Team basketball helps
Butler defeat Connellsville

By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP - A wide smile came across Joe Lewandowski's face as he looked at the statistics sheet.
"Twenty-seven field goals and 24 assists," the Butler boys basketball coach said. "How's that for unselfish basketball?"
The Golden Tornado (3-2) played plenty of it in Saturday's 67-50 triumph over Connellsville.
Butler trailed 2-0 after Connellsville's Clay Hurley drove to the hoop for a lay-up seconds after the opening tip. Butler's Nate Hartung answered that with a pair of lay-ups and the Tornado never trailed again.
The first-quarter lead reached 10 (22-12) when junior guard Blake Anderson sank a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
It was Anderson's fourth trey of the opening period. He wound up scoring 25 points, sinking nine of 10 field goal attempts and five 3-pointers.
"I've never shot the ball like that, ever," Anderson said. "I just felt like every time I took a shot, it was gonna go in. I was hoping my teammates would keep giving me the ball."
They did.
"That's the way these guys play," Lewandowski said. "Blake had the hot hand, so the other guys were setting screens for him, freeing him up."
"They ran their sets extremely well, inside and out," Connellsville coach Nick Bosnic said of Butler. "And they kept hitting their shots."
The Tornado lead reached 13 at halftime. Connellsville got within nine late in the third quarter and within eight (51-43) with 7:35 left in the game.
Butler went on a 10-2 run at that point to close the Falcons out. Jade Burka sank a pair of lay-ups while Anderson and Noah Hartung scored easy buckets off fast breaks during the run.
"I told the kids at halftime they were gonna make at least two runs at us," Lewandowski said. "We weathered the storm and that was critical.
"Nate was fouled out and Jerrod Markle was on the bench getting treatment for an injury down the stretch. We put that run together with underclassmen on the floor."
Markle was being treated for a small cut on his leg.
Noah Hartung had 10 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Tornado. Nate Hartung added 10 points, Markle five assists, Burka eight points and six rebounds.
Butler out-rebounded a bigger Connellsville team, 30-20. The Tornado sank 27 of 42 field goal attempts.
"Jade Burka came alive on the boards in the fourth quarter, when we really needed it," Lewandowski said.
Terrence McCrae and Justin King scored 10 points each for Connellsville (2-2). Hurley had five rebounds.
"We don't have anybody back who averaged more than seven points a game last year," Bosnic said. "James Hairston was our go-to scorer for three years and with him gone now, we're going through an adjustment period offensively.
"Butler played great defense against us, though. We couldn't run the sets we wanted to."
The Tornado begin section play Tuesday night, hosting Pine-Richland.
 
BUTLER 67
Nate Hartung 5-6 0-2 10, Noah Hartung 5-7 0-1 10, Jerrod Markle 2-7 2-2 7, Adam Monday 0-2 0-0 0, Blake Anderson 9-10 2-2 25, Sean Lowry 2-5 1-1 5, Nick Martini 0-1 0-0 0, Jade Burka 3-3 2-4 8, Chris Anthony 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Shockey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 27-42 7-12 67
3-point goals:
King 2; Anderson 5, Markle