High School Roundup : Butler Silenced in Fourth Quarter as Oakwood Falls Short of Upset

Oakwood High’s Mitchell Butler scored 29 points in the first 24 minutes of Thursday’s nonleague game against Pasadena Poly, making the typical array of shots that helped make him a two-time Southern Section Small Schools Division Player of the Year.

The trouble was, while Pasadena Poly is a small school in terms of enrollment--400 students--it is the No. 1-ranked school in the state at the 1-A level. And the Panthers aren’t especially lacking in height, either.

Behind 15 points by 6-foot-4 junior Lance Gravely and 11 by 6-6 center Carter Judy, unbeaten Pasadena Poly rallied from a third-quarter deficit and defeated Oakwood, 51-48, at Poly.

Butler was held scoreless in the fourth quarter, and without his scoring punch, Oakwood quickly blew a 45-43 third-quarter lead. Oakwood (15-5), the defending Small Schools champion, was outscored, 8-3, in the fourth quarter.

Trailing by three, Oakwood had a chance to tie, but Butler missed a pair of desperation three-point shots in the final 15 seconds.

The UCLA-bound senior made 13 of 27 field-goal attempts despite a collapsing defense that made him the target of a constant double-team by Poly (21-0). Butler also had 19 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Jon Mark, who scored all three of Oakwood’s points in the fourth quarter, had 15 points and six rebounds. Teammate Joel Goldsmith, who had four points and six assists, was the only other Oakwood player to score. Butler scored 19 of Oakwood’s 25 points in the first half, 12 in the first quarter.