NEW CASTLE - Jaleesa Sams got loose. And the game got away.

New Castle's 5-foot-11 sophomore guard-forward scored 22 of her season-high 26 points in the second half Tuesday as the Hurricanes rallied for a 43-36 girls basketball win over Butler.

The Golden Tornado (9-8, 3-4) held New Castle to 12 points in the first half and took a 19-12 lead when Samantha Karns sank a layup in the early seconds of the third quarter.

New Castle tied the game on four occasions but never led until Sams drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer ending the third period, giving the 'Canes a 25-22 lead.

The ball was in-bounded to Sams underneath her own basket with 4.6 seconds left. She quickly dribbled straight up the court and took the shot from the top of the key just before the buzzer.

"That was the biggest shot of the game," New Castle coach Luann Grybowski said. "We never seemed to be challenged after that."

Sams made sure of that. She then scored 15 of 17 New Castle points during to open a 33-25 lead with 3:50 remaining.

"Our plan was to limit her (Sams) number of touches," Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. "We were effective doing that in our 3-2 zone, but once they took the lead, we had to come out of that.

"We weren't getting help defending her down low at times and she got loose."

Sams averages 16 points per game. She scored 26 in a game one other time this season.

"Once she gets the ball in the paint, nobody can keep her from scoring," Grybowski said."

New Castle's lead peaked at 39-29 with 1:44 to play.

Butler had 10 turnovers in the second half to New Castle's one.

"That's the game right there," Epps said. "We didn't convert enough possessions."

Butler's 36 points marked a season-low. The Tornado's cause was further damaged when Karns injured her knee early in the third quarter and did not return.

"Losing Karns hurt them," Grybowski said. "She gets a lot of offensive rebounds for them and they were missing that after she was injured."

New Castle had a 28-27 rebounding edge overall. Natalie Wallace contributed eight points and nine rebounds while Sams grabbed eight boards.

Amy Achesinski had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Tornado. Kelly Miller was held to six points, just one in the second half.

"I thought Nikki Karatinos did an outstanding job on Miller," Grybowski said.

"Part of that was on Kelly," Epps said. "When you're the star player, you've got to force the action a little more, take the play to the other team."

The victory keeps New Castle (11-3, 5-2) in first place in Section 3-AAAA and undefeated at home. Butler travels to Pine-Richland as part of a girls-boys doubleheader Friday.

BUTLER 36

Kelly Miller 2-7 2-4 6, Liz Schultz 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Nocera 0-1 0-0 0, Amy Achesinski 7-12 3-6 17, Maria Baroffio 2-3 1-3 6, Julie Ehrman 1-6 0-0 3, Samantha Karns 2-4 0-0 4, Michelle Ritchey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-33 6-13 36

NEW CASTLE 43

Ryenn Micaletti 0-5 1-2 1, Nikki Karatinos 2-6 0-1 4, Logan Hartman 0-1 0-2 0, Jaleesa Sams 11-19 3-6 26, Shirl Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Natalie Wallace 4-9 0-0 8, Kara Joseph 1-3 0-1 2. Totals: 19-44 4-12 43

3-point goals:

Baroffio, Ehrman; Sams

JV:

New Castle, 31-27 (B-Rachel Barry 10)

Friday:

Butler @ Pine-Richland