How Butler girls basketball’s
strategy helped in win over Latrobe
December 23, 2024 Last Updated: December
23, 2024
BUTLER
TWP — Game plans work well on chalkboards, but executing them on the court is
not acertainty.
Against
Latrobe, Butler’s girls basketball team knew what its
objective was and the Golden Tornado reached it in impressive fashion.
Facing a Wildcats team that was averaging over 57 points per
game, Butler’s agenda was to focus on two players.
“We knew that (Carley Berk and Maggie Maiers) were
their best players,” sophomore guard Eva Stutz said. “Our goal was to deny them
as much as we could.”
Berk led all scorers with 20 points, but Maiers was held to just five points, 10 short of her
average. The defensive effort helped Butler hold off Latrobe in a 42-39
non-section decision in the Tornado’s gym.
“We tried making it tough on (Berk),”
Butler coach Mark Maier said. “She had some drives and got to the line a few
times, but if you can make a team one-dimensional, it makes it tough on them
and we did that tonight.
“We played
zone for a while and they didn’t shoot well against it.”
For
the game, Latrobe shot just 30 percent (16 of 53) from the floor.
Berk drained a 3-pointer to put Latrobe up 25-22 with
three minutes left in the third quarter, but Butler used the rest of the period
to go on an 8-0 run. Stutz accounted for six of those points — on a trey and a
conventional 3-point play — to give the Tornado a 30-25 lead with one quarter
to play.
Latrobe
(5-4) never pulled even with the Tornado (6-2). Brylee
Bodnar’s jumper pulled the Wildcats to within 39-37
with 1:30 remaining in the game, but they drew no closer.
For
the second straight game, Butler was without one of its leaders. In last
Thursday’s overtime win against North Hills, Amelia McMichael was out with an
illness. She returned Monday and led the team in scoring with 18 points, but
senior point guard Sydney Patterson was absent, also due to an illness.
“I’m
hoping to have our full team on the court Friday (in Butler’s holiday
tournament),” Maier said. “We had Amelia back tonight, but she spent much of
the third quarter on the bench with three fouls. Ashton Huff came in and did a
very good job with rebounds. She’s our tallest player (5-foot-10), our longest
player.”
The
Tornado have won three straight, the last two by a
combined five points.
“Making
plays to win close games helps build confidence, especially when we’ve had key
players out of the lineup,” Stutz said.
Avery
Maier paced Butler on the boards with eight rebounds.
Butler’s
junior varsity team also won, moving the team’s record to 6-0.
LATROBE 39
Brie Havrilla 0 1-2 1, Carley Berk 8 3-6 20, Brylee Bodnar 3 0-0 6, Maggie Maiers 2 1-3 5, Emry Bridge 1 0-0
3, Miley Williams 2 0-0 4, Kenzie
Johnson 0 0-0 0, Julianna Bulebosh
0 0-0 0. Totals: 16
5-11 39.
BUTLER 42
Malina McElroy 1 5-6 8, Cam Booher 1 0-0 2,
Avery Maier 0 2-2 2, Amelia McMichael 8 0-0 18, Casey Clouse 1 0-2 2, Ashton
Huff 2 0-0 4, Eva Stutz 2 1-1 6, Emily Hoffer 0 0-0
0. Totals: 15
8-11 42.
Latrobe 11 6
8 14 — 39
Butler 14 6
10 12 — 42
3-point
goals: Latrobe 2 (Berk, Bridge); Butler
4 (McMichael 2, Stutz, McElroy).