BUTLER TWP — Butler could smell the upset win. The Golden Tornado just couldn't find it.

Ambridge scored the game's final five points in the last 1:22 to escape with a 51-47 non-section girls basketball victory Saturday night in the Butler gym.

The Bridgers (17-3) won their seventh straight game. But it came in a fashion they did not anticipate.

“We didn't expect anything like this,” Ambridge coach Nikki Santiago said. “Something like this shows you can't look past anybody. You can't look ahead to anybody. You have to play in the moment.

“We didn't play well today. We were sloppy and Butler came at us hard all day. I don't care what their record is. That's a good basketball team.”

Butler (3-15) fell behind 8-0 before the game was two minutes old. The Tornado took their first lead at 20-19 on a Jenna Kunst jumper with 5:56 left in the first half.

Butler's 26-23 halftime lead expanded to 34-25 when Kunst stuck back an offensive rebound with 4:52 left in the third quarter.

“Obviously, it's still a loss,” Butler coach Joe Lewandowski said. “But as coaches, we see a lot of growth when we look up at that scoreboard.”

Ambridge whittled away at the deficit until Megan Guthrie canned a trey to knot the game at 43 with 5:54 remaining. A Julia Gibson free throw and Alyssa Eyth lay-up put the Tornado up by three, only to see the Bridgers tie the game again.

Butler's last lead was at 47-46 on a Gibson free throw with 1:31 to play.

“If someone tells me before the game that we'd have a lead at that point, I would have taken that,” Lewandowski said. “Ambridge is looking to beat out Blackhawk for its section title and is a (Class AAA) WPIAL contender.”

Sydney Rabold, a senior guard, drove for a lay-up and a 48-47 Ambridge lead with 1:22 remaining. Butler turned the ball over and Sarah Fischer drained two free throws with 27 seconds left. Fischer blocked a Mia Rader 3-point shot in the final seconds before Rabold tacked on another free throw.

Rabold had 20 points and five steals for the Bridgers, Fischer 14 points. Butler had a 33-20 edge in rebounding, but suffered 23 turnovers.

“We turned up the pressure defensively,” Santiago said. “We made plays at the end to win. Those guys made us earn it, that's for sure.”

Kunst had 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Butler. Gibson had 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench while Eyth produced eight points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“It's a process and we know that,” Lewandowski said. “We have to learn how to close out a game like this. But we have a sophomore passing to a freshman, passing to another sophomore at crunch time ... it was great for them to experience a game like this.”

AMBRIDGE 51

Sarah Fischer 3-13 5-6 14, Abbey Antolic 2-4 1-2 5, Megan Guthrie 1-3 2-3 5, Sydney Rabold 9-15 2-4 20, Cierra Flanigan 0-1 0-0 0, Chloe Rabold 1-6 5-8 7, Dasha Jackson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 15-23 51.

BUTLER 47

Mia Rader 2-4 0-0 5, Alyssa Eyth 4-10 0-0 8, Mea Barlow 0-0 0-0 0, Jenna Kunst 8-13 2-6 18, Noel Pfabe 0-0 0-0 0, Julia Gibson 4-6 4-7 12, Tiana Schaffner 1-7 0-0 2, Kailey Olenick 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 20-41 6-13 47.

Ambridge 16 7 15 13 — 51

Butler14 12 16 5 — 47

3-point goals: Fischer 3, Guthrie; Rader

JV: Butler, 55-20 (A: Dasha Jackson 9, B: Kailey Olenick 15)

Today: Oakland Catholic at Butler