Digging in
BUTLER TWP — Julia Baxter ran down the court and barked at her team.
“C'mon,” the senior forward on the
Things didn't start out so well for the Golden Tornado in their
home opener against North Hills.
Until Baxter took her own advice, that is.
Baxter scored 22 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked seven
shots in a dominant performance to help lift Butler to a 48-42 section win over
the Indians Thursday night.
“She stayed composed. She didn't get disgusted, even when we were
down,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said of Baxter. “She was pumping up the
girls. That's a different side of her this year. She's more vocal.”
And just as hard to contain.
When Baxter got the ball in the paint, North Hills tried
everything it could to stop her.
Little worked.
“We definitely tried to pressure the ball in the backcourt,” said
North Hills coach Lauren Wilmus. “We had some success with that the last couple
of games because we know (Baxter) is so deadly inside. She's difficult to
guard, that's for sure.”
“They didn't have the height or the strength inside,” Epps said.
Still, North Hills led 27-22 at the half as Jamie Halloran hit a
deep 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Halloran finished with 13 points to lead the Indians.
Butler had 15 turnovers in the first half and looked out of sync.
“We were beating ourselves with turnovers and not finishing
layups,” Epps said. “We just had to get it together because we have to be able
to handle pressure.”
North Hills struggled mightily with Butler's pressure in the
third quarter.
The Indians were 0-for-15 shooting in the third quarter and were
shut out.
Meanwhile, Butler scored 13 points to take a 35-27 lead.
“That was a killer,” Wilmus said. “A killer.”
So was Alyssa DiPippa. The Butler senior point guard was steady
all night, slashing to the hoop and taking care of the basketball.
DiPippa scored 15 points and hit some key free throws down the
stretch.
“She's really grown,” Epps said of DiPippa. “She and Julia have
pretty much put us on their backs. As a leadership role, she's done a great
job. And she scores. They have to worry about her scoring, too, and she handled
the pressure well.
“She can get in there,” Epps added. “She's quicker than what she
looks.”
For North Hills (2-2, 0-1), it was its fourth game in six days.
“We ran out of gas there a little bit at the end,” Wilmus said.
“Playing that NBA schedule — we're played a lot of games in a short period of
time.”
For Butler (2-1, 1-0), it was a positive way to start the section
schedule.
“Any win's a good win, especially a section win, to get that
first one under your belt,” Epps said. “It's still early, but you want to get
those ones on your home court. You gotta hold serve. I'm really proud of the
way we came back — again. That was our second game already we've had to come
back to win. We've showed some resilience and some mental toughness already.”
NORTH HILLS 42
Megan Taschner 2-4 0-0 5, Jessica Bowen 4-6 1-2 11, Jamie
Halloran 4-19 3-4 13, Melanie Lindsey 5-16 0-0 11, Anna Treser 0-4 12 1,
Kristen Collins 0-3 0-0 0, Sierra Ungerman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-53 5-8 42.
BUTLER 48
Alyssa DiPippa 5-8 5-8 15, Dani Hensel 1-2 0-0 2, Kalynn Callihan
0-4 0-0 0, Julia Baxter 9-15 4-6 22, Tiana Schaffner 1-4 0-0 2, Jenna Kunst 0-0
2-2 2, Mia Rader 1-3 0-0 2, Ronni Guiney 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 18-40 11-16 48.
North Hills 13 14 0 15 — 42
Butler13 9 13 13 — 48
3-point goals: North Hills 7 (Taschner, Bowen 2, Halloran 3,
Lindsey); Butler 1 (Guiney)
JV: Butler 39-33