Frosh
rises to the occasion
Bresnahan
piles up 16 points in Butler victory
By Sam Tallarico
Eagle Staff Writer
BUTLER TWP —
So far, Olivia Bresnahan has met every challenge.
Bresnahan scored 16 points to key the Golden Tornado's 68-39 girls basketball
victory over Shaler Thursday in Section 3-AAAA action.
Maria Baroffio added 17 points and
"The one thing about Olivia is she has so much poise," said Epps.
"As a freshman, she's not rattled. She's very receptive to learning. She's
just a solid player."
Bresnahan had a pair of first-quarter steals that she converted to scores as
the Tornado (8-1, 2-0) built a 13-9 lead.
"We needed to push the ball up the floor more and get some junk
points," said Epps. "Then we get what the defense gives us."
Bresnahan had eight points in the half and Baroffio had seven, but Achesinski
was limited to four points.
"The great thing about
The Titans (3-6, 0-3) closed the half with a 7-2 run, with the final three
coming on a shot by Jackie Sauer in the final seconds to trim the deficit to
29-18.
The Tornado, however, came out on fire in the second half, using a 12-2
advantage to take a 41-20 lead.
Achesinski and Baroffio had four points each in that span to help the squad
pull away. The Titans got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
"That's been the big thing with this team and how important that is,"
said Epps. "Last year, we had leads coming out in the third quarter and
lost them.
"When you have a team on the ropes, that's when you have to put them away.
That's where having four seniors (Achesinski, Baroffio, Rachel Barry and
Elizabeth Schultz) helps," Epps added.
Epps also praised the play of junior guards Karissa King and Erica Miller, who
were thrown into the mix and helped limit the Titans to fewer than 40 points.
"They're really growing up and getting confidence," said Epps.
"That's really helped us."
The Titans received 16 points apiece from Sauer and Melissa McQuade.
SHALER39
Olivia DiNucci 2 0-0 4, Kristin Devlin 0 1-2 1, Melissa McQuade 6 3-4 16,
Julianne Harris 0 0-0 0, Jackie Sauer 5 4-7 16, Chrissy Biedrzycki 0 0-0 0,
Jocelyn Delaney 0 0-0 0, Colleen Cannon 0 0-0 0, Erin Boyle 0 0-2 0, Holly
Knaus 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 8-13 39.
BUTLER68
Rachel Barry 1 3-4 5, Olivia Bresnahan 6 4-4 16, Elizabeth Schultz 1 0-0 2,
Shaler 9 9 10 11—39
3-point goals: Sauer 2, McQuade; Baroffio, King
JV: