Butler defeated Seneca Valley Friday by a score of 72-57 in what was a near wire to wire win for the Golden Tornado.
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Butler junior, Stainton Forbes, got things started by hitting a three on the first possession of the game, which would be the first of his 7 points in the first quarter. Seneca Valley junior, Owen Congdon, matched that with 7 points of his own in the first. It was a tight game early with Butler gaining a 12-11 advantage after one.
The second quarter was highlighted by the play of the 6’6” junior from Butler, Andrew Gettinger. He caught fire in the quarter, pushing his point total to 9 in the first half. Senior Ayden Andrews would get in on the scoring action for Butler as well, hitting his second 3 of the game early in the second quarter. Seneca Valley fought back at the end of the first half with Tyler Pepin getting the layup to fall after driving down the left side of the lane. Butler still led at the half though, as it was 26-20 in favor of the Golden Tornado at the break.
The third quarter is what made the difference in the game. Butler was dominant for all 8 minutes of the third.
Gettinger and Forbes continued to score for Butler while Seneca couldn’t seem to buy a basket. Nearly halfway through the quarter, Gettinger got the block on one end and walked into a 3 on the other to make the score 35-22 in favor of Butler.
Seneca struggled to score in the quarter, but they racked up plenty of fouls. This put Butler at the line plenty throughout the 3rd and by the end of the quarter, the Golden Tornado were up by 20.
Congdon was the one bright spot for Seneca Valley at this point in the game. He finished with 19 points and was a consistent presence inside for SV. Seneca was forced to get aggressive to try to get back into the game, so they resorted to a full-court press for much of the 4th quarter. This was able to get them multiple turnovers and scores, but it also gave way to several easy layups for Butler when they found a way to break the press.
Pepin got hot from 3 late in the quarter, but it was too little too late for Seneca Valley. They fought valiantly and tried their best to extend the game by fouling Butler often late in the game, but they just weren’t able to dig themselves out of the hole they created. Butler went on to win 72-57.
One of the best things about this Butler squad is how well-rounded they are offensively. They had 4 starters in double figures. Forbes and Gettinger each had 19. Lucas and Andrews had 13 and 12 points respectively. Congdon led the Raiders with 19 points as well with Pepin not far behind with 16.
Next week Butler will travel to Pine Richland and then take on Fox Chapel at home to wrap up the regular season.
After winning 10 games straight, Seneca Valley has now lost their last 3.
They’ll look to end the regular season on a high note with games at Woodland Hills and at home against Pine Richland next week
USC is still in first place in 6A and will play their last two games of the regular season next week against Hempfield and Mt. Lebanon, but with this upset win, Imani has re-opened the conversation as to who the favorites are in 6A. They travel to Mt. Lebanon on Tuesday and end the season at home on Thursday against Central Catholic, where they’ll look to avenge that loss as well.