Tornado girls top Shaler
SHALER TWP — Dorothea Epps was impressed with the effort.
And you won't catch her turning down the result any time
soon.
“We played hard before this game, but this was the first time
the girls really went after it,” said Epps. “I'm proud of their effort and am
really happy for the girls that they got this win. They came out fired up
tonight.”
The Titans managed to keep the game interesting until the
final seconds.
Butler's final points came on a pair of free throws from
Caitlin Baxter, which gave the Golden Tornado a 28-23 lead with 37 seconds left
in the game.
Shaler's Abbey Conrad drove the lane for a 2-point bucket,
cutting her team's deficit to just three points with 31 seconds remaining.
Following a missed free throw by Butler's Natalie Barkus, the
Titans rebounded and had a chance to tie the game. But Sam Marak stole the ball
near midcourt with four seconds left and avoided Titan defenders who were
attempting to foul her as time expired.
“Close section games like this prove that every possession
counts,” said Shaler coach Neal Martin. “We just made too many mistakes
tonight.”
The 25 points are a season-low for Shaler, which was
averaging nearly 46 points per contest entering Monday's game.
“We knew that most of Shaler's players are drivers,” said
Epps. “We packed things in and forced them to be shooters and I think they
struggled against that.”
“Scoring for us is usually done by committee,” said Martin.
“We take a look at matchups and go from there.”
But against Butler (6-7, 2-1), no Shaler player found a
groove offensively. Conrad, a junior forward, led the Titans with just seven
points.
The Tornado, however, received a big first half from senior
forward Mackenzie O'Donnell, who scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the
first 16 minutes.
O'Donnell's scoring chances diminished greatly in the second
half after the Titans began to stick two defenders on her.
“She's a force inside,” said Epps. “When they started to double-team
her, she had to make the right decision when she did get the ball and I thought
she did well with that.”
Shaler (4-7, 0-4) has dropped its four section games by a
combined 20 points.
“We've been close, but close doesn't cut it,” said Martin. “I
told the girls that before you win a section game, you have to deserve it
first.”
BUTLER 28
Natalie Barkus 1 0-2 3, Mackenzie O'Donnell 5 4-4 14, Sam
Marak 1 2-2 5, Caitlin Baxter 2 2-3 6, Kalynn Callihan 0 0-0 0, Lauren
Bresnahan 0 0-0 0, Morgan Pfabe 0 0-0 0, Alyssa DiPippa 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 8-11
28.
SHALER 25
Courtney Bauer 1 0-0 2, Paige Quinn 1 1-2 4, Liz Kline 1 1-4
3, Carly Harris 2 0-4 5, Andi Lydon 1 2-2 4, Abbey Conrad 3 1-2 7. Totals: 9
5-14 25.
Butler 10 7 7 4—28
Shaler4 9 7 5—25
3-point goals: Butler 2 (Barkus, Marak); Shaler 2 (Quinn,
Harris)