BUTLER TWP — Senior Day provided more than a few senior moments Saturday for Butler's girls basketball team.

All five of Butler's seniors started, all five scored and the Golden Tornado went on to throttle four-time City League champion Obama Academy, 56-19.

The visiting Eagles (16-5) were limited to eight field goals and shot a meager 18 percent from the field.

“Senior Day games can be tricky and a little stressful at times,” Butler coach Mark Maier said. “You're not starting your regular lineup and teams can tend to lose focus. We didn't want to fall behind 10-0 or something like that.

“We shot well, we were able to get an early lead and build off it.”

And build and build and build.

Butler (13-8) closed the first quarter with an 11-0 run to take a 15-5 lead. The Tornado ended the second period with a 9-0 run for a 26-11 halftime advantage.

Leading 36-17 late in the third period, Butler took off on an 18-0 run to extend the eventual winning margin to 37 points. Emma Monteleone's trey with 1:15 to play completed the spurt.

“We weren't expecting this at all,” Eagles coach Monique McCoy said. “Just a terrible shooting day. We couldn't knock down anything.

“Butler plays good defense, but we had opportunities to score. The shots weren't falling.”

Obama Academy's 19 points marked a season low by far. Its previous low point total this year was 32.

The Eagles began the day having won nine of their last 10 games.

“When we get into our man-to-man defense, we're tough to score against,” Maier said. “Our zone has shown some holes and that's probably on me, but when we man up ... These girls are pretty tough.”

Alyssa Eyth, one of the Tornado's five seniors, scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and had a pair of steals. Fellow senior Jenna Kunst had 11 points and four boards. Senior point guard Mia Rader had eight points and four assists.

Senior guards Morgan Gage and Nicole Pepmeyer chipped in with five and four points, respectively. Gage had two assists and two steals, Pepmeyer three rebounds.

“All of the seniors contributed. It was their day and they deserved it,” Maier said.

Julia Gibson came off the bench to score nine points and grab five rebounds for the Tornado.

“Our senior group has been through a lot of adversity, ups and downs,” Eyth said. “But getting through that adversity has made us stronger players and stronger people.

“We get into our man-to-man defense and everything just clicks for us. We talk a lot on the floor and that helps.”

Being coachable helps as well.

“I don't take credit for it because I'm a first-year head coach, but these girls just do it right,” Maier said. “They listen and they learn, on the court and in the classroom. That's why they'll succeed in life.”

Butler sank seven treys Saturday while Obama Academy sank none. The Tornado became just the third team — joining Latrobe and Allderdice — to score more than 50 points on the Eagles this season.

Obama Academy entered the game allowing 30.4 points a game while scoring 49.

“This (Butler) team has a lot of girls who can sink the three,” McCoy said. “The only team in the City League that can shoot like that is Allderdice.

“Their shooters clearly gave us problems today.”

OBAMA ACADEMY 19

Talia Mitchell 0-6 0-0 , Machia Hairston 1-6 0-0 2, Dyonna Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Kennedy Jetter 0-0 0-0 0, Zari Grandy 3-10 0-0 6, Keshya Jones 1-6 0-0 2, Drea Williams 0-4 0-2 0, Raylin Creighton 0-1 0-0 0, Sophie Levitt .1-3 0-0 2, Hailee Blackwell 2-4 3-3 7, Javonna Perkins 0-2 0-0 0 Totals: 8-42 3-5 19.

BUTLER 56

Nicole Pepmeyer 2-5 0-0 4, Mia Rader 2-4 2-2 8, Alyssa Eyth 4-7 3-4 13, Alison Altman 0-0 2-2 2, Emma Monteleone 1-2 0-0 3, Jenna Kunst 5-10 0-1 11, Sydney Hanratty 0-1 1-2 1, Morgan Gage 2-6 0-0 5, Julia Gibson 3-4 3-6 9, Emilee Altman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 19-41 11-17 56.

Obama Acad. 5 6 6 2 — 19

Butler15 11 14 16 — 56

3-point goals: Rader 2, Eyth 2, Monteleone, Kunst, Gage

JV: Butler, 46-33 (OA: Javonna Perkins 14, B: Alison Altman 15, Jordan Kauffman 10)

Monday: Hampton at Butler