His team struggling to maintain its lead, Tyler Sharpe got hot in the third quarter and propelled the Bullitt East High School boys basketball team to a 75-54 victory over Butler on Wednesday in the second round of the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament.

Sharpe hit 5 of 6 3-point shots in the third quarter and scored 15 points as Bullitt East (14-2) – No. 6 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings – broke open a tie game on its way to a 16-point lead entering the fourth.

“I got open a couple of times, made a few shots and got some confidence,” Sharpe said. “It was good to get it going. When you get in a groove like that it seems everything you shoot is going to go in.”

Sharpe finished with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. Garrett Wilson added 13 points as the Chargers advanced to face St. Xavier in Friday’s 8:45 p.m. quarterfinal.

Jaquay Wales and Austin Wise both scored 11 points to lead Butler (7-8), which missed its first nine shots and fell behind 12-1.

Butler tied the score at 34 on Ryan Luckett’s 3-pointer with 6:01 to go in the third quarter. But the Chargers close the quarter with a 24-8 run for a 58-42 lead, getting five 3-pointers from Sharpe and two more from Bailey Rakes.

The Chargers finished 13 of 25 (52 percent) from 3-point range.

Butler (7-8): Wales 11, Montgomery 10, Wise 11, Luckett 4, Mozee 8, Hamby 3, Ramsey 2, Watkins 2, Bentley 3

Bullitt East (14-2): Sharpe 23, Rakes 11, Green 1, Osborne 1, Polson 2, Ezell 1, N. Wilson 3, Skaggs 1, Klefot 9, G. Wilson 13, Zurschmeide 2, Farris 8.

3-point goals: Wales, Montgomery 2, Luckett, Mozee 2; Sharpe 7, Rakes 2, N. Wilson, G. Wilson 3.