Butler guts out win
'Easy Street' turns
into rough road for Tornado
December 12, 2017 High School Basketball
AMBRIDGE — Ethan Morton stepped to the line,
sank a pair of free throws and Butler was seemingly on Easy Street Monday night
at Ambridge.
Twelve-point lead with 55
seconds to play.
Easy Street turned into a rough road before
the Golden Tornado were finally able to secure a 72-67
non-conference boys basketball victory.
“We proved we aren't a one-man team
tonight,” Butler coach Matt Clemnent said.
After Morton's free throws gave the Tornado
(3-0) their biggest lead of the night at 68-56, the Bridgers
went on an 8-0 run in just 23 seconds. Aaron Hilzendeger
sank a pair of technical free throws, then drove to
the hoop for a lay-up. Morton fouled out on the play and Hilzendeger
completed the three-point play.
An immediate Butler turnover resulted in a Dozhay Crumb trey and Ambridge (2-1) trailed just 68-64
with 32 seconds to play.
“Our guys never quit. We played hard
throughout,” Ambridge coach Mark Jula said. “We had
it going our way there for a while.”
With Morton watching from the bench, Butler
worked the ball around the perimeter before finding Isaiah Scribner down low.
Scribner calmly laid the ball in the basket with 20 seconds to go.
Luke Patten added a pair of free throws with
four seconds left before Hilzendweger canned a
harmless trey at the buzzer.
“No doubt, that (Scribner) bucket was the
biggest play of this game,” Clement said. “I told the five guys on the floor
for us at that time. That was all about stepping up in a key situation.
“We took a double-digit lead in the first
half without Ethan shooting the ball. We've become a better team through these
first three games.”
Butler never trailed in the contest and has
yet to trail in a game this season. Morton led the Tornado with 28 points,
seven assists and four rebounds. He fouled out with 48 seconds remaining.
The Tornado had a 33-22 lead at halftime
despite Morton attempting only four shots from the field and sinking one field
goal.
“He's a special player and he took over the
game when we made a run in the second half,” Jula
said. “I thought we played him tough tonight, though. We tried to frustrate
him.
“That kid is a handful, I want to tell you.
And he's got a good supporting cast out there with him.”
Tarik Taoufik
had 14 points and three steals for Butler. Luke Michalek
had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists, Scribner 10 points.
Ambridge had a 30-24 edge on the boards.
“We are much bigger than them. We needed to
control the boards better than we did,” Jula said.
“Great job boxing out,” Clement said, a
broad smile coming across his face.
Hilzendeger led the Bridgers with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Monterey Carpenter scored a game-high 23 points, sinking seven treys. He hit
five treys in the third quarter as Ambridge pulled within two.
“If we play as well as we did tonight, we'll
win a lot of games,” Jula said. “Not many teams have
a kid like Ethan Morton on their team.”
The game was part of the Brett Jula Uncensored Showcase — two varsity games featuring the
four high school basketball programs the late Brett Jula
was associated with as a youngster. He was killed in a car crash at age 29.
Central Valley defeated Shaler
55-35 in the first game.
Proceeds from the event raised money for the
Brett Juila Memorial Scholarship at Florida State
University.
“This was a good cause and a great game,”
Clement said.
BUTLER 72
Luke Michalek
4-7 2-5 12, John Michalek 0-2 0-0 0, Tarik Taoufik 7-8 0-1 14, Luke
Patten 1-4 2-2 5, Ethan Morton 7-14 14-18 28, Isaiah Scribner 4-4 2-3 10, Nick Stazer 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Clement
1-4 0-0 3.
Totals: 24-43 20-28 72.
AMBRIDGE 67
Tay Lindsey 2-6 1-2 5,
Monterey Carpenter 8-12 0-0 23, Noah Campalong 1-2
1-1 3, Aaron Hilzendeger 7-16 4-4 21, Liam Buck 1-3
1-4 3, Desmond Council 1-5 0-0 3, De'Marri Jones 1-3
0-0 2Dozhay Crumb 3-4 0-2 7. Totals: 25-50 7-12 67.
Butler 17 16 15 24 — 72
Ambridge12 10 22 23 — 67
3-point goals: L.Michalek
2, Patten, Clement; Carpernter 7, Council, Hilzendeger, Crumb