HAMPTON TWP — Through two quarters of basketball Monday night, Butler's guard tandem of Ethan Morton and Devin Carney scored only three points.

The Golden Tornado still led by six and went on to post a 58-48 regular-season ending victory at Hampton.

“It's good that we still led because we did get points from other places,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “It also shows we still have things to work on because we can't have Devin and Ethan combining for only three points in a half.

“We're not gonna get away with that in the playoffs.”

The WPIAL playoff meeting is Tuesday night in Greentree. Butler figures to be one of the top two seeds in Class 6A while Hampton qualified in Class 5A.

The Tornado (17-4) closed the regular season on a 12-game winning streak.

“We were able to get a lot of work in on our zone reads tonight,” Clement said. “Their zone was coming out high on our shooters and Ethan did a nice job of finding our guys underneath the basket.”

Mason Montag benefitted the most from that, scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds in the final regular season game of his career.

“Mason was finishing plays around the basket and I thought he defended the post well,” Clement said.

The teams combined for only three personal fouls in the first half and 14 free throws in the game.

“Both teams played a lot of zone tonight,” Hampton coach Joe Lafko said. “We didn't shoot well in the first half, hitting only nine of 32 shots. That's what we talked about at halftime.

“If we shoot a little better, I think we're right there.”

Mattix Clement scored 15 points for Butler, adding three steals and three assists. Carney wound up with 12 points, hitting three treys.

Morton was limited to a season-low six points, but had 12 assists and nine rebounds.

“If we finish a few more plays, he might have had 20 assists in this game,” Clement said.

“Mattix has become very effective at the top of our zone. He was disrupting their offense and making it hard to get past him. They (Talbots) were struggling with that.

“When Mattix is on his game, he's forcing turnovers up high and getting points in transition. He played a solid game,” Clement added.

Though the score was relatively close, Butler never trailed. Mattix Clement drained two treys in the first minute for a 6-2 lead.

Butler's lead peaked at 43-28 with 2:37 left in the third quarter.

Ben Ringeisen, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, paced the Talbots (11-10) with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Colby Mignogna scored 14 points and had three assists after being held scoreless Saturday at Mars.

“Ben had a very good game,” Lafko said. “He's become our go-to guy for offense late in the season. We'll be counting on him moving forward.”

“He's got some good post moves,” Clement said of Ringeisen. “Mason defended him well, but he was finding ways to get offensive rebounds and put 'em in.”

Clement played his top seven players for the bulk of the contest.

“We hadn't played in a week and it may be another week before we play again,” the coach said. “I had to run those guys out there.”

BUTLER 58

Zach Slomers 0-0 0-0 0, Raine Gratzmiller 0-1 0-0 0, Devin Carney 4-9 1-2 12, Mattix Clement 6-16 0-0 15, Charlie Kreinbucher 2-5 2-5 0-0 4, Mason Montag 5-9 5-5 15, Ethan Morton 2-8 2-2 6, Madden Clement 2-6 0-0 6. Totals: 21-54 8-9 58.

HAMPTON 48

Eric Weeks 1-1 0-0 3, Matt DeMatteo 1-6 2-2 4, Brennan Murray 0-3 0-0 0, Matt Govi 1-2 0-0 2, Quinn Morrow 2-8 0-0 4, Colby Mignogna 6-13 2-2 14, Ben Ringeisen 10-17 1-1 21. Totals: 21-50 5-5 48.

Butler 12 15 18 13 — 58

Hampton10 11 15 12 — 48

3-point goals: Carney 3, Mat. Clement 3, Mad. Clement 2; Weeks

JV: Butler, 41-40 (B: Kaleb Proudfoot 17, H: Eric Weeks 9)

Next: Butler in WPIAL 6A playoffs, TBA