BUTLER TWP — Several runs over the first three quarters kept Butler within striking distance.

One spurt that went against the Golden Tornado knocked them out of it.

Facing a manageable eight-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, Butler surrendered a 10-0 run in the first five minutes of the period and went on to suffer a 52-39 home girls basketball loss to Oakland Catholic Monday night.

The Golden Tornado missed their first five field goal attempts in the final quarter while the Eagles were pulling away.

The win snapped Oakland’s eight-game losing streak.

“We went cold,” said Butler coach Joe Lewandowski. “I thought we had great looks, but it’s one of those things, sometimes the ball just doesn’t fall.”

One aspect of Butler’s offense was very strong as the team hit on 15 of its 21 shot attempts inside the 3-point line, but the team’s outside shooting faltered in the form of just one basket in 22 attempts.

“We tried to get the ball inside,” said Lewandowski, “but Oakland Catholic packed it in to take away Jenna (Kunst). The defense they were running dictated things. They left the outside open and we had to take those shots.”

Kunst, a sophomore forward, scored seven points in the game, all of them coming in the second period. Butler’s only successful 3-point shot came from Mia Rader. It halted the Eagles’ run to start the fourth quarter and cut Butler’s deficit to 48-33 with 2:52 left in the game.

Another factor in the outcome came at the foul line, where Butler was just 6-of-15 while the Eagles were 17-of-20.

The Eagles (5-15, 2-10) led 14-6 after one quarter, but sparked by the play of Kunst, Butler battled back to take a brief 22-20 lead following a bucket by Tiana Schaffner with 2:14 left in the first half. Oakland’s Taylor Renk scored five points in the final 27 seconds and the Eagles enjoyed a 27-22 edge at intermission.

Alyssa Eyth scored 12 points to pace Butler (3-16, 0-11) while Schaffner scored eight and brought down 11 rebounds.

Senior guard C.C. Cromer scored 16 for Oakland, eight in both halves.

The Eagles won the first meeting between the teams, 63-36 in early January. Monday’s game was much more competitive.

“The effort has always been there,” said Lewandowski. “What you are seeing is the girls’ growth in handling pressure. We are getting more confident with our ball-handling skills.”

Prior to the game, Butler honored its six seniors — Melea Barlow, Kelsee Callihan, Allison Schubert, Noel Pfabe, Autumn Rodgers and Schaffner.

“They’ve done a great job of setting an example for all of the other kids,” Lewandowski said.

The Tornado will cap the Section 3-AAAA schedule with a game at playoff-bound Seneca Valley on Friday.

Eagles’ coach Shannon Kearney was unavailable for comment.

OAKLAND CATHOLIC 52

C.C. Cromer 4 6-7 16, Taylor Renk 3 0-0 7, Gabby Gevaudan 1 2-2 4, Jayde Boyd 3 1-2 7, Alexis Sestric 4 3-3 11, Anna Sproule 0 4-4 4, Mia Cuccaro 1 1-2 3, Julianna Skowron 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 17-20 52.

BUTLER 39

Mia Rader 2 0-0 5, Alyssa Eyth 5 2-4 12, Melea Barlow 1 0-0 2, Jenna Kunst 2 3-5 7, Kelsee Callihan 1 0-0 2, Julia Gibson 1 1-5 3, Tiana Schaffner 4 0-1 8, Allison Schubert 0 0-0 0, Morgan Gage 0 0-0 0, Noel Pfabe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 6-15 39.

Oakland Catholic 14 13 11 14 — 52

Butler6 16 8 9 — 39

3-point goals: Oakland Catholic 3 (Cromer 2, Renk); Butler 1 (Rader).

JV score: Oakland Catholic 41-38

Friday: Butler at Seneca Valley