PG North: Butler senior Bresnahan wants to leave girls basketball program on a high note

Thursday, December 03, 2009

By Nicholas Tolomeo, Tri-State Sports & News Service

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Butler High School's Olivia Bresnahan will take her considerable basketball talents to Florida State.

All eyes will be on Butler Area senior Olivia Bresnahan this season, the top returning player in the WPIAL ... well, most eyes anyways.

The college coaches who have filled the bleachers throughout Bresnahan's career at Butler will have eyes on other players as this 5-foot-11 guard signed a letter of intent Nov. 12 to play with Florida State during the NCAA early-signing period.

Heading into her senior year, Bresnahan no longer has to worry about the numerous phone calls from college coaches or being asked to name her top three schools.

"The whole process started to get real stressful," Bresnahan said. "I knew I wanted to get it over with before the season started."

Butler coach Dorothea Epps was also happy to see her star player make a collegiate decision before the Golden Tornado season starts at its own tip-off tournament.

"I have already seen a difference with her," Epps said.

"Last year, there were so many coaches in the stands for games and practices, it is a great thing, but for a young lady it can be unnerving. I thought she handled it well last year. There is a big difference in her relaxation and now she is trying to take care of her goal to win a WPIAL championship."

The college decision is not the only reason some pressure will be taken off Bresnahan's shoulders. Butler has made defensive strides in the offseason and with the progression of seniors Casey Fleeger and Rebecca Nowacki, no longer will Bresnahan be counted on to guard the opposing team's best player.

"We are hoping this year we don't have to have [Bresnahan] guard the best player on the other team," Epps said. "That should help her out some as far as being able to stay on the floor and stay out of foul trouble."

Depending on the opposing team's personnel, Epps can use either Nowacki, a 6-0 forward, or 5-5 guard Casey Fleeger.

"Rebecca is a tall, agile and athletic young lady who has shown some big improvements over the summer," Epps said. "I feel that if their best player is a big girl, she can guard them."

If a guard on the opposition is dangerous, then Epps will likely turn to Fleeger.

"Casey has really stepped up her game," Bresnahan said. "She was our best on-the-ball defender last year. Coach always tells us our bread and butter is our defense and we have been working on it really hard all offseason."

Keeping Bresnahan on the court and out of foul trouble will be critical if Butler hopes to repeat its 19-2 regular season from a year ago. She led the Golden Tornado with 18.7 points per game.

"Every year it seems a lot of players will have a good year and then kind of slide into the background," Epps said.

"Olivia seems to have gotten better and that is a tribute to her work ethic. She never takes time off and she thinks she has made it. She is always willing to work harder and work on parts of her game that she does need to work on."

Even after an outright Section 3-AAAA title last year and a No. 2 seed heading into the playoffs, Butler was upset by Gateway, 45-43, in the first round. Bresnahan scored 20 points in that game but her potential last-second game tying shot was blocked.

"I think that loss last year left a real sour taste in their mouths," Epps said.

"Throughout the spring, summer and fall, the girls seemed to really look forward to getting back in the gym and rectifying the problems we had. An early unexpected exit, that is how the playoffs are. They learned a valuable lesson. When the playoffs come, you take one game at a time."

Before Butler can start thinking about the postseason, it will be staring right down a gauntlet of some of the toughest competition Western Pennsylvania can offer. Butler's tip-off tournament will feature Chartiers Valley, Hopewell and Mercyhurst Prep before consecutive non-section games against defending WPIAL Class AAA champion New Castle and defending PIAA Class AAAA champion and nationally ranked Mt. Lebanon.