By John Enrietto
Eagle Sports Editor
BUTLER TWP - The win wasn't secured until Kelly Miller sank a pair of free
throws with three seconds remaining.
But
Kelley Crater also had the flu and was unavailable.
"You like to wean younger girls into the lineup, but sometimes you have to
throw them in there,"
"What I'm happy about is that even though the girls knew we were missing
two starters, they still believed they could win. They believe in each other
and the coaching staff."
But the win didn't come easily. The Tornado (6-5, 1-2) never led by more than
six points and the lead changed hands eight times in the first three quarters
as Butler entered the fourth quarter trailing, 29-28.
Freshman Megan Spangler, who was seeing her first varsity action of the year,
stuck back an offensive rebound to give
"We never even dressed her for varsity before tonight," Epps said.
Shaler (3-5, 0-4) rallied to tie the game as Jill DiNucci drained a 3-pointer
before adding two free throws with
Spangler stole a Shaler pass down low and Miller added another free throw with
18 seconds remaining.
"When one of their other players had the ball, we weren't in position to
foul," Shaler coach Eric Mozzetti said. "We didn't want to foul her
(Miller)."
DiNucci attempted a 3-pointer to tie the game, but missed. Miller snared the
rebound and was fouled with three seconds to go.
She sank both free throws to account for the final score.
"I was the senior out there and I take the responsibility of handling the
ball in pressure situations," Miller said. "We had a lot of younger
kids out there. … We needed them and they played much better than I could have
imagined."
Miller paced the Tornado with 20 points. Elizabeth Schultz, a sophomore filling
in for Achesinski, contributed eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
"The fact they out-rebounded us (with Achesinski out) was
disappointing," Mozzetti said.
DiNucci led the Titans with 17 points and seven rebounds. A third-year starter
as a junior, she is within 60 points of 1,000 in her career.
Shaler dropped its fourth straight game.
Spangler contributed four points and three rebounds in the fourth quarter for
"There were times when we had both freshmen on the floor," Epps said.
"Kelly did a great job of running the show out there, directing them where
to go and setting things up."
SHALER 38
Erin Staniski 1-2 2-3 5, Melissa McQuaide 3-9 2-2 9, Val Smolter 0-0 0-0 0,
Michelle Grenesko 1-3 0-0 2, Joci Delaney 0-1 2-2 2, Allison Holt 1-3 0-0 2,
Libby Soeder 0-1 1-2 1, Julianne Harris 0-2 0-0 0, Julie Stampfle 0-0 0-0 0, Jill
DiNucci 7-15 2-2 17. Totals: 13-36 9-11 38
BUTLER 43
Rachel Barry 0-3 2-4 2, Kelly Miller 5-14 10-15 20, Elizabeth Schultz 3-7 2-3
8, Ashley Nocera 0-5 0-0 0, Julie Ehrman 0-1 0-0 0, Samantha Karns 3-3 1-2 7,
Karissa King 0-1 0-0 0, Michelle Ritchey 1-3 0-0 2, Megan Spangler 2-4 0-0 4.
Totals: 14-41 15-24 43
3-point goals:
Staniski, McQuaide, DiNucci
JV: