BUTLER TWP — Coming off a flat loss last week at home against New Castle, Butler girls basketball coach Joe Lewandowski wanted to see his team return to the floor with a renewed resolve and spirit.

He got that. And then some.

Butler stormed out to a 25-5 lead at the half, held Moon scoreless in the second quarter and without a field goal for nearly 12 minutes on the way to a 52-35 win Monday night.

“Isn't it amazing? But that's young kids,” Lewandowski said. “You'll get that when you have no seniors on the team. They played great. So many extra passes. So many plays that were made. Jenna (Kunst) was just a beast. Twenty points. Was rebounding. Was active. We had eight players score and three score seven. That is terrific.”

Moon was anything but in the first 16 minutes.

The Tigers (1-4), young in their own right with three freshman starters, were 2-of-15 shooting in the first half with 16 turnovers.

Moon scored 30 points in the second half.

“We're so young, that's not uncharacteristic of a young team,” said Moon coach Jody Powell. “They come out and they want to do everything perfectly and they're too afraid to make a mistake. But when it's decided, they go all out and give it their all and they have success.”

Butler led 31-5 early in the third quarter. Junior forward Annie Bal broke Butler's 25-0 run and the 12-minute scoring drought for Moon with a short jumper.

The Tigers actually outscored Butler in the second half and cut the Golden Tornado lead to 34-18 at the end of the third quarter.

Moon never got closer than 14 points.

“We talked about New Castle — we gave up a small lead there,” Lewandowski said. “We didn't play well with it. The toughest thing in basketball is playing with a lead in the fourth quarter with five minutes to go. They made a little run. We stayed poised. At one point we had freshman, freshman, sophomore, sophomore, junior in the game and, you know what, they staved it off.”

Kunst scored 20 points to lead Butler.

Alyssa Eyth, Audrey Hilliard and Nicole Pepmeyer each had seven points.

“It was a good, all-around team effort,” Lewandowski said.

With the win, Butler (3-2) has already matched its victory total from last season.

It's all a part of the learning process.

“We talk about this all the time: is this as good as it gets?” Lewandowski said. “No, it isn't. We have to keep working. We have to keep getting better.”

MOON 35

Mikala Powell 0-2 0-0 0, Ava Mancini 1-6 2-2 4, Aubree Evans 0-1 1-2 1, Riley Saunders 4-8 0-0 11, Annie Bal 4-10 6-7 14, Kylie Evans 1-4 1-2 3, Sofia Mancini 1-6 0-0 2, Melina Krawchick 0-0 0-0 0, Gianna Leseck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-37 10-13 35.

BUTLER 52

Nicole Pepmeyer 2-3 2-2 7, Audrey Hilliard 3-5 0-0 7, Mia Rader 2-3 0-0 5, Alyssa Eyth 2-8 3-4 7, Kylee Lewandowski 0-7 2-2 2, Emma Montleone 0-0 0-0 0, Jenna Kunst 6-10 8-10 20, Sydney Hanratty 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan Gage 0-1 0-0 0, Julia Gibson 1-1 0-0 2, Emilee Altman 0-0 0-0 0, Heidi Gross 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Kaufman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-40 15-18 52.

Moon 5 0 13 17 — 35

Butler10 15 9 18 — 52

3-point goals: Moon 3 (Saunders 3); Butler 3 (Pepmeyer, Hilliard, Rader)

Wednesday: Latrobe at Butler