Morton stellar in Tornado win
Freshman guard puts up 17 points, dishes out 10 assists as Butler tops Plum, 58-40

By John Enrietto 
Eagle Sports Editor 

PLUM — The trust is there. The success is building. 
Butler freshman point guard Ethan Morton produced 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds Wednesday night before leaving the game with 3:22 remaining. His effort spearheaded the Golden Tornado’s 58-40 boys basketball victory at Plum. 
Butler’s lead peaked at 55-31 with 3:26 remaining in the contest. 
“I never expected anything like this,” Butler coach Matt Clement said of the lopsided victory. “You come into this gym against a program of this caliber, where the coach always has his team prepared ... I didn’t expect the margin to get out of single digits.” 
The margin didn’t reach double digits until early in the third period. Joel Stutz drained a trey less than a minute into the second half to give Butler (2-1) a 28-17 lead. 
“We missed a lot of easy shots in the first half and still had the lead (25-17) at intermission,” Clement said. “I told the guys, if we just relax and hit those easy shots, the lead will grow.” 
It did. 
And Morton was the ringleader of this show. 
He hit a trey to end the third quarter as the Tornado lead expanded to 45-26. He assisted on four other buckets in the third quarter alone. 
“Nothing Ethan does surprises me,” Clement said. “He’s been working at his game since first grade. Teams try backing off him, pressuring him, bullying him. It doesn’t matter. 
“The biggest thing I had to do in preseason camp was to get the veteran guys on this team to trust him, to allow him to mix into the group. That didn’t take long. They know he can help us win.” 
Morton had a pair of steals in the game as well, both leading to easy buckets in transition the other way. 
“Nothing I do happens without those other guys on the floor with me,” Morton said. “They’ve been here. They’ve been through it. They give me a sense of security. 
“I know they have my back. They’re there for me and they’re going to come through.” 
Tyler Frederick had 16 points and four rebounds for the Tornado. Jason Gray came off the bench to get a key steal and layup the other way. 
“Tyler scored on a nice move inside to score the first points of the game,” Clement said.”Once we get him and O (forward Connor Ollio) going, everything else seems to follow. 
“We can shoot the ball from outside and we’re going to take those open looks. We can penetrate, work the ball down low. Whatever the defense allows, we’ll take.” 
Plum (2-1) was held to nine field goals and 26 points through the first three quarters. Lamar Whiting paced the Mustangs with 17 points while Isaiah Horne added 12. 
Only four Plum players scored any points at all. 
“I’ve been preaching defense since I’ve been here,” Clement said. “The kids coming through this system, seventh grade through ninth grade, know they have to play it if they’re going to play for us.” 
The Tornado forced 13 turnovers in the first three quarters and had no turnovers themselves in the third period. 
Morton said he’ll shoot the ball and try to jump-start the offense “if I have to, but I prefer to do my job.” 
Which is? 
“Get the ball in the hands of my teammates to put them in position to score and do their thing,” he added. 
So far, so good in that regard.
“The more these guys play together, the more things we’ll be able to do offensively,” Clement said. 
Plum coach Ron Richards was unavailable for comment after the game. 
Butler will host Ambridge Friday night. Former Tornado coaching great Mark Jula — now head coach at Ambridge — will be inducted into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame before the game. 
BUTLER 58 
Luke Michalek 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Yonker 0-0 0-0 0, Jace Stutz 2-4 0-0 4, Ian McCarrier 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Gray 2-3 2-2 6, Tyler Frederick 8-12 0-0 16, Connor Ollio 3-8 0-0 6, Ethan Morton 5-9 6-6 17, Cade Negley 0-0 0-0 0, Joel Stutz 2-5 1-1 6, Jefferson Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Phil Vandergrift 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 23-42 9-9 58. 
PLUM 40 
Lamar Whiting 7-9 3-4 17, Isaiah Horne 54-7 2-2 12, Kevin Brown 0-5 4-4 4, Alex Billstone 0-4 0-0 0, Adam Mahr 0-4 0-0 0, Xavier Lyons 2-7 1-2 7, Colin Dedert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-35 10-12 40. 
Butler 10 15 20 13 — 58 
Plum7 10 9 14 — 40 
3-point goals: Morton, Jo. Stutz, Vandergrift; Lyons 2 
JV: Butler, 48-38 (B: Tarik Taoufik 16, Isiash Scribner 13, P: Luke Pupilli 10)