Iron Jaw
Butler takes Seneca
Valley's best punch in 80-66 section victory
January 15, 2020 High School Basketball
Butler's
Ethan Morton goes up for a dunk during the Golden Tornado's 80-66 win over
Seneca Valle. Morton recorded a triple-double with 33 points, 15 rebounds and
10 assists.
SEB FOLTZ/BUTLER EAGLE
BUTLER TWP — Seneca Valley came back once.
The Raiders couldn't do it a second time in
dropping an 80-66 Section 1-6A boys basketball decision at Butler.
The win was the fifth straight for the
Golden Tornado (10-4, 5-0) while Seneca Valley (1-11, 0-5) has dropped six
straight.
“We're taking everybody's best shot right
now,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “That's the position we're in at this
point.”
Butler junior Mattix Clement sank a trey at
the end of the first half to give the Tornado a 41-34 lead at the break. He
drained another trey 25 seconds into the third quarter to expand the lead to 10
points.
But the Raiders responded with a 12-0 run,
highlighted by treys from Cole Brooks and Connor Lyczek, to take a 46-44 lead
with 4:38 left in the third quarter.
Lyczek scored seven of the 12 points during
the spurt.
“These guys are still out there fighting,
out there working,” SV coach Kevin Trost said. “I told them that if we continue
to work like that, good results are gonna come.”
An Ethan Morton lay-up tied the game and his
three-point play with 3:53 remaining in the quarter gave the Tornado the lead
for good.
Butler steadily built the lead from there. A
pair of Mason Montag free throws with 2:33 left in the contest expanded the
margin to 73-60.
Morton had 33 points, 15 rebounds and 10
assists. He needs 56 points to reach 2,000 for his high school career.
“I'd be lying if I said that number didn't
mean something to me,” Morton said of 2,000. “Not many people have gotten
there.
“We're 5-0 in section, though, and that's
what counts right now. We're not used to being the team being chased. It's a
bit of an adjustment that can be frustrating at times.”
Pine-Richland lost to Central Catholic
Tuesday night, giving Butler a two-game section lead. The Tornado have not won
a section title since 1992.
While Clement lauded Seneca Valley's poise
in coming back from a 10-point deficit, he also admitted the spurt “shows we
still have a lot of work to do.
“We can't allow that to happen,” the coach
said.
Mattix Clement scored 18 points for Butler,
sinking four treys. Devin Carney scored 12 points, Charlie Kreinbucher had five
rebounds, Raine Gratzmiller collected six points, four rebounds, three assists
and three steals.
“Raine is doing a lot of things for us,”
Coach Clement said.
“He's the closest guy we have to doing the
things Luke (Patten) did on the floor,” Morton said of Gratzmiller. “He and
Mattix were solid tonight.”
Butler sank 30 of 51 shots from the field,
including eight treys. The Tornado hit 10 of 11 shots in the second quarter.
“They are a tough team to stop offensively,”
Trost said. “Ethan commands so much attention from a defense and if you
overplay him, their shooters can get you.
“We hung in with Butler, but they're awfully
good ... so hard to contain.”
Mason Bush led the Raiders with 29 points
and nine rebounds. Cole Brooks added 17 points — hitting five treys — and
Lyczek contributed 11 points and six rebounds.
“Kevin Trost is one of the best coaches in
this section,” Clement said. “They run some great sets ... We'll probably start
using a couple of their sets.
“They've had a lot of hard luck. But they're
like every other team in our section, still scrapping and trying to get into
the playoffs.”
SENECA VALLEY 66
Cole Brooks 6-12 0-0 17, Luke Lawson 0-2 0-0
0, Gabe Lawson 2-3 0-2 5, Connor Lyczek 5-11 0-0 11, Brian Hart 2-5 0-2 4,
Mason Bush 10-19 7-9 29. Totals: 25-52 7-13 66.
BUTLER 80
Raine Gratzmiller 2-3 1-1 6, Devin Carney
5-10 0-0 12, Mattix Clement 7-14 0-1 18, Charlie Kreinbucher 3-3 0-0 6, Mason
Montag 1-3 3-3 5, Ethan Morton 12-17 8-10 33, Madden Clement 0-1 0-0 0 .
Totals: 30-51 12-16 80.
Seneca Valley 19 15 19 13 — 66
Butler17 24 21 18 — 80
3-point goals: Brooks 5, G.Lawson, Lyczek,
Bush 2; Gratzmiller, Carney 2, Mat.Clement 4, Morton
JV: Seneca Valley, 57-40 (SV: Jameson Grieco
19, Luke Lawson 11; B: CJ Singleton 8)