Barrage of 3-pointers — including 8 by Donovan Carney — leads Butler past New Castle
By:
Friday, January 5, 2024 | 11:52 PM
Butler’s Donovan Carney shoots his eighth three-pointer of the game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Donovan Carney watches his eighth three-pointer of the game over New Castle’s Kyrell Harris on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Donovan Carney celebrates after making his eighth three-pointer of the game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Kyle Casteel shoots a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Kyle Casteel celebrates with the bench after hitting a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Kyle Casteel celebrates after hitting a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Braylon Littlejohn drives to the basket against New Castle’s Kyrell Harris on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Tayt Lucas shoots a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Tayt Lucas celebrates after hitting a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Tayt Lucas celebrates after hitting a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Tayt Lucas celebrates after hitting a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
New Castle’s Ralphie Blundo scores past Butler’s Braylon Littlejohn during their game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Donovan Carney shoots a three-pointer on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
New Castle’s Kyrell Harris scores past Butler’s Tayt Lucas during their game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Braylon Littlejohn drives to the basket on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, at New Castle.
Butler’s Donovan Carney pressures New Castle’s Damian Harrison during their game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Tayt Lucas scores against New Castle’s JT Warren during their game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Donovan Carney pumps his fist next to New Castle’s Noreaga Jackson during their game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
New Castle head coach Ralph Blundo is recognized for becoming the school’s winningest boys coach before the Red Hurricane’s game against Butler on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
New Castle head coach Ralph Blundo talks with Butler head coach Matt Clement before their game on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024, in New Castle.
Butler’s Donovan Carney was making shots from far beyond the arc, teammate Tayt Lucas hit a couple of 3-pointers and Kyle Casteel came off the bench shooting 3s with no hesitation.
In coach Matt Clement’s offense, pretty much everybody gets to be a shooter.
“I might be the worst coach in the world for this, but my guys, I never try to put stipulations on them,” Clement said. “They know their limits, but you can’t be good at basketball and win when it matters if your guys are afraid to shoot.”
It showed in a one-point game Friday night when Carney, Casteel and Lucas made three 3-pointers in the span of a minute, consecutive third-quarter shots that let Butler build a lead in a 68-53 section win at New Castle.
Carney, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, made eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 28 points.
“We’re always just shoot, shoot, shoot,” Casteel said. “We always believe that we can shoot from the outside. Our coach was always telling us, for a long time — no matter how young we were — just keep firing them.”
Butler’s shooters went 14 for 29 from beyond the arc. Braylon Littlejohn added 15 points.
The win keeps No. 2 Butler (9-1, 2-0) tied atop the Section 1-6A standings while No. 3 New Castle (9-3, 0-2) lost for the second time this week. The teams rematch Jan. 30 at Butler.
New Castle fell behind by 11 points in the second quarter and rallied after halftime to lead 37-36 midway through the third. But Butler answered with an 11-0 run fueled by 3-pointers.
A go-ahead basket by Lucas sparked Butler, followed by 3-pointers from Carney, Casteel and Lucas to lead 47-37. Casteel hit another key 3 later in the third.
“They hit probably five in seven possessions in a big moment in front of a big crowd in a big game,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said. “You’ve got to credit them for that. A couple of them were bombs.”
Clement said they knew they’d need to shoot over New Castle’s zone defense. Carney alone made 8 of 14 with three 3s in the second quarter and three more in the fourth. Clement said Carney was unavailable for interviews after the game.
Carney making shots from deep was a boost for Butler’s offense.
“It gives me confidence seeing him shooting from far,” Casteel said. “I say, ‘I can do that too.’”
A 6-3 sophomore, Casteel sat out a couple of games with knee soreness and didn’t enter Friday’s game until the third quarter. Yet Clement called his 3-pointers off the bench the key to the game.
“Give him a lot of credit, he didn’t play one second in the first half,” Clement said. “He probably came out at halftime thinking he wasn’t getting in. To go out there and do what he did was huge.”
New Castle’s shooters couldn’t keep pace and made only 6 of 22 from 3-point range.
Sophomore Damian Harrison led New Castle with 20 points and junior Ralphie Blundo had 19. Blundo is the only player on New Castle’s roster who played significant minutes for the Red Hurricanes a year ago.
“This is the youngest team I’ve ever had experience wise, but I’m enjoying the challenge,” coach Ralph Blundo said. “We’ll keep getting better, I’m sure of it.”
Butler carried a 52-41 lead into the fourth quarter. Carney’s sixth 3-pointer came seconds into the fourth, and his seventh and eight came on back-to-back shots with about four minutes left.
With a double-digit lead, Butler was then largely content with running the clock.
“They kept their composure and shortened the game in the fourth quarter a little bit to help us out,” Clement said. “We stayed away from that New Castle run that everybody knows about that can happen late in the game at this place.”
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, New Castle
More High School Basketball
• Westmoreland high school notebook: Puck drops for area’s PIHL teams• Penn Hills notebook: Basketball grad to play professionally in Ireland
• New coach Gabby Baldasare excited to fill big shoes with North Allegheny girls basketball
• Dana Petruska comes out of retirement to take over as girls basketball coach at Deer Lakes
• Imani Christian basketball player among 3 transfers ruled ineligible by WPIAL
