Butler tallied 17 points and eight rebounds, marking four points in overtime, as the Indians outlasted the Mohawks 67-60 in a Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division boys basketball thriller.
“Definitely nerve-wracking, but it was a lot of fun,” Butler said. “It was killing me sitting on the bench. It was nice to get back out there.”
His return was the story of the night, though Butler got plenty of support from his teammates as Carlisle improved to 11-5 overall and 7-2 in the Buckeye.
Adam Goodpaster (15 points), Mike Kennard (10 points) and Justin Flor (nine points, nine boards) helped the Indians stay two games behind Northridge (9-0) in the divisional race.
“My kids battled. We’re so proud of them. They just fought and fought and fought,” Carlisle coach Don Ridinger said. “With the team all back together, I feel really good about our team. Tonight was a dogfight, but that’s the Carlisle-Madison rivalry. I think we have a really nice team and some games ahead that we can definitely compete in, and then hopefully we can roll into the tournament.”
The Mohawks looked broken when Goodpaster buried a 3-pointer to give the visitors a 38-23 lead with 3:14 left in the third quarter, but Madison roared back.
Austin Philpot scored 20 of his 25 points after intermission and Zach Friend marked all eight of his points in the fourth period as the Mohawks grabbed a 53-49 advantage in the last minute of regulation.
Carlisle tied it with a Flor basket and two Butler free throws with 24.7 seconds on the clock, and Madison missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Butler, Flor and Goodpaster opened OT with layups for the Indians, and their lead never dropped below three.
“It looked bad in the third quarter, but I never thought our kids would quit,” Mohawks coach Jeff Smith said. “I’m really proud of their effort. We didn’t get to sub as much as we wanted to and ran a little bit out of gas. By the time we hit the overtime, we were dead.”
K.C. Lindon totaled 10 points and Philpot hauled in seven rebounds for Madison (9-7, 3-5), which suffered its third straight loss. Friend, Lindon and Owen Palmer all had four boards.
The Mohawks dropped a 55-53 decision to Carlisle on Dec. 18.
“We had a nice lead early last time and they came back in the third,” Ridinger said. “This time, we had a nice lead a little later in the game and they came back in the fourth. Jeff does such a great job over there. His teams play really hard.”
Butler’s last appearance came in the first game against Madison. He brought a SWBL-leading 18.7 scoring average into the rematch.
“It’s a nice luxury having him back, but we’ve done a good job without him,” Ridinger said. “These other guys have gotten lots of time and been able to kind of right the ship. Now that Daulton’s back, I think we can really get going.”
Butler’s surgery repaired a torn meniscus. He said he’s back to 100 percent.
“It’s a little sore, but more like just being sore after a hard game than being hurt,” Butler said. “I rehabbed about three times a week. I actually came back a week early, so it was a pretty quick recovery.”
Smith teased him before the game, noting that perhaps he should delay his return until this weekend.
“We had a good run against them my four years,” said Butler, with the Indians going 7-1 against Madison during his CHS career. “They’re a good team, though. They always play hard against us.”
Carlisle overcame 16 turnovers (the Mohawks only had six). The Indians’ size led to a solid advantage on the boards.
Butler’s layup in the first 10 seconds of overtime gave Carlisle an immediate boost.
“We’re a bunch of older, veteran guys,” Butler said. “I knew we’d pull it out once we got into overtime.”
“We had some definite size issues with Butler,” Smith said. “They exploited that a couple times. In overtime, they made their 6-5 go at us, and we didn’t keep him out of the lane.”
Logan Baker and Seth Butler both had six points and six boards for the Indians, who were 9 of 13 from the line. Madison made 9 of 12 free throws.
Both teams will resume SWBL play Friday. Carlisle hosts Milton-Union, while the Mohawks travel to Dixie.
Carlisle 11-14-18-10-14—67
Madison 10-10-15-18-7—60
CARLISLE (11-5, 7-2) — Daulton Butler 6 4 17, Justin Flor 4 1 9, Michael Morris 2 0 4, Seth Butler 2 2 6, Adam Goodpaster 6 0 15, Mike Kennard 4 0 10, Logan Baker 2 2 6. Totals: 26-9-67
MADISON (9-7, 3-5) — Zach Friend 3 1 8, K.C. Lindon 4 0 10, Austin Philpot 8 6 25, Jesse Prince 2 0 4, Owen Palmer 2 0 5, Ryan Friend 0 2 2, Ben Paarlberg 3 0 6. Totals: 22-9-60
3-pointers: C 6 (Goodpaster 3, Kennard 2, D. Butler), M 7 (Philpot 3, Lindon 2, Z. Friend, Palmer)
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