Taking it 3 at a time
Anderson's 6 treys spark Butler victory

By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP — Blake Anderson's mission was three-fold Tuesday night.
Butler's senior guard scored 22 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead the Golden Tornado to a 51-46 boys basketball victory over Section 3-AAAA leader North Allegheny.
"Blake has become a big-time player here," Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "He has to be considered one of the best players in our section.
"Opposing teams have to account for him."
The Tigers accounted for him too late. Anderson's six treys occurred during the first three quarters.
"We left him open too much," North Allegheny coach Dave DeGregorio said.
Anderson's first mission was to keep Butler (12-7, 5-4) in the game early. He sank three treys in the first quarter, scored nine of the Tornado's 11 points and helped his team end the first period even despite its eight opening-quarter turnovers.
His second mission was extending Butler's lead. Anderson's fifth 3-pointer hiked the Tornado lead to 30-24 with 5:54 left in the third quarter. His final trey jumped that lead to 39-27 — Butler's biggest of the night — with 2:31 left in the period.
"Once I hit a couple of 3s early, I feel comfortable with my shot the rest of the night," Anderson said.
But Anderson was denied his 3-point shot in the fourth quarter and the Tigers (12-5, 7-2) worked their way back into the game.
Matt Sudo, their 6-foot-5 senior center, sank a layup and stuck back an offensive rebound on consecutive possessions to pull the Tigers to within 43-41 with 3:50 remaining in the contest.
Dino Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 1:23 left to bring the visitors to within 47-46.
"We had a 14-point lead against these guys at home last year and lost," Anderson said. "We didn't want to see that happen again."
It didn't.
Butler's Cody Fleeger missed a 3-point shot with less than a minute remaining, but Noah Hartung grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. He sank one of two shots with 41 seconds left.
The Tigers had the ball with a chance to tie or go ahead, but Johnson was whistled for traveling with 20 seconds left.
Anderson's third mission was to ice the game. Butler put the ball in his hands and he sank two free throws with 15.7 seconds left, giving the Tornado a 50-46 lead and sealing the victory.
"I haven't been all that good at the line this year," Anderson said. "But we shoot 30 (free throws) a day in practice and this is why."
Jade Burka contributed 10 points and four blocked shots for the Tornado while Alan Jackson had nine points, six rebounds and six assists.
Hartung had five rebounds, but North Allegheny had a 25-21 edge on the boards. Butler wound up with 16 turnovers to the Tigers' nine.
"Last year, we lost a lot of one- or two-point games," Lewandowski said. "We're winning those games this year. It comes down to maturity. The kids have worked to make themselves better."
Johnson scored 13 points off the bench to lead the Tigers. Sudo had nine rebounds.
Senior guard Ryan Tiesi, who averages 19.3 points per game and scorched Butler for 32 in a 65-50 win Dec. 20 in Wexford, was held to 11 points.
Tiesi sank just four of 17 shots from the floor.
"We played a zone, just formed a wall around the court to try to make Tiesi work for his own shots and cut off his dribble penetration and dish-offs," Lewandowski said. "Lucky for us, he missed his shots.
"He's the best player we've seen all year."
The Tornado won for the eighth time in nine games. North Allegheny dropped its second straight as it had a nine-game winning streak snapped Friday.
NORTH ALLEGHENY 46
Ted Connolly 0-0 0-0 0, John Evans 0-2 0-0 0, Ben Dvorsky 3-4 0-0 6, Greg Dvorsky 2-4 0-0 4, Ryan Tiesi 4-17 1-1 11, Dino Johnson 4-8 2-2 13, Brian Block 1-2 0-0 2, Dan Lavallee 2-7 0-0 6, Matt Sudo 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 18-48 3-3 46
BUTLER 51
Noah Hartung 2-4 2-7 6, Cody Fleeger 1-5 2-3 4, Nick Martini 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Monday 0-0 0-0 0, Alan Jackson 3-8 3-3 9, Blake Anderson 6-9 4-4 22, Jade Burka 3-3 4-5 10. Totals: 15-29 15-22 51
3-point goals:
Tiesi 2, Johnson 3, Lavallee 2; Anderson 6