FOX CHAPEL — Seemingly cured of the fourth-quarter blues, Butler suffered a relapse Tuesday night.

The Golden Tornado suffered nine turnovers in the final eight minutes — including five consecutive possessions at one point — in dropping a 64-58 WPIAL Class AAAA girls basketball playoff game to Gateway at Fox Chapel High School.

The loss snapped a three-game Tornado winning streak and ended Butler's season at 16-8. Gateway (18-7), a winner in 10 of its last 12 games, will play Trinity in the second round.

"I thought we had gotten past those bad fourth quarters," Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. "I guess I was wrong."

Neither team ever led the other by more than five points in the first three periods. Butler's biggest lead was 16-12 with 735 left in the first half.

Gateway's biggest lead was 31-26 with six minutes left in the third quarter. A short jumper by Butler's Maria Baroffio knotted the game at 38 two seconds before the end of the third quarter.

"We expected this type of game," Gateway coach Jennifer Scott said. "We knew we'd have to pressure them in the back-court at some point.

"I was only playing six kids, so I was biding my time."

And she picked the right time.

A Julie Ehrman trey gave Butler a 41-38 lead with 7:37 left in the game. But Gateway sophomore point guard Jamie Smith answered that with a trey of her own on the Gators' next possession.

Butler's run of turnovers followed and Gateway took advantage.

Shayla Scott canned a short jumper. Smith buried another 3-pointer and Scott hit a pair of free throws. That polished off a 10-0 Gator run — the only run of the game for either team — and provided a lead Gateway never lost.

Butler had 20 turnovers in the game to Gateway's eight.

"We had a three-point lead and fell apart," Epps said. "We have to learn how to keep our composure when the other team is making a run. That's part of basketball.

"I feel so badly for our girls. They wanted to win this game so much. We played hard. We just didn't play smart."

Before sinking her two treys in the final quarter, Smith was 0-for-9 from the floor and 0-for-4 at the foul line for Gateway. She averages 13 points per game.

"While she wasn't scoring, she was doing a great job distributing the basketball and running our offense," Scott said. "And she came up big for us when it counted."

Along with her 3-pointers, Smith hit a free throw with 10.2 seconds left to give the Gators a 62-58 lead and ice the game after Baroffio sank a trey to pull Butler within three points.

Baroffio scored a career-high 24 points and had six rebounds for the Tornado. Amy Achesinski added 18 points and nine boards.

"Maria had a fantastic game on both ends of the floor," Epps said. "Samantha Karns (flu) was sick as a dog tonight and she played anyway.

"It meant a lot to our whole team that she even showed up here tonight. She doesn't get much publicity because she doesn't score a lot, but Sam does so many little things well that we struggle when she's not in there."

Scott scored 22 points for Gateway with fellow forward Quiana Brown adding 18. Both average approximately 15 per game.

"They both came up big tonight and we needed them," Scott said. "Giving up 58 points … That's not us. I'm not happy with that."

Gateway gave up more than 50 points only one other time all season — a 68-59 win over Norwin on Dec. 9.

The 64 points allowed by Butler marked the most the Tornado allowed in regulation time this season. North Allegheny defeated Butler 83-78 in double overtime on Jan. 23.

Tuesday's loss ended the high school basketball careers of Butler seniors Karns, Julie Ehrman, Ashley Nocera, Abby Herrit, Michelle Ritchey and Kelley Crater.

"Some of those girls didn't play much, but they all worked hard for four years and stuck with us," Epps said. "It's a special group. I won't forget them."

BUTLER 58

Rachel Barry 0-1 0-2 0, Lyndsy Day 1-4 2-2 4, Liz Schultz 0-1 0-0 0, Amy Achesinski 6-11 6-8 18, Maria Baroffio 8-9 6-7 24, Julie Ehrman 2-8 3-4 9, Samantha Karns 1-2 1-2 3, Ashley Nocera 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-36 18-25 58

GATEWAY 64

Jamie Smith 2-12 1-7 7, Amanda Vranka 2-4 2-2 6, Ashlie Prioleau 2-4 1-1 5, Shayla Scott 7-12 8-9 22, Kate Kromka 2-4 2-5 6, Quiana Brown 8-13 0-1 18. Totals: 23-49 14-26 64

3-point goals:

Baroffio 2, Ehrman 2; Smith 2, Brown 2