Butler boys basketball smothers Seneca Valley as Andrew Gettinger, Stainton Forbes score 19

January 31, 2025 Last Updated: January 31, 2025 10:56 PM Sports

BUTLER TWP — Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.

It worked for Butler in a 72-57 WPIAL Section 1-6A win over Seneca Valley at Butler High School.

Matt Clement’s Golden Tornado boys basketball crew limited the visiting Raiders to 29 points through three quarters, by that point owning a 20-point advantage.

From then on, a back-and-forth eight minutes unfolded, but Seneca Valley never came within 14 points the rest of the way.

“Without all the craziness at the end of the game, that was a 40-point game for them — or below,” Clement said.

It didn’t take Butler (13-6, 6-6) long to to tell it was wearing down its guests.

The Raiders (11-9, 8-4) were deliberate in their offensive sets early but didn’t knock down a shot from the field until nearly four-and-a-half minutes had passed. Clement lauded the defensive work of some of his team’s bench players, including his son, Mavrik Clement.

The Golden Tornado’s goal was to make Nico Santapau and Andrew Omasits work for their shots.

“I thought the game was won, like, the first sub, when I brought Mav in for Ayden (Andrews) and he went onto one of those guys, and he was fresh as can be, that guy got tired,” Clement said. “Tayt (Lucas) did a really nice job on No. 3 (Omasits), and it takes the other three guys playing good, hard defense inside that aren’t taking people out of the game.

“Really, it was just to try to get them out of their organization.”

Omasits didn’t get on the scoreboard until 28 seconds remained before halftime. He finished with 12 points, and Santapau was held scoreless.

“I just thought they played hard,” Seneca Valley coach Kevin Trost said of Clement’s side.

Clement labeled Trost as one of the best coaches he’s tasked with matching wits with.

“When they can run their offense and they can move and they back cut and they do all the stuff they do, they’re really hard to beat,” Clement said. “That was kind of the game plan, but game plans have turned into something different like three minutes into it before.”

The Raiders have now lost three straight after their 10-game win streak was snapped by North Hills on Jan. 24.

“You just have to regroup,” Trost said.

Andrew Gettinger and Ayden Andrews tied Seneca Valley’s Owen Congdon for a game-high 19 points.

Seneca Valley 11 9 9 28 — 57

Butler 12 14 23 23 — 72

SENECA VALLEY 57

Owen Congdon 7 5-8 19, Tyler Pepin 7 0-0 16, Andrew Omasits 3 6-6 12, Jaxon Householder 2 0-0 4, Ryan Priester 2 0-0 4, Jacob Olkowski 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 11-14 57.

BUTLER 72

Stainton Forbes 5 6-10 19, Andrew Gettinger 5 7-8 19, Tayt Lucas 4 8-8 18, Ayden Andrews 3 4-4 12, Kyle Casteel 2 0-0 4. Totals: 19 25-30 72.

3-point goals: Butler 7 (Andrews 2, Gettinger 2, Lucas 2, Forbes); Seneca Valley 2 (Pepin 2)