Butler clinches 1st boys basketball section title since 1992
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Tuesday, January 28, 2020 | 11:41 PM
Butler’s Devin Carney celebrates after defeating Pine-Richland Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Ethan Morton scores between Pine-Richland defenders Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Ethan Morton blocks a shot by Pine-Richland’s Patrick Shanahan during their game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Mason Montag celebrates a three-pointer against Pine-Richland Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Devin Carney shoots a three-pointer against Pine-Richland Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Raine Gratzmiller drives to the basket against Pine-Richland’s Levi Wentz during their game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Pine-Richland’s Kyle Polce shoots a three-pointer over Butler’s Ethan Morton Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Devin Carney celebrates after hitting a three-pointer in front of the Golden Tornado bench during their game against Pine-Richland Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Pine-Richland’s Cameron Kirkland pulls down a rebound next to Butler’s Charles Kreinbucher during their game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Pine-Richland’s Levi Wentz shoots over Butler’s Mason Montag during their game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Pine-Richland’s Levi Wentz blocks a shot by Butler’s Charles Kreinbucher during their game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Mattix Clement shoots a three-pointer against Pine-Richland Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Pine-Richland’s Kyle Polce (15) watches his three-pointer against Butler Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Charles Kreinbucher pulls down a rebound next to Pine-Richland’s Patrick Shanahan during the fourth quarter Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Butler’s Charles Kreinbucher (22) celebrates with Raine Gratzmiller after defeating Pine-Richland Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Pine-Richland High School.
Basketball coach Matt Clement was a junior on the team’s roster the last time Butler won a section title, but he watched Tuesday night as that 28-year wait finally ended.
Clement, his players and the school’s large student section all celebrated as Ethan Morton made two free throws with 5.6 seconds left to clinch a 68-63 victory at Pine-Richland, earning the Golden Tornado their first section title since 1992.
“I can’t even say what it means to me,” said Clement, whose son Mattix is a junior on this year’s roster. “Some programs might not think that’s a big a deal (winning the section), but to us it’s a big deal. We’ve come a long way.”
Morton and Devin Carney each scored 18 points and Mason Montag added 14 for second-ranked Butler (14-4, 8-0), which holds a three-game lead in Section 1-6A with two games left. No. 4 Pine-Richland (12-6, 5-3) was the defending section champion.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about since I started playing Butler basketball,” Morton said. “We’re not satisfied, we’re still hungry, but we’re happy with the result tonight.”
Butler had a 3-point lead when Morton stepped to the foul line for a one-and-one with 5.6 seconds left. Clement tried to avoid any extra hype this week, so the section title wasn’t discussed much, but Morton understood the situation.
“I’d be lying if I said — with 5 seconds left — that I didn’t have my mind on: ‘We’re going to be section champs,’” he said.
But that outcome wasn’t always so clear.
Butler never had a first-half lead and trailed at times by double digits. The Golden Tornado took their first lead on a 3-pointer by Carney just after halftime, one of seven lead changes in the third quarter.
The game’s last lead change came on a driving layup by Morton to lead 49-48 with 1:41 left in the third.
Butler quickly extended its lead to six points but Pine-Richland didn’t fade. The Rams pulled within one point with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the fourth and two points at the 2:30 mark.
“We feel like it’s our section,” Pine-Richland coach Jeff Ackermann said. “We weren’t going to just give it away. They won it.”
Carney scored seven points in the fourth including two late jumpers to keep Butler ahead. That secondary scoring from Carney and Montag was too much for Pine-Richland to match.
“They’ve got so many guys that you’ve got to give something up (defensively),” Ackermann said. “If you had told me coming in that Morton had 18, I’d tell you we have a good shot of winning the game. But we just didn’t score enough tonight.”
Kyle Polce led Pine-Richland with 22 points and Joe Petcash added 12, but nobody else on the team scored more than six.
The Rams started strong, scored eight of the game’s first 10 points and later led 25-15 in the second quarter before Butler found its 3-point touch. Carney and Mattix Clement started 0 for 7 combined from the arc but each finished with three 3s.
“When we were down 10, we were getting open shots,” Clement said. “If we get open shots, we’re going to make them.”
This was the third year in a row that Butler had an opportunity to win a section title. Last season, they were swept by Pine-Richland and finished two games back. Two seasons ago, they needed to defeat Central Catholic but lost.
Looking back, Clement wondered whether he over-hyped his team about winning the section, so he didn’t talk about it this week.
“I’ve been very low-key this time,” Clement said. “In fact, I hadn’t even mentioned it. But everybody knew. When we broke at the end of practice yesterday, four of them said, let’s win the section title tomorrow.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Butler, Pine-Richland
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