Butler boys basketball nabs first WPIAL section game vs Woodland Hills with dramatic fourth quarter

January 04, 2025 Last Updated: January 05, 2025 07:19 PM Sports

BUTLER TWP — Butler faced crunch time — and turned it into show time.

The Golden Tornado entered the fourth quarter trailing Woodland Hills by two points in their WPIAL Section 1-6A boys basketball game Saturday afternoon in the Butler High School gym. Butler (8-3, 1-4) sank six of seven shots — five of them 3-pointers — from the floor, six of eight from the free-throw line and came up with a critical blocked shot in defeating the Wolverines 61-59.

“There were a lot of clutch plays in there,” Butler coach Matt Clement said of the final quarter. “We hit some big shots. We had to grind one out today. That New Castle game (a 62-60 loss on Dec. 20) sort of seasoned us for this.”

The biggest play of the quarter may have occurred on defense.

The Tornado had built a 57-50 lead with less than two minutes to play, but Wolverines point guard Scoop Smith drained a trey and Tymir Walker made a pair of free throws to pull Woodland Hills within two.

The Tigers got the ball back, and Donshae Mosley got free for a layup attempt with 20 seconds remaining. Butler’s Stainton Forbes leaped up to block the shot with 18 seconds left. Tayt Lucas sank a pair free throws with 18.3 seconds on the clock to extend the lead to four. Butler held on from there.

“Kyle Casteel was trying to take a charge on that play and went down,” Forbes said of the block. “I slid over and was able to block the shot. We made a lot of plays today when we needed to.”

Two Smith free throws pulled Woodland Hills within 60-59 with 4.7 seconds to go. Lucas then drained one of two free throws at the other end with 2.2 seconds remaining. The Wolverines’ desperation in-bounds pass was intercepted by Lucas as time ran out.

The game was tied seven times in the first three quarters. The lead changed hands five times on the day, the last on a trey by Forbes with seven minutes left to give Butler a 41-40 edge.

A Lucas trey followed, and the Tornado had a four-point edge with 6:23 left.

Neither team ever led by more than eight points in the contest.

“We played well. We just didn’t make enough plays at the end,” Woodland Hills coach Steve Scorpion said. “We knew this would be a battle all the way through. They shoot a lot of 3s, and they were connecting on a lot of them.”

The loss dropped Woodland Hills to 4-6 (0-4 section).

“Six of our top nine guys were football players, and they’re starting to come on,” Scorpion said. “It’s hard to win section games on the road. I feel like we can get back in this.”

Lucas led the Tornado with 18 points — including five treys — and five assists. Forbes tallied 16 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ayden Andrews scored 12 points while Andrew Gettinger had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Butler won despite committing 18 turnovers.

Gettinger left the game for a while after turning an ankle midway through the third quarter. He later returned but with a noticeable hobble.

“We were able to piece together minutes and played well enough with Andrew out,” Gettinger said. “Stainton was fabulous today. His 12 rebounds felt like 25. They were all highlight-reel plays. Tayt played another strong game, too. He missed his first shot of the day but didn’t miss after that.

“A lot of our turnovers were unforced. We need to clean that up. Part of that is 15- to 18-year-old kids learning to play basketball against good competition in front of a lot of people.”

Lucas’ five treys came on seven shots.

Smith — a junior all-state wide receiver with numerous Division I offers — paced Woodland Hills with 22 points, six assists and four steals. Landon Akins had 18 points and four assists.

“He’s our engine,” Scorpion said of Smith. “We go as he goes.”

“It was our size against their speed,” Clement said. “Our size won out today. But this is a tough, tough section. There aren’t going to be any easy ones.”

Butler travels to Seneca Valley on Tuesday.

WOODLAND HILLS 59

Scoop Smith 8-14 3-6 22, Amere Brown 2-6 0-0 5, Troy Akins 0-2 0-0 0, Landon Akins 7-10 1-1 18, Andre Barlow 0-4 1-2, Anthony Price 1-1 0-0 2, Donshae Mosley 1-6 0-2 2, Tymir Walker 3-4 2-2 9. Totals: 22-47 7-12 59.

BUTLER 61

Ayden Andrews 4-8 2-2 12, Jace Gratmiller 0-0 0-0 0, Stainton Forbes 6-9 1-4 16, Mavrik Clement 1-2 0-0 2, Kyle Casteel 0-3 0-0 0, Tayt Lucas 5-7 3-3 18, Tanner Pry 1-1 0-0 2, Andrew Gettinger 4-11 2-2 11. Totals: 21-41 8-11 61.

Woodland Hills 16 6 18 19 — 59

Butler 14 14 10 23 — 61

3-point goals: Woodland Hills 8 (Smith 3, Brown, Akins 3, Walker); Butler 11 (Andrews 2, Forbes 3, Lucas 5, Gettinger)

JV: Butler 50, Woodland Hills 47, OT (WH: Nico Mager 11; B: Jayden Wilbert 24, Cael Hanley 15)