 win at Butler earlier this season.

“We knew it was coming,” Clement said. “We handled it fairly well earlier in this game. They changed things up late and gave us problems.”

A 10-0 North Hills run — featuring treys by Will Blass and Anthony McCall — put the Indians on the brink of a stunning comeback win Saturday. McCall's trey cut the Tornado lead to 66-65 with 8.8 seconds left.

“You get a couple of steals and the adrenalin kicks up defensively,” North Hills coach Buzz Gabos said. “I thought we were gonna pull this off.

“We ran out of time. We needed another one or two possessions.”

And they didn't need Raine Gratzmiller on the floor.

Butler's junior guard returned to action Saturday after missing a few games with an ankle injury — and made the game-saving play at the end.

“You forget how much he means to them because he hasn't been playing,” Gabos said. “But Raine was a difference-maker down the stretch.”

Gratzmiller came off the bench to score 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter.

He had the ball in his hands when he was fouled with 7.8 seconds remaining.

“They were doubling Devin (Carney) on our in-bounds plays and we were struggling,” Gratzmiller said of the final minute. “Devin suggested that he in-bound the ball to relieve some of that pressure and it worked.”

Gratzmiller sank his first free throw attempt. The second clanked long off the back of the rim.

He pulled in the offensive rebound, was fouled, and sank both free throws with 6.8 seconds on the clock for a four-point lead. North Hills' Matt Seidl drained a trey at the buzzer for the final one-point margin.

“I knew my second (free throw) was going to hit the rim long,” Gratzmiller said. “I had to go in there hard and try to get the rebound. Fortunately, it bounced right back to me.”

“A huge play, obviously,” Clement said. “Then to have the mental toughness to step back to the line and hit them both ... that was impressive.”

Carney led Butler (6-7, 2-6) with 28 points, adding three assists. Mattix Clement had 18 points, six rebounds and four steals. Gratzmiller had two assists and two steals to go with his 12 points.

Freshman center Royce Parham led North Hills with 19 points and eight rebounds. He got Butler centers Charlie Kreinbucher and Kaleb Proudfoot in foul trouble along the way.

“I thought we defended him well,” Clement said. “He's a big man who makes his free throws. That's what makes him so dangerous.”

Seidl had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, Alex Smith 12 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists, Blass 12 points and four assists for NH.

“It's good to have Raine and Charlie back, though they're not 100 percent yet,” Clement said. “They're getting there.”

Butler hosts Hampton for Senior Night Tuesday before hosting North Hills on Wednesday.

“Butler will be a tough out in the tournament,” Gabos said. “They have guys who can play. They're capable of hitting 20 3's on any given night.”

BUTLER 69Raine Gratzmiller 3-3 5-6 12, Devin Carney 9-12 7-7 28, Mattix Clement 7-12 1-3 18, Colin Patterson 1-1 0-0 2, Madden Clement 2-5 0-0 5, Charlie Kreinbucher 0-2 0-0 0, David Leslie 0-0 0-0 0, Kaleb Proudfoot 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 24-37 13-16 69.

NORTH HILLS 68Alex Smith 4-12 4-4 12, Will Blass 4-8 2-2 12, Anthony McCall 3-5 0-0 8, Ethan Chmura 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Seidl 7-15 2-2 17, Nate Belack 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Royce Parham 5-9 9-13 19. Totals: 23-52 17-21 68.Butler 12 22 11 24 — 69North Hills9 13 17 29 — 683-point goals: Gratzmiller, Carney 3, Mat.Clement 3, Mad.Clement; Blass 2, Seidl, McCall 2JV: North Hills, 52-49 (B: Hayden Thompson 11, Ryan Porch 11, Mac Schnur 10; NH: Logan Johnson 16)Tuesday: Hampton at Butler