Tornado pressure too hot to handle
BUTLER TWP — Dorothea Epps and her Butler girls basketball team were looking
for a “feel good” game.
They found it.
The Golden Tornado allowed no field goals in the second half,
forced 36 turnovers and cruised to a 58-21 victory over Shady Side Academy in a
non-section game Saturday afternoon.
“That's what this game was all about for us,” the Butler
coach said. “We wanted to work on some things we've been struggling with and
put together some positives we can build on moving forward.”
Butler (4-5) was coming off a 20-point loss at North
Allegheny the night before, a game in which Mackenzie O'Donnell scored 19
points and the rest of the team combined for three field goals.
Saturday, four Tornado girls scored at least nine points and
nine Butler players dented the scoresheet.
“You can't win a game with only one girl scoring, so it was
good to see that balance,” Epps said.
Butler had just a 9-6 lead six minutes into the game before a
bevy of Shady Side turnovers sparked a 12-0 Tornado run that set the rout in
motion.
“We were a little sluggish to get going today, coming off
playing last night,” Epps admitted. “It took us a few minutes to get started.”
The Indians (3-5), who don't have a junior varsity team, lost
starting forward Jackie Yencik to a possible concussion early in the contest.
“Our point guard is a freshman and we have another freshman
and three sophomores in the rotation,” Shady Side coach Audrey Scott said.
“When we've lost games this year, we've had between 30 and 40 turnovers.”
Freshman Emily Natoli led the Indians with eight points.
Point guard Shady Side missed all 10 of its field goal
attempts in the second half and sank just five field goals all day. The Indians
managed but 21 field goal attempts to go with their 36 turnovers.
“I know Butler brings a strong pressure defense and I knew
what might happen if we scheduled them,” Scott said. “But I wanted our girls to
face this kind of defense.
“Nobody we meet in section play will bring defensive pressure
like Butler's. This game will help us.”
Cait Baxter paced Butler with 11 points. Julia Baxter came
off the bench to score 10 points and grab six rebounds. O'Donnell had nine
points and six boards while point guard Sam Marak contributed nine points.
“We wanted to work on our straight-up man-to-man defense
today and the girls played it hard,” Epps said. “Our shooting was better and
that was nice to see.
“We've got Chartiers Valley and Bethel Park coming up
(holiday tournament) this week, so things are going to get tougher. We have to
be ready to respond to that challenge.”
Bruce expects her team to respond as well.
“In other games that haven't gone well for us, we've bounced
back and done just fine,” she said.
SHADY SIDE ACADEMY 21
Jane Sheerer 1-1 0-0 2, Emily Natoli 2-4 4-6 8, Pia Campbell
0-1 0-0 0, Rori Cain 1-2 0-0 2, Audrey Koi 0-4 4-6 4, Stephanie Pish 0-3 1-2 1,
Rebecca Budd 0-0 0-0 0, Gab Harchelroad 1-2 0-0 2, Rebecca Donahue 0-4 2-2 2,
Jackie Yencik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 5-21 11-17 21.
BUTLER 58
Alyssa DiPippa 0-2 1-2 1, Mackenzie O'Donnell 4-6 1-1 9, Sam
Marak 4-6 0-0 9, Morgan Pfabe 3-6 0-0 6, Cait Baxter 3-10 5-8 11, Natalie
Barkus 1-4 0-0 2, Julia Baxter 5-6 0-2 10, Kaelynn Callihan 0-3 0-0 0, Lauren
Bresnahan 2-3 2-2 6, Emily Eyth 0-1 0-0 0, Noel Pfabe 1-2 2-2 4, Ronni Guiney
0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-49 11-17 58.
SS Academy 6 6 5 4—21
Butler19 11 18 10—58
3-point goal: Marak