Home Cookin'
Butler erases 12-point
fourth-quarter deficit on its own court to topple Pine-Richland
By Josh Rizzo Eagle Correspondent
December 20, 2019 High School Basketball
Butler's
Makenna Maier pushes the ball down the court against Pine-Richland Thursday,
December 19, 2019.
HAROLD AUGHTON/BUTLER EAGLE
BUTLER TWP — Being aware of how close the
Section 1-6A standings are gave the Butler girls basketball team plenty of
reasons to have a sense of urgency for their matchup with Pine-Richland
Thursday night at home.
Staring at a 10-point deficit with five
minutes remaining had the alarm bells ringing. The Golden Tornado's offense
responded with a 14-2 run to close the game, allowing Butler to steal a 49-47
win. Emma Monteleone made a driving layup with 3.8 seconds remaining to put the
Tornado ahead.
“Home games are important because everyone
is here watching us and everything,” Monteleone said. “But I think every game
is important. Even if its home or away.”
Butler coach Mark Maier was overjoyed with
how his team responded.
“It's a cliche, but this one is true,” Maier
said. “You want to protect your home turf and hope to squeeze some out of the
road. If we would have been 1-2 it wouldn't have been over, but 2-1 is a heck
of a lot better.”
While there will be plenty more
opportunities to climb the ladder, the Tornado (4-2, 2-1) wanted to try and
avoid heading toward the cellar. Pine-Richland (2-4, 0-3) has lost four
straight contests.
Both teams struggled offensively. At the
beginning of the first two quarters, both teams went scoreless for more than
two minutes. Pine-Richland's full-court defense forced Butler into mistakes
that allowed the Rams to build a 26-17 halftime lead.
Pine-Richland coach Tom Reighard said
playing pressure defense was the plan. What happened in the game forced the
Rams to switch things up.
“We got in foul trouble,” Reighard said.
“That was the major reason we stopped doing it. We had some dumb fouls and it
took away our game plan.”
Kaili Doctor led Pine-Richland with 14
points and made a running layup to close the third quarter to stretch the Rams
lead to 43-31.
Maier said Butler had to be aggressive, but
in a smart way for the Tornado to rally.
“We wanted to trap a little bit,” Maier
said. “You don't want to go too much and give up layups. We went full-court
press on our makes and tried to speed them up.”
Butler's
Emma Monteleone dishes it off against Pine-Richland Thursday, December 19,
2019.
HAROLD AUGHTON/BUTLER EAGLE
Butler's comeback started when Monteleone
and Kauffman made treys on consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to 45-41
with 4:15 remaining.
Pine-Richland, which only attempted four
field goals in the fourth quarter, struggled to make free throws to close the
game. The Rams shot 15.3 percent (2-of-13) for the game and missed all three of
their attempts in the fourth quarter.
“At that point, I wasn't trying to stall the
ball,” Reighard said. “I was trying to spread things out and make them defend
us. We wanted to do some pick-and-roll and get some matchups we could take advantage
of.”
Makenna Maier, who led Butler with 15
points, fouled out with 28.2 seconds remaining. Sarayne Forbes also had 12 for
the Tornado.
Meghan Luellen the two free throws following
Maier's foul, giving Butler a chance to win in regulation. Monteleone drove
from the wing and muscled a shot in off the glass.
While she couldn't complete the 3-point
play, Monteleone's shot scored Butler an unlikely victory that may helped the
Tornado down the road.
“I think the support from my team helps me,”
Monteleone said. “I know I had to do it for everyone else.”
PINE-RICHLAND 47
Ekaterini Balouris 2 2-4 7, Meghan Luellen 2
0-4 5, Kaitlyn Kerns 4 0-3 10, Sophie Catalano 3 0-0 6, Kaili Doctor 7 0-0 14,
Sarah Pifer 2 0-0 5, Olivia Mehalck 0 0-0 0, Madelyn Laird 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20
2-13 47.
BUTLER 49
Sarayane Forbes 4 2-3 12, Jordan Kauffman 2
3-4 9, Emma Monteleone 2 0-1 5, Makenna Maier 6 1-1 15, Aubree Tack 2 1-2 5,
Macklin Hanley 0 0-0 0, Hannah Aldridge 1 0-0 3, Maisy Gibson 0 0-0 0. Totals:
20 7-11 49.
Pine-Richland 11 15 17 4 — 47
Butler9 8 14 18 — 49
3-point goals: Pine-Richland 4 (Kerns 2,
Balouris, Luellen); Butler 5 (Kauffman 2, Maier, Aldridge, Monteleone)