Tornado hold off Knights
Summit fights back from deficit, but Butler boys prevail at tourney

By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP — Quadeer Devaughn opened Butler's eyes by shooting the eyes out of the basket.
Summit Academy's senior guard fueled a second-half comeback by draining four 3-pointers and scoring 16 points in the final nine minutes. The Knights whittled a 24-point deficit with 3:35 left in the third quarter down to four points with 2:57 left in the game.
Butler was perfect on nine free throws in the final 1:57, however, to hold on for a 70-58 win in the first round of the Butler Boys Basketball Christmas Tournament Tuesday night in the Golden Tornado gym.
"Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the opposition," Butler coach Matt Clement said. "Devaughn was hitting some incredible shots. Those shots were contested, too.
"Still, we can't let that (comeback) happen. We got our eyes opened tonight. Our guys saw what can happen when you become reserved on the court. You can't let down your guard against anybody," he added.
Butler (7-0) took the lead when Nate Snodgrass completed a three-point play for a 19-17 advantage with 6:19 left in the first half.
That lead grew to 50-26 midway through the third period, as the Tornado used a 28-5 run to get the score to that point.
Then the Knights (3-4) took off.
"The kids started listening to the coach, playing together, and saw what they can accomplish when they work together," Summit Academy coach Cliff Guy said. "You can't get frustrated and point fingers when things aren't going well.
"You have to rise above all that. My team did that tonight and I'm proud of them."
Butler had 22 turnovers, most of them occurring during the Knights' comeback.
"Quadeer got hot and we figured out how to get the ball in his hands. Our trap was working, defensively, too," Guy said.
"That kid started taking the game over, and that's what great players do," Clement said.
Devaughn sank a layup and was fouled with 1:57 to play, pulling the Knights within 59-55. He missed the free throw that would have made it a one-possession game, however.
Jeff Tompkins completed a three-point play at the other end to put the Tornado up by seven with 1:47 left.
From there, Logan Renwick, Nate Snodgrass and Schmidt combined to sink eight free throws. Butler was 12-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter.
"Nate hit all nine of his free throws and did a good job of attacking their zones tonight," Clement said. "Cole Harvey gave us great minutes off the bench. He guarded Devaughn in the second quarter and (Devaughn) didn't score on him."
Bobby Swartwout paced Butler with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Tompkins had 11 points and five rebounds, Renwick had 11 points and three treys. Snodgrass had 11 points and six assists.
Devaughn scored 23 points for Summit Academy. Deshawn Green added 10.
"Quadeer is developing composure and character," Guy said. "He's a talented player who could get a scholarship and turn his life around."
Butler will face Knoch — a 72-65 overtime winner over Jeannette — in the championship game tonight. It will be the first boys basketball game between the neighboring schools in nearly 15 years.

SUMMIT ACADEMY 58
Jamal Jones 1-2 0-0 3, Lamar Clayton 4-7 0-0 8, Qu'ran Reaves 1-8 0-0 2, Deshawn Green 5-5 0-0 10, Quadeer Devaughn 9-24 0-0 23, Tevin Allison 2-2 1-3 5, Steven Boone 1-1 0-0 2, Randolph Evans 2-8 0-0 4, Devon Barlow 0-3 1-2 1, Anwar Badia 0-0 0-0 0, Reynaldo Rivera 0-0 0-0 0, Totals: 25-60 2-6 58.
BUTLER 70
Cole Harvey 1-1 0-0 2, Nate Snodgrass 1-3 9-9 11, Eli Christy 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 3-4 2-2 11, Brian Jendesky 1-1 0-0 2, Cody Herald 2-6 2-2 8, Jeff Tompkins 3-5 5-6 11, Vinny Schmidt 2-8 2-2 6, David Tompkins 1-1 0-0 2, Bobby Swartwout 7-9 3-7 17, Totals: 21-38 23-28 70.
Summit Academy 15 7 15 21—58
Butler 16 21 13 20—70
3-point goals: Summit Academy 6 (Devaughn 5, Jones); Butler 5 (Renwick 3, Herald 2).
Junior varsity: Butler, 50-38 (B: David Tompkins 11, Jake Hilliard 8, Bill Smith 8; SA: Jamal Jones 9)