The power of 3
Butler uses treys to earn section win over Vikings
By John Enrietto
Eagle
Sports Editor
PITTSBURGH — Fittingly, Butler took the lead for good on a 3-point field goal.
The trey seemed to be its answer to any potential problem Friday night as the
Golden Tornado posted a 65-53 Section 1-6A boys basketball victory over Central
Catholic at Alumni Hall. “We wanted to take away (post player) Tyler Frederick
tonight and we did a good job of that,” Central coach Chuck Crummie said. “But
you pay a price when you do that. “We left the perimeter open and they made us
pay for it. Butler is very good. And those two close section losses early (at
North Hills and Pine-Richland) have toughened them mentally.” After a pair of
buckets by the Vikings knotted the game at 9, Ian McCarrier drained a trey to
give the Tornado (9-4, 3-2) a 12-9 lead with 1:32 left in the first quarter.
Butler kept the lead the rest of the night. Trailing 32-19 at halftime, Central
(6-6, 2-4) started the third quarter with a Rodney Thomas trey. Joel Stutz
responded with consecutive 3-point goals for Butler. A three-point play by
Justin Tarrant opened the fourth quarter for the Vikings and pulled them within
48-38. After Connor Ollio hit a free throw, Stutz buried another trey. The
Vikings were out of answers. Butler used a 9-2 run to build its biggest lead at
57-40 with 5:27 to play. “We put in a lot of practice time on shooting,” Butler
coach Matt Clement said. “We know we have guys who can hit those shots.” Stutz
drained five of Butler’s 10 treys on this night. He paced the Tornado with 19
points. Luke Michalek and McCarrier attempted two shots each the entire night.
Those shots resulted in four treys. Jason Gray added a 3-pointer to the cause.
“Joel has been hot for us for about the past month,” Clement said. “We still
try to work the ball inside because once we get it in there, everything opens
up for us. “Tyler and Connor (Ollio) have developed into excellent passers from
in there.” Frederick was limited to five points and six rebounds. Besides
Stutz, Ethan Morton was the only other Butler player in double figures with 10
points, six assists and four steals. Morton hit all eight of his free throw
attempts in the fourth quarter — six in the final 1:14 — to seal the win.
“Ethan controlled the tempo of this game for us tonight,” Clement said. “Late
in the game, we want the ball in his hands.” During the game, Butler can put
the ball in anybody’s hands. “We have so many guys who can hit from outside. We
have confidence in everv single one of them,” Joel Stutz said. “The open guy
takes the shot.” Twin brother Jace Stutz agreed. “That’s why we always make the
extra pass,” he said. “We work on that all the time. We want the best shot.”
Joel Stutz had three steals to go with his gamehigh 19 points. Luke Nedrow
paced Central Catholic with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Steve
Votodian had 12 points for the Vikings. Butler enjoyed a 26-17 advantage in
rebounding. “We could never get on any kind of a run tonight,” Crummie said.
“Butler always answered with a three. They shot the ball very well tonight.
“Not putting runs together has been our M.O. so far this year, though. We hit a
three, then we stop playing.” The Tornado have reeled off three straight
victories and host Seneca Valley Tuesday night.
BUTLER 65 Luke Michalek 2-2
0-0 6, Jace Stutz 2-3 1-1 5, Ian McCarrier 2-2 0-0 6, Jason Gray 2-4 0-0 5,
Tyler Frederick 1-5 3-4 5, Connor Ollio 4-8 1-2 9, Ethan Morton 1-6 8-8 10,
Joel Stutz 7-10 0-0 19. Totals: 21-40 13-16 65. CENTRAL CATHOLIC 53 Rodney
Thomas 2-6 1-2 6, Steve Votodian 3-7 6-8 12, Luke Nedrow 7-14 0-0 14, Justin
Tarrant 3-4 3-3 9, Pat Marchione 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Boyce 2-4 0-0 4, Andrew
Walker 1-1 0-0 3, Will Sproule 1-1 0-0 2, Tommy Farkos 0-0 1-2 1, Maurice
Shipman 1-1 0-0 2, D.J. Snyder 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Mason 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin thomson
0-2 0-0 0, Carlan Gray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-42 11-15 53. Butler 15 17 16 17 —
65 Central Catholic11 8 16 18 — 53 3-point goals: Michalek 2, McCarrier 2,
Gray, Jo. Stutz 5; R.Thomas, Walker JV: Central Catholic, 65-51 (B: Tarick
Taoufik 20, Doug Kostelansky 10; CC: Cole Mason 13)