Butler rallies past USC in overtime, earns return trip to WPIAL finals

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | 11:07 PM

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Doubt crept into Ethan Morton’s mind for a moment Wednesday night as Butler trailed by five with less than a minute left.

But it didn’t linger.

“I caught myself just for a half second thinking, ‘Oh crap, down five with not much time left,’” Morton said. “But I knew better. We went up against just as much on Saturday and we were able to find a way.”

Five days after winning in overtime, Butler did it again. Morton scored five points in the final 36 seconds of the fourth quarter, including a game-tying 3-point play with 26 seconds left, as top-seeded Butler defeated No. 4 Upper St. Clair, 83-78, in a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center.

Once in overtime, Morton scored first with a driving scoop shot, teammate Devin Carney followed with a jumper, and Butler never trailed in the extra period. USC scored only two points in overtime on a pair of free throws.

Morton scored 32 points and Carney had a game-high 35.

“Coach has told us all year, we’re going to get a lot of people’s best punch,” Morton said. “Just stay even keel in the game. Never get too high or too low, whether we’re up big or down big. But when you can finally take a breath, all that emotion comes out.”

Butler (19-4) advances to the WPIAL final for the second year in a row and the third time in four years. The Golden Tornado were runners-up in 2017 and ’19. They’ll face No. 3 Mt. Lebanon at 9 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center.

It’s a rematch of last year’s final won by Mt. Lebanon.

“It’s really good for Butler,” said Matt Clement, a former Butler star who’s now in his 11^th season as coach. “The people here live and die with the basketball team, and they’ve really rallied around us. It’s been like that since I got the job.

“Getting back (to the finals) is important.”

Wednesday’s pace was hurried from start to finish, and the atmosphere inside RMU’s new arena was raucous. There were 14 lead changes and nine ties.

The WPIAL doubleheader drew more than 3,500.

“That’s one of the best high school games I’ve witnessed as a coach or a fan,” USC coach Danny Holzer said. “We played our hearts out and just came up a little bit short.”

David Pantelis led Upper St. Clair (20-4) with 21 points, Luke Gensler had 16, Andrew Casey had 15 and Landon Rauch added 14. The Panthers had chances to pad their lead at the free throw line but missed 3 of 4 attempts in the final 80 seconds of regulation, including twice missing the front end of one-and-ones.

That gave Butler some life.

With USC leading 76-73 and less than 30 seconds left, a 3-pointer by Carney went in and out, but Butler teammate Mason Montag grabbed the offensive rebound underneath the hoop. He turned and passed to Morton, cutting down the lane.

Morton elevated, made the floater and was fouled with 26.2 seconds left. Morton added the game-tying free throw for the final points of regulation.

“I knew that my guys would come up with a big play,” said Morton, who called Montag’s rebound the biggest of his life. “Credit to us, we did.”

Morton made this shot, drew a could and made the free throw to force OT pic.twitter.com/0wFOrqeS8l

— Chris Harlan (@CHarlan_Trib) February 27, 2020

Morton had similar heroics five days earlier against Peters Township. Butler was trailing by five points with less than a minute left in the first overtime, before Morton rallied back to tie and force a second OT.

“There are a lot of individual things that he’s done, but he brings the team with him,” Clement said. “He brought everybody with him.”

Pantelis and Rauch, the two USC players tasked with defending Morton, both fouled out late in the fourth quarter. Morton was responsible for the fifth foul on each. Pantelis was called for a blocking foul with 43.3 seconds left. Rauch left about 17 seconds later.

“We knew they were aggressive defensively,” Clement said. “We knew they weren’t particularly deep — not that we are — and we knew if we got some of those guys in foul trouble, that’s a difference.”

Butler held a slim 18-15 lead after the first quarter and was ahead 39-38 at halftime, thanks in large part to Carney. The sophomore scored 21 points in the first half on 8 of 15 shooting. He finished the first half with consecutive baskets, including a steal, layup and foul shot with 1.6 seconds left.

“He played unbelievable, for a sophomore to have that poise,” Morton said. “I think he kept us afloat early and throughout really. He made some really big shots, took care of the ball and got some big rebounds as well.”

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Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Butler, Upper St. Clair