1,000 And Counting
Morton hits milestone
in 78-60 Butler win
December 12, 2018 High School Basketball
Butler
junior guard Ethan Morton (with basketball) celebrates reaching the 1,000-point
plateau with teammates after the Golden Tornado's 78-60 victory over Plum.
MIKE KILROY/ BUTLER EAGLE
PLUM — Ethan Morton's teammates jumped on
his back.
Gave him high-fives.
Rubbed his head. Smiled. Hooted. Hollered.
And offered up chest bumps.
They seemed even more excited for Morton's
milestone than the Butler junior star.
Morton came into the Golden Tornado boys
basketball game at Plum Tuesday night needing just seven points to reach 1,000
in his varsity career.
He got there in under four minutes as Butler
took an early lead and never gave it back in dispatching the Mustangs, 78-60.
Morton ended up with 25 points — and choked
up at the outpouring of support from family and friends on his achievement just
three games into his junior season.
“I got a little emotional out there,” said
the 6-foot-6 point guard. “My family is at every game. Grandparents, parent,
cousins, friends. They're at every game. That's one of the things that I hold
close to my heart.”
Plum, just like most teams before it, was
powerless to stop Morton, who scored 21 points in the first half to help stake
the Tornado to a 43-29 lead at the break.
He also did it with his passing and
rebounding.
But all eyes were on his scoring and his
1,000 career points.
After the game, he was given the basketball
and entered the bleachers to share embraces with his family.
Morton, though, heaped praise on all the
players around him, past and present.
“It shows the trust and respect my teammates
have for me,” Morton said. “I just want to thank my teammates from my freshman
year to get a chance to play with them and earn their respect that early. And
last year — another special group. All these groups are special to me. They
have special places in my heart.”
College coaches from the University of
Pittsburgh, Penn State, Stanford as well as several others were in attendance
at Plum to see Morton.
He didn't disappoint.
But Butler coach Matt Clement said Morton's
truly special ability is the way he can compartmentalize all that external
scrutiny and focus on merely playing a high school basketball game.
“College coaches always ask me, 'How's the
recruiting going with him?' and I say, 'He's worrying about Butler basketball
right now,” Clement said. “I think they think I'm crazy because that's not what
normal kids would do. But he's watching film. He's figuring out matchups.
“Ethan and I have always made sure when one
of us is getting a little frustrated with whatever is going on ... to pause and
have fun,” Clement added. “I always remind him, 'This is your fun. The next
level is business. You have to enjoy these two years.' That ceremony and the kids
getting so excited, that's what he's going to remember.”
Teams may also have to remember names other
than Morton when they play Butler.
Freshman Devin Carney scored 18 points and
Mattix Clement added 17 for the Golden Tornado.
“He's a great kid,” Morton said of Carney.
“I want to see him go get 1,000 at the same time as me.”
Mattix Clement has already shed his label of
3-point specialist in his sophomore year.
He did hit three of them against Plum, but
he also went to the hoop and handled the ball well.
“Let's put it this way,” Matt Clement said.
“I think he had one 2-point basket all of last year.”
With Carney, Mattix Clement — as well as
steady Luke Patten, Isaiah Scribner and a deep bench — teams can't just set out
to stop Morton.
“Devin has a dynamic ability to get to the
hoop,” Matt Clement said.
Butler (3-0) is now halfway through a
six-game stretch to start the season that Matt Clement calls the toughest since
he became coach nine years ago.
Butler finally gets to play at home Friday
when it hosts McDowell.
“Everybody is together and that's what it's
all about,” Matt Clement said. “I think we bonded over the last three or four
weeks.”
And no more than on Tuesday when the Tornado
wildly celebrated a milestone by Morton.
“Ethan is close with every kid on that
bench,” the coach said. “He's the true sense of a leader.”
BUTLER 78
Devin Carney 8-12 0-1 18, Mattix Clement
7-12 0-0 17, Luke Patten 2-8 2-2 4, Ethan Morton 10-17 3-3 25, Isaiah Scribner
0-0 0-0 0, Mason Montag 1-5 0-0 2, Colby Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Dominick McCowan
0-2 0-0 0, Kevin King 0-0 0-0 0, Charles Kreinbucher 3-3 1-1 7, Anthony Malloy
1-1 0-1 3, Zach Slomers 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Presco 0-0 0-1 0. Totals: 32-61 6-9
78.
PLUM 60
Chase Fink 3-9 0-0 8, Connor Moss 5-13 2-4
12, Matt Carroll 5-7 1-1 12, Lamar Whiting 5-11 0-2 11, Ian Dryburgh 6-11 1-1
13, Spencer Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Walter Holyfield 1-4 0-0 2, Nick Flinko 0-0 2-4
2. Totals: 25-55 6-12 60.
Butler 22 21 18 17 — 78
Plum15 14 10 21 — 60