ROSS TWP — Butler did everything right — except put the ball in the basket.

The Golden Tornado's fourth-quarter comeback bid was short-circuited by four missed lay-ups in the final minute of a 38-32 WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball playoff loss to Upper St. Clair Tuesday night at North Hills High School.

Butler (13-10) trailed the Panthers 35-22 entering the final period and limited them to three points the rest of the way.

“Our defense was good, we fouled the right people, they missed those foul shots ... We just didn't convert at the other end,” Tornado coach Mark Maier said.

Alyssa Eyth and Jenna Kunst combined to score 29 of Butler's 32 points. Kunst's fourth trey of the second half pulled the Tornado within 37-32 with 2:20 remaining.

Kennedy Bayer, Lindsay Mayer and Margaret McClintock all missed the front end of one-and-one's for Upper St. Clair (13-9) after Kunst's trey. But Butler never scored again.

Kunst missed a lay-up and Eyth misfired on three of them. After Olivia McClelland finally sank a free throw with 4.8 seconds left for USC, Mia Rader missed a meaningless lay-up as time expired.

“We let them back into the game, didn't we?,” USC coach Pete Serio said. “We couldn't make a free throw. We had a couple of turnovers in there, too.

“This group of girls have never played in the playoffs before. That probably had a lot to do with how we played late.

“But Butler kept on coming,” Serio added.

The Tornado never led in the contest. They fell behind 6-0 before rallying to knot the game at nine by the end of the first quarter.

USC outscored Butler 15-3 in the second quarter to take control of the game. Anna Groninger scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter for the Panthers. She sank three treys in the period.

“Anna averages about 13 a game for us,” Serio said. “She had a hot quarter there and that was probably the difference in the game.”

Kunst picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game and sat for eight minutes. She returned to action midway through the second period, but did not score a point in the first half.

“Jenna does a lot of things for us on the court and we definitely missed her during that time,” Maier said. “Alyssa carried us offensively while (Kunst) was on the bench.”

Eyth scored nine of Butler's 12 points in the first half.

Eyth finished the game with 15 points and nine rebounds. Kunst scored 14 points and grabbed five boards. Jordan Kauffman — who sank a trey in the first quarter — scored the Tornado's other three points.

“We never developed that third scorer,” Maier said. “Alyssa and Jenna are exceptional, but it's almost impossible to win when your scoring is that top-heavy.

“Upper At. Clair has five girls probably averaging around 10 points each. They don't have a standout, but they an all score and they're well-coached.”

Rader had five assists for the Tornado.

Groninger had three assists to go with her 16 points for USC. McClelland scored 10 points while Meyer and Bayer had eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

Serio raved about the aggressive play of Eyth and Kunst.

“We had to switch to a zone because they were penetrating to the hoop so well,” he said. “We couldn't stop them from driving.”

Eyth, Kunst, Rader, Nicole Pepmeyer and Morgan Gage played their final games for Butler.

“Those seniors had three head coaches in four years,” Maier said. “They overcame so much adversity. They could have chosen to do their own thing this year, but they remained coachable.

“I feel terrible they didn't get a playoff win. They deserved one. I wanted so badly to get that for them,”

UPPER ST. CLAIR 38

Allison Dellicarri 0-3 0-0 0, Margaret McClintock 1-3 0-1 2, Olivia McClelland 3-7 3-4 10, Lindsay Meyer 1-5 1-3 4, Kennedy Bayerr 1-4 1-3 3, Cassandra Kartsonas 1-1 0-0 3, Alexis John 0-1 0-0 0, Anna Groninger 6-12 0-0 16. Totals: 13-36 5-11 38.

BUTLER 32

Nicole Pepmeyer 0-0 0-0 0, Mia Rader 0-5 0-0 0, Alyssa Eyth 6-11 3-5 15, Jordan Kauffman 1-3 0-0 3, Jenna Kunst 5-14 0-0 14, Julia Gibson 0-2 0-0 0, Emilee Altman 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 12-38 3-5 32.

Upper St. Clair 9 15 11 3 — 38

Butler9 3 10 10 — 32

3-point goals: McClelland, Meyer, Kartsonas, Groninger 4; Kunst 4, Kauffman

Friday: Upper St. Clair vs. North Allegheny, site and time TBA