Tornado's Pratkanis rips through Penn Hills boys

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By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP— Effort wasn't going to be enough for Butler's boys basketball team to derail Penn Hills Thursday night.
The Golden Tornado needed something special.
Meet Mike Pratkanis.
The junior forward came off the bench to score 29 points, snare 12 rebounds and grab Butler Christmas Tournament MVPhonors as Butler took a 63-61 overtime victory from the Indians in the tournament championship game.
"We just asked him to pretend he was playing in the summer time, because he was tremendous all summer,"Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. "Tonight, he played to his potential."
The lead changed hands 11 times on the night. Penn Hills' biggest advantage was 14-5 in the first quarter while Butler led by as much as 34-27 in the second quarter.
Pratkanis sank a layup with 32 seconds left in regulation to knot the game at 56 and to force the extra session. It was his 12th field goal of the night — and Butler's last field goal of the game.
"We did a poor, poor, poor job of defending that kid,"Penn Hills coach Jim Rocco said. "We showed a lack of will defending the low post. If we have some guys play with willingness there, his big night doesn't happen."
The Tornado (6-5) had other players come up big in overtime. After David Filippino's sixth 3-pointer gave the Indians (8-3) a 59-56 lead, Butler's Chris Klutinoty was fouled hard while attempting a trey. He sank all three free throws to tie the game.
Sean Lowry gave the Tornado the lead for good by sinking two free throws with 1:03 left. Seldom-used guard Jeff Slater blocked a Filippino shot from beyond the arc and was fouled after retrieving the loose ball with 29 seconds remaining.
Slater sank one of two free throws to give his team a three-point lead. Filippino misfired on another 3-point shot, Lowry rebounded and sank one of two free throws with nine seconds to play.
Mo Cox stuck back an offensive rebound for Penn Hills in the waning moments, but the Indians' five-game winning streak was over.
"We needed every ounce of energy we got from everybody tonight,"Lewandowski said. "We were fortunate to win this game. Penn Hills is as talented a team as we'll play."
Pratkanis shrugged off his MVPperformance.
"I just try to make the most of my time in there,"he said. "It was all the assists from everybody. They were getting me the ball with me in position to score."
Penn Hills sank only eight of 22 free throws. Butler connected on 15-of-21.
Fleeger had 17 points and five rebounds for Butler before fouling out with 2:05 left in regulation. Lowry added 11 points and eight caroms.
Filippino had 19 points, Cox 17 points and 11 rebounds, Brett Young 10 points and 12 boards for Penn Hills.
Summit Academy 61, Burrell 49 — Leonard Brown had 17 points and six rebounds to pace the Knights (7-4). Marc Walker added 14 points and 13 boards.
Jon Maronkey led Burrell (5-7) with 11 points and six rebounds. Tyler Reifschneider added eight points and 11 boards.
Notes:Butler's Jace Lumley won the 3-point shooting contest. ... Joining Pratkanis on the all-tournament team were Lowry, Filippino, Cox, Walker and Burrell's Zach Ziemianski. ... ALewandowski-coached Tornado team has yet to lose in the Butler Christmas Tournament.
Championship Game
PENNHILLS61
David Filippino 6-20 1-3 19, Donte Brown 0-2 1-2 1, Anthony Ionadi 0-3 1-3 1, Mo Cox 8-14 1-9 17, Andre Anthony 2-11 2-2 7, Barry Smith 3-3 0-0 6, Brett Young 4-10 2-2 10. Totals: 23-65 8-22 61
BUTLER63
Mike Pratkanis 12-19 3-4 29, Cody Fleeger 6-14 1-2 17, Aaron Dorondo 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Lumley 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Deangelis 0-1 0-0 0, Sean Lowry 2-6 7-8 11, Chris Klutinoty 0-2 3-3 3, Austin Snodgrass 0-1 0-0 0, Jeff Slater 1-1 1-2 3. Totals: 21-47 15-21 63
Penn Hills 19 13 13 11 5—61
Butler 15 19 13 9 7—63
3-point goals: Filippino 6, Anthony; Pratkanis 2, Fleeger 4
JV: Butler, 57-39