Butler scoring sensation Devin Carney had only two baskets in the final three quarters. But on this day, that was a good thing for Butler.
That’s because Butler proved it can win a game against a good team when Carney doesn’t torch another defense and doesn’t put up 30-some points. It was Butler’s “other guys” who burned the No. 1-ranked WPIAL Class 1A team Monday.
Butler placed five players in double figures and defeated Bishop Canevin, 80-73, in the Holiday Bash event at North Allegheny High School.
“Honestly, I don’t know how many times in 14 years of coaching where I’ve said we had five guys in double digits,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.
One of those five was Carney, a senior guard who had 23 points. But that’s an “off” day for him. He came into the game averaging 27 points after averaging 29 last season. Carney, an Elon recruit who now has 1,686 career points, had only 12 points in the final three quarters and seven of those came from the free-throw line down the stretch. He made only 6 of 16 shots for the game and had eight turnovers.
But Butler got 16 points from junior guard Madden Clement (son of the coach) and 14 off the bench from sophomore guard Brayden Littlejohn. Senior guard Raine Gratzmiller and senior forward Chuck Kreinbucher added 10 each as Butler, which was ranked No. 2 in WPIAL Class 6A before the season, ran its record to 5-2. Bishop Canevin (2-3), No. 1 in Class 1A and defending WPIAL champion, is 2-3, playing a non-section schedule filled with Class 6A and 5A teams.
“I thought our other guys did a tremendous job of just handling the ball, sharing the ball and scoring the ball around Devin,” Matt Clement said. “That’s the plan. We want to have a team that can do that. Everyone knows what Devin can do one-on-one. It wasn’t a plan where we were trying to get other guys involved. We’re trying to get back to just playing basketball and doing whatever the defense dictates to us.”
Carney had three 3-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter, doing his usual thing of making a few long-range shots off his signature step-back move. But Carney was fairly quiet the rest of the game, making only 2 of 10 shots. Butler actually went on a key 12-0 run in the third quarter with Carney sitting on the bench for most of it with his third foul. Bishop Canevin had cut a 10-point halftime deficit to 46-40 before Butler’s run put the Golden Tornado ahead, 58-40, with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.
“It wasn’t like we shot lights out from 3 and killed them with 3-pointers,” Matt Clement said. “That’s a really good basketball team we played. We played them once in a summer league and they kicked our butts. Class doesn’t matter with them. Their first six guys they’re throwing out on the court are as good as anyone is featuring right now.”
Although Clement remarked 3-point shooting wasn’t the main reason Butler won, shooting behind the arc was a key factor. Butler made 45% from 3-point range (10 of 22) while Bishop Canevin made only 17% (3 of 18) against Butler’s zone defenses. Kevaughn Price, a senior forward, was a force for Bishop Canevin, scoring 30 points mostly on finding holes in Butler’s zones defense around the basket. He made 14 of 17 shots. But through the first three quarters, the rest of Bishop Canevin’s team shot 25% (9 of 36). The Crusaders got within 75-68 with 58 seconds left, but could get no closer.
“We showed a little fight getting back into it, but when you play these 6A programs and play the (non-section) schedule we are, you have to play 32 minutes of disciplined basketball,” Bishop Canevin coach Gino Palmosina said. “One thing Butler did a really good job of is they played together. We struggle with that, we struggle with sharing the ball.”
Clement said, “Any win is a good win and it came against a good team. On paper, they’re arguably as good as anybody we’re going to face. They’re a small school, but they’re good. … We’re old enough and veteran enough where we don’t need confidence boosts, and we also realize how brutal our section it. But we needed this game.”
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: December 28, 2021, 1:47 a.m.
