Mar 11, 2017 5 min read

BALDWIN – It’s not often the turning point in a basketball game comes while being on the wrong end of a 17-4 run.

But, that’s what happened for Butler Saturday against Canon-McMillan in a PIAA Class 6A boys opening-round playoff game.

With the Golden Tornado struggling from the field in the second quarter, head coach Matt Clement decided his team needed to turn up its defensive pressure.

And while the results were not immediately evident, the added pressure helped Butler overcome that 17-4 second-quarter run and pull out a 51-46 victory over Canon-McMillan.

With Butler (18-9) stuck in a 2-for-13 shooting slump in the second quarter, Clement urged his team to turn up the defensive pressure on the Big Macs, who finish their season at 18-7.

The Golden Tornado trapped the ball at midcourt with 13 seconds remaining in the first half, forcing the Big Macs to call a timeout. To avoid a 5-second call while attempting to get the ball inbounds, they called another. And then another.

“That’s when the game changed,” said Clement. “We won the game with 13 seconds remaining in the first half, not because they burned the timeouts – but that helped – but because we realized that was what we were going to have to do. That’s how we were going to have to play. We’re down eight points, we’re going to really have to get after this, no matter how tired we are.”

It took a while for Butler, the WPIAL runner-up, to make that come to fruition against a gritty Canon-McMillan team.

“I’m really proud of my kids,” said Canon-McMillan head coach Rick Bell. “We talked about it before. When all of the preseason stuff came out this year, nobody talked about us in our section, nobody talked about us in the WPIAL. They’re one of the, if not the best, teams I’ve ever been a part of as a player or coach. I’m not sad that we lost, but I am sad that it’s over.”

It almost wasn’t. Each time Butler would make a shot to close its deficit, the Big Macs would answer with a driving basket from Britton Beachy, RJ Bell or Carson Miller.

Butler’s defensive pressure and tenacity on the offensive glass, however, turned out to be too much.

Tyler Frederick, a 6-5 senior, and Ethan Morton, a 6-4 freshman point guard, continuously crashed the boards against the smaller Big Macs, creating second-chance and free-throw opportunities.

Butler finally tied the game at 36 on a three-pointer by Jace Stutz, who scored 13 points, from the corner off a feed from Morton. But Beachy answered with a driving basket.

Then, with the game tied again at 40 with 4:48 remaining, Frederick was fouled on a put-back attempt that also drew blood, forcing him out of the game.

Stutz, who had been on the bench, entered and made one of two attempts to give Butler its first lead since early in the second quarter.

It was short-lived, however, as Miller made a driving basket to put the Big Macs back ahead, 42-41.

Joel Stutz made a pair of free throws and Frederick scored to give Butler a 45-41 lead, before Bell made a driving basket to make it 45-44 with 2:20 remaining.

Frederick was fouled on a putback attempt and made both free throws to put Butler ahead, 47-44, with 1:41 remaining before Bell again hit a driving shot with 1:20 left on the clock to cut the lead to 47-46.

Butler then ran nearly one minute off the clock before the Big Macs fouled Morton.

“We figured he was going to hold the ball,” said Bell. “I didn’t want to foul too early, so that free throw is a little tighter. I know he’s a freshman and I know he’s great, but he’s still a freshman. Let’s put him on the line and see.”

Morton calmly stepped to the line and made both free throws to push the lead back to three points.

And the Big Macs couldn’t get a clean shot off quickly at the other end, missing in the paint.

The Golden Tornado rebounded and turned it into a breakaway basket as the buzzer sounded.

Frederick finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end in the fourth quarter, while Morton had nine rebounds. And Butler made its free throws, going 11-of-12 in the final quarter. Canon-McMillan, meanwhile, was just 4-of-9 in the game.

Even so, the Big Macs confounded the Golden Tornado with their interchangeable 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone looks that seemingly changed at will.

RJ Bell finished with a game-high 17 points for Canon-McMillan.

“I actually helped Britton’s dad, Dana, coach them coming up through the ranks,” said Bell of his senior class, which included his son. “I was the assistant travel coach at times. It’s bittersweet. It’s hard to believe it’s over. But it’s been a great journey.

“It’s march and we’re talking about basketball at Canon-Mac, not wrestling. When I took this job, one of our school board members, Mr. (Manuel) Pihakis said that Canon-McMillan was the worst basketball job in the state. We’re not that anymore. Today, we were one of the best 32 teams in the state in 6A. And I think that says a lot about those kids.”