Butler girls snap 7-game slide
Kunst hits for 25 points as Golden Tornado net 59-53 overtime win
By Mike Kilroy
Eagle Staff Writer
BUTLER TWP — Jenna Kunst can see the difference.
It is very apparent in the way the Butler girls basketball team practices all
the way to how they play on game nights, said the sophomore forward.
And now, that hard work is starting to pay dividends.
“We’ve been working so hard in practice,” Kunst said. “This can be a turning
point. Definitely.”
The turning point in the game against Franklin Regional Thursday night was
Butler found itself down by eight points in the fourth quarter, but managed to
rally to tie the game and send it to overtime.
In the extra session, the Tornado seized control thanks to the clutch free
throw shooting of senior Tiana Schaffner and downed the Panthers, 59-53.
“It definitely was huge,” said Kunst, who scored 25 points, 10 coming in the
fourth quarter, and hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining in
regulation to force OT. “We knew we had a chance to win this game. We stuck
with it. We fought to the end.”
Butler (3-14) had not played in many close games this season. The average spread
of points between winner and loser in Tornado games this season has been nearly
27.
The Tornado, though, played this tight game like seasoned veterans.
“Give them credit for the poise they showed,” said Butler coach Joe
Lewandowski. “That’s one of the things you have to feel good about. In practice
you still rep situational things like this and the girls, they came though and
they battled. It’s all about them and how hard they worked.”
The game was a see-saw affair throughout.
There were seven lead changes in the first half with Butler heading into the
break up 27-26.
The Tornado fell behind by six at the end of the third quarter and by eight
early in the fourth.
Butler trailed by five as late as 1:46 in the fourth quarter, but was able to
rally.
“I think over the last two weeks you saw, ‘Man, what a change they’ve made,’”
Lewandowski said.
Franklin Regional (6-12) finds itself in the same boat as Butler with a slew of
young players getting the majority of the playing time.
Three freshmen and two sophomores saw significant minutes for the Panthers and
first-year coach Courtney Callas, who is a 2004 Freeport High School
graduate.
“You never have expectations for freshmen,” Callas said. “Whatever you get from
them, you get from them. It just takes experience being in those situations and
I just don’t think as a whole they’ve been in those situations often in the
past. There’s a learning curve to it.”
In overtime, Schaffner came up big at the line, sinking 7-of-8 free
throws.
Schaffner finished with 13 points and was 9-of-10 from the line in the
game.
“That was Tiana as a senior coming in saying, ‘I’m going to ice the game here
and knock down these free throws,’” Lewandowski said.
Kunst is hoping this win is something to build on down the home stretch of the
season.
“I hope we can beat Ambridge (Saturday) and Seneca Valley (next week),” Kunst
said.
Lewandowski said his team has never failed to have a good practice this
season.
He was also pleased with the enthusiasm his team displayed both on the court
and from the players on the bench.
“That’s what it’s about,” Lewandowski said. “You’re building a culture where
you respect each other, where teamwork is important, where you go to battle
with your sisters and if you come out on top, that’s great and if you don’t,
you know you live to fight another day. We have a good group that works
hard.”
FRANKLIN REGIONAL 53
Sam Hlozek 1-2 1-2 3, Kassidy Hubert 4-16 8-10 16, Hannah Turacy 1-6 0-0 3, Natalie Palmer 1-4 1-2
4, Paige Verona 2-7 9-11 13, Kaitlyn Carr 1-3 2-2 4, Jordan Yaniga 3-8 4-5 10,
Alex Reitz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-46 25-32 53.
BUTLER 59
Mia Rader 1-3 0-0 3, Alyssa Eyth 2-8 3-3 7, Jenna Kunst 9-14 6-9 25, Tiana
Schaffner 2-9 9-10 13, Kailey Olenick 1-5 1-2 4, Julia Gibson 3-5 0-2 6, Liz
Kuhn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-44
19-26 59.
Franklin Regional 10 16 13 8 6 — 53
Butler12 15 6 14 12 — 59
3-point goals: Franklin Regional 2 (Turacy, Palmer); Butler 4 (rader, Kunst,
Schaffner, Olenick)
JV: Franklin Regional 49-46