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