Free throws working for Butler
Tornado drain 25 of 30 shots from line during 64-55 win over Woodland Hills

By John Enrietto 
Eagle Sports Editor 

FOX CHAPEL — The foul line is being fruitful to Butler. 
The Golden Tornado drained 25 of 30 free throws Tuesday night — including 8 of 8 in the final 1:30 — to hold off Woodland Hills, 64-55, in the Peter Sauer Memorial Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament at Shady Side Academy. 
Butler (7-3) has canned 41 of 48 free throws in its tournament wins the past two days. Its opponents have hit only 13 of 32. Woodland Hills (3-5) was four of 11 Tuesday. 
“We work on free throw shooting in practice, but there’s not enough time to really emphasize it,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “Foul shooting is more of an individual thing. 
“Our guys are good at the line because they put so much of their own time into working on it.” 
The Tornado led by as many as 12 (30-18) in the first half and had a 10-point lead early in the third quarter. But the Wolverines closed the quarter with a 10-2 run, cutting the gap to 45-43 with eight minutes to play. 
Woodland Hills took a brief 47-46 lead on an offensive rebound and put-back by Joel Shaw with 6:50 left. Jace Stutz answered with two free throws for Butler five seconds later and the Tornado never trailed again. 
“It takes confidence and mental toughness to step to the line and hit free throws in the fourth quarter of a close game,” Clement said. 
Butler showed plenty of that. 
The Tornado hit 15 of 18 free throws in the final frame. Butler’s lead was only 56-53 when Kaden Rock hit two free throws with 1:30 left. Tyler Frederick, Joel and Jace Stutz all hit two free throws of their own to close out the win. 
“We only got to the line 11 times. That was a big part of this game,” Woodland Hills coach Mike Chauncey said. “We’re used to starting fast out of the gate, too. 
“That didn’t happen tonight.” 
Butler had a 13-4 lead six minutes into the game. 
The Tornado had a 47-33 edge in rebounding. Joel Stutz had 12 rebounds, Frederick 10 and Connor Ollio eight. 
“That rebounding statistic is impressive when you consider how athletic a team Woodland Hills is,” Clement said. “We told the kids before the game that rebounding was going to have to be a team effort tonight.” 
Ollio paced Butler with 18 points. Rock and Jace Stutz had 11 each. Frederick — who hit double-digits in rebounds for the third straight game — had nine points. 
Avrom Abramovitz had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Woodland Hills. Amonte Britt contributed 13 points. 
Butler won the game despite losing the turnover battle, 15-9. The Tornado turned the ball over five times in the fourth quarter. 
“We got after it and I like the way we fought back from the slow start,” Chauncey said. “But it felt like we missed 12 lay-ups in the first quarter. That’s uncharacteristic of us.” 
Butler will conclude its play in the Sauer Memorial with a 6:30 p.m. game today against West Allegheny at Shady Side Academy. 
“We played defense tonight the way we should be playing defense,” Clement said. “That was good to see.”  
WOODLAND HILLS 55 
Amante Britt 7-19 0-2 15, Avrom Abramovitz 7-13 3-4 17, Juwan Willis 0-1 0-0 0, Deontae Robertson 2-14 0-0 5, Tyrese Robinson 4-4 1-2 9, Joel Shaw 2-7 0-3 4, Mikhail Frasier 0-1 0-0 0, Derrick Caraway 0-1 0-0 0, Livon Hughes 1-1 0-1 3, William Cordy 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 24-62 4-11 55. 
BUTLER 64 
Damnien Pickett 0-1 1-2 1, Kaden Rock 3-8 4-4 11, Luke Michalek 1-2 0-0 3, Kelley Kuharic 1-2 0-0 3, Jace Stutz 3-6 3-4 11, Tyler Frederick 1-5 7-10 9, Connor Ollio 6-8 6-6 18, Joel Stutz 2-7 4-4 8, Jefferson Ford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-39 25-30 64. 
Woodland Hills 8 13 22 12 — 55 
Butler17 13 15 19 — 64 
3-point goals: Britt, Robertson, Hughes; Rock, Michalek, Kuharic, Ja. Stutz 2 
JV: Woodland Hills, 65-63 (WH: Jayquan Smith 29, Trey Josey 14; B: Andrew Yonker 20, Jason Gray 19