With a little more than a minute remaining in the first quarter, the Butler girls basketball team trailed North Allegheny 5-4.

Golden Tornado coach Mark Maier turned to a player on his bench and jokingly said, “Let's win this one 15-14.”

“I was being sarcastic,” Maier said. “But our defense was holding them down.”

Not for long.

The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the state, went on a hot streak and nine minutes later, Butler was down 39-10 on the way to a 60-24 loss at North Allegheny Thursday night.

“It's an avalanche,” Maier said. “There's no solace in a 30-point loss, but so far everyone in the section (North Allegheny) has played has lost by 30, 35 points.”

Alyssa Eyth scored 11 points to pace the Golden Tornado (6-5, 2-2).

Rachel Martindale led North Allegheny (11-0, 4-0) with 18 points.

“They're pretty good,” Maier said of the Tigers. “All of them can shoot. We didn't play our best game.”

Emilee Altman added six points for Butler.

BUTLER 24

Nicole Pepmeyer 0 1-2 1, Alyssa Eyth 5 1-1 11, Ali Altman 0 0-2 0, Jordan Kaufman 1 1-1 3, Emma Monteleone 0 0-0 0, Mia Rader 0 0-0 0, Jenna Kunst 0 1-1 1, Sydney Hanratty 0 0-0 0, Morgan Gage 0 0-0 0, Hailey Metzger 0 0-0 0, Julia Gibson 1 0-0 2, Emilee Altman 1 3-4 6, Heidi Gross 0 0-0 0. Totals: 8 7-11 24.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 60

Brynn Serbin 1 0-0 2, Kristen Chomos 0 2-2 2, Brooke Barcia 1 0-0 3, Courtney Roman 3 0-0 9, Rachel Martindale 7 0-0 18, Piper Morningstar 2 0-0 5, Dana Manz 1 0-0 2, Carioto 1 0-0 2, Lizzy Groetsch 3 1-2 7, Baloris 1 0-0 2, Madeln Fischer 4 0-0 8. Totals: 24 3-4 60.

Butler 4 6 9 5 — 24

North Allegheny14 25 17 4 — 60

3-point goals: Butler (E. Altman); North Allegheny 9 (Barcia, Roman 3, Martindale 4, Morningstar)

Monday: Seneca Valley at Butler