The Red Raiders are sure glad that he decided to do so.

The 6-foot-2 senior forward scored 13 of his 16 points after intermission to awaken his turnover-plagued team and propel it to a 58-49 Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 victory over Hamburg on Monday night at McElrath Gymnasium.

The win improves the Red Raiders’ record to 10-1 overall and 8-0 in the division, heading into Wednesday’s home showdown with unbeaten Orchard Park (10-0, 7-0).

Jamestown will likely need a dose of Butera’s aggressiveness tomorrow night, too.

Jamestown’s Trey Drake (5) scores on a reverse layup in front of a Hamburg defender during Monday’s ECIC Division 1 boys basketball game at McElrath Gymnasium. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Had he not had it coming out of halftime against the Bulldogs, the Red Raiders might have found themselves staring at their first league loss of the season, but Butera set the tone almost immediately, diving on the floor for a loose ball and then creating a Hamburg turnover. By the end of the third quarter, Jamestown had outscored the Bulldogs 17-6 — Trey Drake had 5 points, and Butera, Drayce Garland and Jaral Farmer all had 4 — a run that transformed a one-point deficit at intermission into a 44-34 lead heading into the final period.

Hamburg (7-5, 3-5) got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

“Jaylen had some strong finishes there in the second half,” Red Raiders coach Ben Drake said, “and he made some good decisions.”

Jamestown managed only two field goals in the fourth quarter — one by Trey Drake and the other by Farmer — but Butera repeatedly made trips to the foul line where he connected on 7 of 13 attempts (he was 9 of 17 from the stripe for the night) to keep Hamburg at bay.

“I know he was frustrated with that,” Coach Drake said of Butera’s free-throw percentage. “He’s a good shooter. … I think it’s mental. He just needs to work through that and focus when he’s up there because he’s not a bad free-throw shooter.”

Butera, who also grabbed eight rebounds, was joined in double figures by Drake (21 points, including four 3-pointers) and Farmer (10 points, 13 rebounds). Three of Drake’s makes from beyond the arc came in the final three minutes of the first quarter that gave Jamestown a 20-12 lead. For the remainder of the first half, however, the hosts struggled to take care of the ball, finishing the second period with 14 turnovers that allowed Hamburg to take a 28-27 lead at the break.

Then Butera came out in the third quarter and shifted the momentum back to the Red Raiders.

“We just made some poor decisions,” Coach Drake said of the turnovers. ” … We just did a really poor job of passing the ball tonight. We’re going to have to do a better job on Wednesday because Orchard Park plays a 2-3 zone that’s a lot better than Hamburg’s.

“When you’re in a battle, 1 vs. 2, it’s important to defend your home court. We’re looking forward to it. I think it should be a great game. It should be a battle.”

NOTES: Andre Maple finished with 7 points, five assists and four steals; and Garland had 4 points, three assists and four steals. … Evan Chaffee led Hamburg with 15 points and Adam Chiacchia had 13. … Jamestown won the junior varsity game 59-48. Carson Panebianco led the way with 21 points and Gavin Pantojas chipped in 12 for the Red Raiders (7-5, 5-3).

HAMBURG (49)

Gomolka 3 1 8, Luba 2 2 7, Genzel 1 0 2, Chaffee 6 3 15, Smith 2 0 4, Chiacchia 5 3 13. Totals 19 9 49.

JAMESTOWN (58)

Farmer 3 4 10, Brumagin 0 0 0, Freeney 0 0 0, Drake 8 1 21, Butts 0 0 0, Butera 3 9 16, Maple 3 0 7, Garland 2 0 4. Totals 19 13 58.

3-point goals — Gomolka, Luba, Drake 4, Butera, Maple.

Hamburg 12 16 6 15 — 49

Jamestown 20 7 17 14 — 58

Jayvees: Jamestown 58, Hamburg 48.