Under Control
O'Donnell scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the first
half and
The Tornado (8-7, 4-1) won their fourth straight game despite
scoring just one field goal in the second half.
“We decided to take the air out of the ball a little bit in
the second half and the girls played it very well,”
“Our guards can handle it and Mac is a good passer down on
the blocks. She can dish it back out.”
“I think she's the best player in our section,”
“Two of our forwards picked up two fouls early trying to
defend her and we had to divert from our game plan. (O'Donnell) is a
game-changer. The score of this game was 12-12 at one point.”
The Raiders (6-5, 3-3) played without junior guard Katie
Brown, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. SV had two freshmen and a
sophomore in its starting lineup.
“Butler started four seniors, we have one senior on our
roster,” Lombardo said. “They were going to have the advantage in physicality
and they used it.”
The Raiders struggled to get open shots much of the night,
hitting just 8 of 24 field goal attempts. SV took only nine shots in the first
half while turning the ball over 11 times.
Seneca Valley did not sink a field goal in the second quarter
and made only 3 of 15 shots in the second half.
“I'm very pleased with the way we played tonight,” Epps said.
“Everybody did her job very well.
“We were able to run clock and protect the lead. Our goal was
seven turnovers tonight. We didn't do that, but we did a lot of other things
right.”
Seneca Valley had 17 turnovers to Butler's 13. Sam Marak had
four steals for the Tornado, Alyssa DiPippa three, Caitlin Baxter and Kalynn
Callihan two each.
“It's so much fun playing that style,” Marak said. “We work
hard on it in practice. Every one of our practices is hard.
“To be able to beat a team this well on the road feels great
for us, especially the seniors. We've struggled the past couple of years.”
O'Donnell contributed five rebounds for Butler.
Meghan Hess paced the Raiders with eight points. Freshman
Paige Montrose had five rebounds and three steals.
Seneca Valley never cut its 12-point halftime deficit to
single digits. Butler sank 20 of 23 free throws.
“With that big lead, we made them come out and get us,” Epps
said. “Of course, we had to hit make our free throws and we did.”
Lombardo pointed out that all three of his team's section
losses thus far are to the top-three teams in the section standings.
“We haven't overachieved yet, that's all,” he said. “It does
hurt to give up a section loss at home. We didn't hold serve that way. Now we
have to go out and get somebody on the road.”
Butler showed how effectively it can play with a lead.
“It takes everyone on the floor playing together,” Marak
said. “We have a lot of players who can handle the ball.”
BUTLER 44
Alyssa DiPippa 1-1 2-2 4, Natalie Barkus 0-0 4-4 4, Mackenzie
O'Donnell 5-9 10-11 20, Sam Marak 1-3 1-3 3, Morgan Pfabe 2-5 1-1 5, Lauren
Bresnahan 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlin Baxter 0-1 2-2 2, Kalynn Callihan 2-3 0-0 6.
Totals: 11-22 20-23 44.
SENECA VALLEY 30
Kaitlyn Eagle 0-2 0-0 0, Jane Vandrak 0-0 0-0, 0, Meghan Hess
2-3 2-2 8, Alexis Roccia 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Parey 0-3 1-2 1, Paige Montrose 1-4
3-4 5, Abbie Trzeciak 2-5 0-0 4, Lexus Lambert 1-1 1-2 3, Melissa Carter 1-1
0-0 2, Alexa Sisko 1-4 5-7 7. Totals: 8-24 12-16 30.
Butler 16 15 6 7—44
Seneca Valley12 7 3 8—30
3-point goals: Callihan 2; Hess 2
JV: Butler, 34-28 (B: Noel Pfabe 10, Alyssa DiPippa 9; SV:
Jane Vandrak 9