Weathering the storm
Morton scores 35 as
Butler holds off Highlands, 75-65
December 9, 2017 High School Basketball
Butler's
Tarik Taoufik (10) drives past Highlands defender Luke Cochran to get to the
basket during the Golden Tornado's season-opening 75-65 victory Friday night in
the Pine-Richland Tip-Off Tournament.
DAVE PRELOSKY/ BUTLER EAGLE
PINE TWP — From certain defeat to stirring
victory?
For Highlands, almost ... until Ethan Morton
and his Butler teammates said no Friday night in the first round of the
Pine-Richland Tip-Off Tournament.
The Golden Tornado watched a 20-point lead
early in the third quarter evaporate to a one-point advantage with 4:16 to
play. Butler righted the ship and came away with a 75-65 boys basketball
victory.
“We bent, but we didn't break,” Butler coach
Matt Clement said. “Was this a perfect game by us? No. But it was a learning
experience against a very hard-nosed team.
“That first win is always a tough one to
get. But we got it.”
The Tornado never trailed in the game and
had a 39-19 lead after a Tarik Taoufik lay-up seconds into the third period.
The rout appeared to be on. Highlands turned
it on instead.
The Golden Rams sank seven of 28 shots in
the first half. They hit 11 of 17 during a 28-point third quarter.
“We came out and played timid in the first
half,” Highlands coach Tyler Stoczynski said. “That's why we were missing all
of those shots.
“In the second half, we came out and played
like we practice. We were aggressive and got back in the game.”
A 3-pointer by Luke Cochran — his sixth of
the game — pulled the Rams within 59-58 midway through the final quarter.
Highlands regained possession of the ball with a chance to take the kead.
Morton stole the ball, drove to the hoop and
scored with 3:25 left. He added two free throws with 3:05 to play for a
five-point Butler lead.
A pair of lay-ups by Taoufik — off assists
from Morton — were followed by two Morton free throws, That completed a 10-0
run and gave Butler a 69-58 lead with 1:43 to play.
“Those lay-ups by Tarik off feeds from Ethan
are what salted away this win,” Clement said. “Tarik was 6 of 6 from the field
and that's we need.
“When defenses double up on Ethan ...
Passing is what he does best and we have to make teams pay that way.”
Morton wound up with 35 points, 10 rebounds,
seven assists and four steals. Taoufik had 12 points, Luke Michalek nine
points, eight assists and five rebounds.
“Not only do we need Ethan to make big shots
in key situations, he wants the ball during those times. And he's disappointed
if he doesn't make it,” Clement said.
Stoczynski said that “I thought we did some
things in the second half to disrupt him, but that kid is a great player. You
can see how hard he work on his game. Nothing seems to get to him.”
Cochran led Highlands with 25 points. Shawn
Ercek contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, Johnny Crise 13 points and 11
boards. The Rams out-rebounded Butler 38-29 as a team.
“They went to the WPIAL finals a couple of
years ago and some of those kids were around those guys,” Clement said. “They
have hard-working kids. This was a good test for us.”
Crise is the only returning starter for
Highlands. The Rams were 13-12 a year ago.
Michalek and Morton are returning starters
for Butler.
“I haven't seen a guard tandem like this in
high school basketball,” Clement said. “This game was faster than our summer
games were and our kids will have to learn to finish plays Luke and Ethan will
set them up for.
“We'll get better as we go. This was a good
start for us.”
The Tornado play Summit Academy — an 81-26
loser to Pine-Richland Friday night — at 11:30 a.m. Saturday to conclude the
tournament.
HIGHLANDS 65
Daniel Thimons 1-1 0-0 2, Christian Tanilli
1-4 1-2 3, Ryan Signorella 3-7 2-4 8, Korry Myers 0-3 0-0 0, Shawn Erceg 6-11
2-4 14, Johnny Crise 6-10 1-2 13, Luke Cochran 8-23 3-7 25. Totals: 25-59 9-17
65.
BUTLER 75
Luke Michalek 4-7 0-0 9, John Michalek 2-4
0-0 6, Doug Kostelansky 0-0 0-0 0, Tarik Taoufik 6-6 0-0 12, Luke Patten 1-3
2-2 5, Mason Montag 0-1 0-0 0, Ethan Morton 11-20 10-14 35, Dom Schmidt 0-0 0-0
0, Isaiah Scribner 1-2 0-2 2, Colby Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Stazer 3-3 0-0 6.
Totals: 28-46 18-26 75.
Highlands 10 9 28 18 — 65
Butler20 17 16 22 — 75
3-point goals: Cochran 6; L.Michalek,
J.Michalek 2, Patten, Morton 3