Butler routs 'Cats
Tornado roll at the
C.J. Betters Tournament
December 30, 2017 High School Basketball
MONACA — It might
be the holidays, but Butler didn't take a break.
The Golden Tornado shot 57 percent from the
field and used a pair of first-half runs to bury Beaver, 87-53, in the C.J.
Betters Boys Basketball Tournament at the Community College of Beaver County.
“What I like about this team is they treat
every game, every opponent, the same way,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.
“They come out and play.”
Butler will face Central Valley — a 51-50
winner over Aliquippa — in the tourney final Saturday night.
The Tornado (7-1) fell behind 6-3 to Class
4A foe Beaver in the first three minutesbefore going
on an 18-6 run to end the first quarter.
John Michalek sank
a trey for Butler to begin the second period and sparked a 14-2 run. When Luke
Patten hit a lay-up with 3:44 left in the half, the Tornado had a 35-14 lead
and the game was basically over.
Beaver (2-5) never got closer than 19 the
rest of the way and trailed by 32 (58-26) less than three minutes into the
third period.
“We don't play Class 6A teams with that kind
of talent and depth very often,” said Beaver coach Andy Podbielski,
a Seneca Valley graduate. “They hit a bunch of shotsand
just took control of the game.
“That point guard (Ethan Morton) is the best
player to come out of Western Pennsylvania in a long time. He was incredible.”
Butler sank 11 of 14 shots in the second
quarter — including four treys. Morton had 15 points, 13 assists and 12
rebounds, leaving the game before the third quarter was over.
“This is the first triple-double I've ever
coached,” Clement said. “Ethan was amazing tonight. Of those 13 assists, eight
of them were top-level passes.”
Butler had 13 players find the scoresheet. Luke Michalek had 12
points three steals, including 10 points in the first period.
Tarik Taoufik
scored 10 of his 12 points in the third quarter. Luke Patten came off the bench
to score 12 points, get three assists and a pair of steals.
“Luke keeps getting better,” Clement said.
“He has an interesting skill-set. He can do a lot of stuff for us.”
The Tornado sank 10 treys Friday, getting
them from seven different players.
“We practice them enough. We should be able
to hit them in games, so that was good to see,” Clement said. “I liked this
effort. We hadn't played in a week, played at a
different time of day in an open-area gym ... None of those things affected
these guys.”
Mason Rowse had 15
points four rebounds, Peter Kazas 11 points, Michael
Champ nine points and six boards for Beaver.
The Bobcats had 20 turnovers, Butler only
nine.
“We've got a young team this year,” Podbielski said. “We graduated a 1,900-point scorer and
Tyler Wallace, a three-year starter for us, is out with an injury.
“We'll get better. We kept playing hard in
the second half, regardless of the score, and that was encouraging.”
BUTLER 87
Luke Michalek 5-8
1-1 12, John Michalek 2-9 0-0 5, Doug Kostelansky 0-0 0-0 0, Mattix Clement 1-3 0-0 3, Tarik Taoufik 6-6 0-4 12, Luke Patten 5-7 1-1 12, Mason Montag 1-3 1-2 4, Ethan Morton 5-9 2-4 15, Dom Schmidt 1-2
2-2 4, Isaiah Scribner 2-3 0-0 4, Colby Anderson 2-2 0-0 6, Nick Stazer 2-4 0-0 4, Ben Kranbacher
2-3 0-0 4, Luke Kranbacher 0-1 0-0 0, Kevin King 0-0 0-0 0, Sami Taoufik 1-1 0-0 2.
Totals: 35-61 7-14 87.
BEAVER 53
Nick Hacko
0-1 0-0 0, Michael Champ 3-7 3-3 9, Brodie List 0-0
0-2 0, Mason Rose 6-10 0-0 15, Nikolas Rowse 1-4 0-0
3, Beckett Connelly 2-6 0-0 4, Isaiah Sligh 1-4 0-0
2, Peter Kazas 4-9 2-3 11, Bryce Ramer 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 21-47 5-9 53.
Butler 21 27 21 18 — 87
Beaver12 9 16 16 —
53
3-point goals: L.Michalek,
J.Michalek, Clement, Patten, Montag,
Morton 3, Anderson 2; Rose 3, Rowse, Petro, Kazas
JV: Central Valley 39, Butler 35 (CV: Seyler Refice 14, Montel Sims 10l; B: Mason Montag
12, Anthony Malloy 9)