Pratkanis heroics give Butler win

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By Mike Kilroy
Eagle Staff Writer

IMPERIAL — The hero of the day: Mike Pratkanis.
It seems the Butler boys basketball team is lining up its heroes one by one. It just so happened double-zero was next in line.
Pratkanis — who wears the unique jersey No. 00 — helped end a unique fourth quarter for the Golden Tornado with the game-winning jumper with two seconds remaining in a 50-49 road win over West Allegheny on a cold and snowy Wednesday night.
Pratkanis pump faked a shot just outside the 3-point arc, took one dribble inside the arc and fired up a shot that rolled around the rim and through.
"It felt pretty good when it left my hand," Pratkanis said.
His jersey number is fitting. He was in position for a game-winning shot because Butler shut out West Allegheny in the fourth quarter.
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
"I can't even remember at any level being on a team that shut out another team in a quarter," Pratkanis said.
After the final buzzer sounded without West Allegheny getting off a shot, Pratkanis calmly walked toward the Butler bench as his teammates jumped up and down around him.
It was the second late game-winning shot for a Butler player already this season, and those late heroics have accounted for both Golden Tornado wins.
This one was perhaps the most improbable.
Butler (2-2) trailed by 16 early in the second quarter before cutting the lead to four just before the half.
A technical foul helped Butler's rally.
The technical was called when WestAllegheny (2-2) entered a player into the game who was not in the official book.
Cody Fleeger knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to 15, but the technical was more valuable because Butler was able to adjust its offense to adapt to a 3-2 zone the Indians ran.
"This is crazy — we're not going to do this all the time — but we haven't worked against a 3-2 ... we have a bunch of smart kids, so we put in our 3-2 zone offense at the technical," Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said.
It worked.
Christos Klutinoty found himself open for four 3-pointers in the game and 16 points.
Sean Lowry found the middle of the zone soft enough to maneuver for 10 points, all after the offensive adjustment.
But it was the defense — and a bit of late-game strategy for Lewandowski — that keyed the win.
The Indians missed all five of their shots in the fourth quarter. They only got five shots because Butler held the ball for three minutes of the fourth.
With Butler trailing 49-48 with 4:15 remaining in the game, point guard Brian DeAngelis tucked the ball under his right arm and Lewandowski paced the bench.
With a little more than a minute remaining, Butler started running an offense.
Lewandowski is one of the supporters of a shot clock in high school basketball, but for one night, he was glad there wasn't one.
"They don't have a shot clock, so why not use it to our advantage," Lewandowski said, smiling. "We felt that, the way they were playing, it was really tough to guard them."
West Allegheny coach Josh Bears had no objection. His team had three fouls to give.
"We figured we'd let them run the clock and if they got a good look, we'd just foul them," Bears said. "We had three fouls to give and we were going to give them."
The Indians did, leaving Butler with just nine seconds left to set up a play.
When Pratkanis received the ball, Bears said his team knew what was coming.
"From scouting them, we know he's a catch and shoot big man," Bears said. "He made a nice play."
Bears' approach to his team is to move on from this loss as quickly as possible.
"I told them it hurts," Bears said. "It's supposed to hurt. I want them to feel hurt, because that means they care and they will work hard not to hurt again. If they don't hurt, that's when we have a problem."
On this night, nothing hurts in Butler.
"It was a two-hour bus ride," Lewandowski said. "So, they came out a little bit stiff, a little bit cold. But, 16 points down, I don't think any of them thought they weren't going to come back."