Good to be home
Butler girls return from Arizona, get big win in Christmas tourney opener vs. Kittanning




BUTLER TWP —
Butler senior point guard Alyssa DiPippa sat on the bench, crutches by her side, absent from the court.
For once, she wasn't missed.
The Golden Tornado forced 27 turnovers, built a big lead early and never trailed in cruising to a 64-34 girls basketball victory over Kittanning in the first round of the Butler Christmas Tournament Monday night.
“We're not sure what's going on with her foot right now, but we decided to hold her out of this tournament and get her ready for section play,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said of DiPippa.
“We only played her sparingly in Arizona, too. Hey, it's next girl up. That's the way it has to be.”
Butler (5-5) lost three of its four games at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix. It was never in danger of losing Monday.
Julia Baxter scored 22 points and only played half the third quarter before calling it a night. She had four steals in the first quarter.
Kalynn Callihan scored 14 points, had three assists and three steals for the Tornado. Butler started a pair of freshmen — forward Jenna Kunst and guard Kailey Olenick. Kunst contributed eight points and four rebounds, Olenick three steals and four rebounds.
“Kailey got some quality minutes handling the ball against varsity competition,” Epps said. “Our freshmen played well. Kalynn gave us the all-around game we expect of her. She's a third-year starter.”
Tiana Schaffner scored eight points, had four steals and three assists.
Butler turned the ball over only eight times itself. The Tornado took 67 shots from the floor, the Wildcats only 24.
Kittanning (5-4) had a three-game winning streak snapped.
“We were overmatched tonight,” Kittanning coach Janelle Kotyk said. “Butler is a physical team and they're very quick.
“We couldn't do much inside against them. They swatted a few balls away early and our girls were hesitant to go in there.”
“Julia was tough on them tonight,” Epps said. “They had trouble handling her.”
Taylor Wolfe paced Kittanning with 12 points and seven rebounds. Tiffany Montgomery added 10 points and six rebounds, sinking three treys.
The Wildcats managed only 10 field goals in the contest.
“We're here to get some good experience against quality athletes,” Kotyk said. “This will better prepare us for when we get back to section play.”
Butler will play Vincentian — a 59-41 winner over Chartiers Valley — in the tourney championship game at 6:30 p.m. today.
“They're a very good basketball team,” Epps said. “They play as a team and they make few mistakes. It's going to be a challenge for us.
“I'm encouraged by our lack of turnovers tonight. They (Kittanning) didn't press us, but we've thrown the ball away before with no pressure on us. When you turn it over, you give away chances to score. We didn't do that tonight.”

Vincentian 59, Chartiers 41 — Cranberry Township resident and Vincentian senior Brenna Wise paced the Royals (6-1) with 21 points, six rebounds and five steals.
Chartiers Valley (5-3) had a 6-3 lead midway through the first quarter before Vincentian went on a 9-0 run and siezed control of the game. The Royals have won four straight games.
Kiersten Elliott added 12 points for the winners while Lexi Griggs had eight points, three steals and three assists. Torrieonna Cash had five assists.
“We just go on the floor relaxed, have fun and play ball together,” Wise, a Pitt recruit, said.
Melissa Rickens led the Colts with 13 points. Alexa Golden, headed to Kent State, had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
VINCENTIAN 59
Torrieonna Cash 1-5 1-1 3, Maia Joiner 2-7 0-1 5, Kiersten Elliott 6-10 0-0 12, Lexi Griggs 4-6 0-0 8, Brenna Wise 6-14 6-6 21, Caroline Elliott 2-7 2-2 6, Marissa Muth 1-2 1-2 4. Katie Conner 0-0 0-0 0, Julia Galbraith 0-1 0-00, Sarah Marusic 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-53 10-13 59.
CHARTIERS VALLEY 41
Libby Schneider 3-6 0-1 6, Melissa Rickens 3-10 5-5 13, Alexa Golden 3-11 5-6 11, Karly O'Keefe 1-6 0-0 3, Nicole Olkosky 1-4 1-2 3, Abbey Collins 2-4 0-0 4. Annie Pacella 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Doyle 0-0 1-2 1, Lauren Wagner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-41 12-16 41.
Vincentian 16 13 13 17 — 59
Chartiers Valley11 7 12 11 — 41
3-point goals: Rickens 2, O'Keefe; Joiner, Wise 3, Muth
KITTANNING 34
Tiffany Montgomery 3-9 1-3 10, Katelyn Crispen 0-0 0-0 0, Alaina Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Emily Klingensmith 0-1 2-4 2, Elise Hulings 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Wolfe 3-7 6-7 12, Liz Delp 2-3 1-1 5, Delaney Mazur 1-1 1-2 3. Totals: 10-24 11-17 34.
BUTLER 64
Mia Rader 1-5 0-0 2, Dani Hensel 0-6 0-0 0, Kalynn Callihan 6-13 0-1 14, Julia Baxter 11-16 0-0 22, Tiana Schaffner 4-7 0-1 8, Ronni Guiney 3-6 0-0 6, Melea Barlow 0-1 0-1 0, Jenna Kunst 2-4 4-7 8, Kailey Olenick 1-4 0-0 2, Liz Kuhn 1-4 0-0 2, Kelsee Callihan 0-0 0-0 0, Christina Friel 0-00-00, Nienke Dirkx 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 29-67 4-10 64.
Kittanning 4 14 7 9 — 34
Butler13 21 24 6 — 64
3-point goals: Montgomery 3; Ka.Callihan 2
JV: Butler, 49-36 (K: Liz Delp 18; B: Mia Rader 10)