Titan-ic effort

By Josh Rizzo
Eagle Staff Writer 


BUTLER TWP — Alyssa DiPippa drove toward the basket hoping to create. What she did was breathe life back into the
Butler girls basketball team's season. 
DiPippa maneuvered around her defender and was fouled heading toward the rim. That gave her two big free throws. 
The first one went off the rim. 
Her second was what she was looking for. 
DiPippa's free throw with 4.6 seconds left in double overtime gave the Golden Tornado a 51-50 overtime win over Shaler in a Section 3-AAAA game Saturday afternoon at
Butler High School
“We wanted this one really bad. We had a lot of fire in us,” DiPippa said. “We knew this would be the turning point of the season. With this win, we want to take it even farther, keep on rolling with this and keep the momentum.” 
The win snapped a three-game losing skid for
Butler (8-5, 3-4). Golden Tornado coach Dorothea Epps felt they turned thing around on offense. 
Butler cracked 50 points for the first time since it beat Chartiers Valley 61-54 Dec. 27. The Golden Tornado shot 43 percent (16 of 37) from the field. 
“We felt we were better. We just couldn't hit shots. It wasn't that we couldn't execute on the offensive end, we just didn't hit shots,” Epps said. “That was the difference today. We had some girls step up and hit some shots.” 
Not everyone was so pleased with the outcome. After the final buzzer, a few members of the Shaler section got into a shouting match with members of the scorers table. 
Several people had to be restrained, but no punches were thrown. 
The incident after the game didn't take away from what was a physical, intense game. 
The Titans (11-3, 4-2) used a 3-point barrage to close the half with an 11-2 run and take a 23-19 lead into halftime. 
After Julia Baxter made a jumper with 4:22
 left before the half to put Butler ahead 19-12, the Golden Tornado didn't score again. 
Abby Conrad, Liz Kline and Paige Quinn made treys during the run for Shaler. Ball movement was big for the Titans, who dished out 11 assists. Kline had a team-high six assists. 
“We knocked down some shots in the second quarter and it allowed us to pull ahead a little bit,” Shaler coach Neal Martin said. “Both teams fought hard and sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.” 
Baxter, who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, highlighted
Butler's intensity. During the second quarter, Baxter went crashing face-first into the back wall chasing down a rebound. 
Baxter was slow to get up, but didn't come out. 
“I had to take a second to make sure that I didn't hurt anything and to get up slowly,” Baxter said. “I was like 'OK, my team needs me, I have to push through until the end.” 
Epps knew as long as Baxter was physically OK, she would continue. 
“I knew she was coming back because that girl is as tough as nails,” Epps said. “She's always on the floor somehow. ...She falls like that all the time, she's like the human bouncing ball out there.” 
Kalynn Callihan helped stretch the defense for
Butler, making four 3-pointers and finishing with 12 points. 
The Golden Tornado led
32-29 after three quarters and both teams traded baskets in the fourth quarter. 
Baxter made a pair of free throws to put the Golden Tornado ahead 44-42 with 45.9 seconds left, but the Titans answered with a layup from Carly Harris. 
Kline nearly ended the game for Shaler at the end of the first overtime. She launched a 3-pointer from five feet behind the line that went in and out at the buzzer. 
“You have to take care of every chance you get on the road, because it doesn't come easy,” Martin said. “We had some opportunities and sometimes it doesn't go your way. Tonight was one of those nights.” 
Baxter converted a three-point play to open the second overtime to put the Golden Tornado ahead 49-46. 
“It was the most nerve wracking thing I've ever experienced,” Baxter said. “We have each other and the confidence we had before the game pushed us through to the end.” 
Shaler tied the game at 50 with 26.6 seconds left when Andi Lyon, who finished with 14 points, converted a three-point play after the Titans collected three offensive rebounds. Baxter fouled out on the play. 
After bringing the ball up the floor, DiPippa put the final sequence in motion. 
“I knew with Baxter out, it was all on my shoulders and I had to get in there and if not make the shot then draw the foul,” said DiPippa, who finished with 11 points, six assists and eight rebounds. “I had to get that and get to the line.” 
Butler does not return to action until Fruday night when it travels to North Allegheny
SHALER 50 
Paige Quinn 2 0-0 6, Liz Kline 1 3-4 6, Carly Harris 3 1-1 7, Andi Lydon 5 5-6 14, Abby Conrad 4 4-5 15, Emily Ondo 1 0-0 2, Rylee Donovan 0 0-0.
Totals: 16 13-16 50
BUTLER 51 
Alyssa DiPippa 2 6-8 11, Kalynn Callihan 4 0-0 12, Lauren Bresnahan 0 1-2 1, Julia Baxter 7 10-12 24, Tiana Schaffner 1 0-1 3, Paige Lambermont 0 0-0 0, Ronni Guiney 0 0-0 0, Danielle Henselle 0 0-0 0.
Totals: 14 17-23 51
Shaler 12 11 7 15 2 4 — 50 
Butler14 5 13 12 2 5 — 51 
3-point goals: Shaler 5 (Quinn 2, Conrad 2, Kline);
Butler 6 (Callihan 4, DiPippa, Schaffner)