Feb 22, 2020 4 min read

MT. LEBANON – Like most coaches, Peters Township’s Gary Goga is not one for moral victories. But that does not mean a supreme effort towards knocking off a top seed in the postseason goes unrecognized or is quickly forgotten.

Peters Township’s boys basketball squad took the top-seeded Butler into double overtime Saturday afternoon at Mt. Lebanon High School before falling in excruciating manner, 78-76. It was a game that will be long remembered by those who participated in and who watched from the stands or sidelines.

“We had a bumpy ride at times this year, but our guys never quit and kept coming,” Goga noted. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. They fought so hard.”

Goga added though the Indians fell, Saturday’s contest was “the best basketball game I’ve ever seen.”

Peters Township (15-10) was led by Colin Cote’s 24 points. Sam Petrarca added 21 points, coming off a 28-point performance last week in a first-round win over Hempfield. Connor Duane chipped in 17 and Gavin Cote came off the bench to score 12.

Butler (18-4) was led by Purdue commit Ethan Morton’s 32 points. Devin Carney added 21 for the Golden Tornado.

The Indians did a solid job defensively through three quarters on Morton, holding the future Boilermaker to 11 point. But he showed in the fourth quarter and into two overtimes why he will be playing in the Big 10 next year.

“He’s just a tremendous player, but he’s an even better person,” Goga said. “I think you saw why he’s going to play in college.”

Morton sent the game into a second overtime when he drove the length of the floor following a Peters Township miss at the foul line. He grabbed the rebound, went to the basket and scored over three Indians defenders at the buzzer, knotting the score at 68 apiece.

“You never think this as a player, but they were up and had some of their best guys on the line in the fourth,” Morton noted. “I was thinking that this maybe it and I may never wear this jersey again. But someone was looking down on us there at the end.”

Peters Township’s ability to score on the Golden Tornado zone was the story of much of regulation as Cote and Petrarca continuously drove and scored at will.

But Butler coach Matt Clement switched up defenses to a man-to-man half court press, slowly turning the tide for the Golden Tornado.

“We’ve gotten better with our defense because we were horrible for years,” Clement noted. “We feel we can play what we need to play when needed.”

Butler scratched and clawed its way to overtime after the Indians took a 47-40 lead into the fourth. Morton’s corner three-pointer with a minute left knotted it at 54-54. Both teams traded possessions without a score, sending the game into overtime.

Peters Township seemed in good shape in the first overtime when it took a 60-54 lead with 1:43 left. Two Petrarca free throws gave the Indians a 65-60 lead with a little more than one minute left. But leading by two, the Indians could not close when Morton put the cape on again and scored at the buzzer to take it into overtime No. 2.

Morton scored eight points in the final overtime to carry the Golden Tornado home, but not until the Indians made their presence known all afternoon.

“We knew that this would be that kind of game,” Clement added. “Gary (Goga) is one of the best coaches in the WPIAL and we knew we would get this kind of game from them.”

The underdog Indians got out of the gates strong as they hounded Morton into 0-for-2 shooting and four turnovers in the first quarter.

Cote and Duane found the range early with eight points apiece in the opening frame.

Butler turned up the heat defensively with an active 2-3 zone in the second quarter, forcing five turnovers in the frame and turning an 18-11 Peters Township lead into a 31-25 Golden Tornado advantage at the half.

Morton kickstarted the quarter for the top seed with a mid-range jumper and a dunk off a steal to cut the Indians lead to three before Goga called a timeout.

A deep Carney three followed by a Mattix Clement three from the corner gave the Golden Tornado a 21-20 advantage midway through the quarter.

Gavin Cote’s corner three-pointer stemmed the tide for the Indians and cut the Butler lead to six at the half.