JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley girls basketball team must have felt like it had crossed paths with an angry swarm of hornets.

Butler defenders seemed to be everywhere.

Just 52 seconds into the game, the Golden Tornado had forced three turnovers and were up 8-0 when Raiders coach Rob Lombardo called a timeout.

Moments later, Butler's run to begin the game was bumped to 10-0.

By the end of the contest, Butler had caused 31 turnovers in a dominating 73-38 win Monday night.

"That's what we do. That's our identity," Tornado coach Dorothea Epps said. "We knew that Seneca Valley is young and inexperienced, and, playing a section game on the road, we wanted to get off to a fast start."

The Raiders (1-11, 1-5) rebounded later in the opening quarter to cut Butler's lead to six points, but the Tornado answered right back and led 12 points entering the second period and 39-21 at halftime.

"We will give any team in the WPIAL a good 16 minutes of play at some point during a game," Lombardo said. "But we're just not ready to compete for an entire 32 minutes against a program as strong as Butler is right now."

The Raiders were without their top scorer, sophomore forward Alex Karika (10.6 points per game), who was at a college volleyball showcase in Philadelphia.

"She had a prior commitment and she told me about it at the beginning of the season," said Lombardo. "Honestly, with or without Alex, we lose this game by 30 points."

With the outcome of the game already decided, Epps emptied her bench in the second half.

"We've been trying to play a lot of younger girls because you never know who you're going to need later in the season," said Epps. "The last few games, we've started (freshmen) Cait Baxter and Mackenzie O'Donnell, and both of them have done a nice job."

Butler's Olivia Bresnahan led all scorers with 13 points, while Becky Nowacki and Casie Cygan each added 10 for the Golden Tornado (8-5, 6-0), who finished the first half of the Section 3-AAAA slate unbeaten.

"I like that the girls have bought into the idea to play defense first," said Epps. "At the beginning of the season, they were more concerned with the offense. They've learned that playing good defense can turn into offense."

Julia Vandrak paced the Raiders with 11 points.

BUTLER 73Casey Fleeger 2 0-0 5, Katresa Savisky 2 4-6 8, Becky Nowacki 3 4-4 10, Olivia Bresnahan 4 5-8 13, Amanda Dymun 2 1-2 6, Emily Wise 1 1-2 3, Casie Cygan 3 4-4 10, Mackenzie O'Donnell 2 4-6 8, Allie Houk 1 0-0 2, Cait Baxter 1 0-0 2, Ali Sedwick 1 0-0 2, Samantha Marak 1 2-2 4, Angie Nowacki 0 0-0 0, Jasmine Bailey 0 0-0 0, Amber Steinheiser 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23 25-34 73.

SENECA VALLEY 38Julia Vandrak 3 5-5 11, Beth Talarico 2 0-0 5, Gabby Allen 1 4-5 6, Alyssa Miller 2 2-2 7, Kara Moyer 1 1-2 4, Brianna Sieminski 0 1-4 1, Angie Lalonde 1 0-0 2, Brooke Clifford 1 0-2 2, Michelle Schuring 0 0-2 0, Amanda Geiger 0 0-1 0, Karlei Fronzaglio 0 0-0 0, Mary Kate Fullerton 0 0-0 0, Dani Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 11 13-23 38.

Butler 26 13 23 11—73Seneca Valley 14 7 12 5—383-point goals: Butler 2 (Fleeger, Dymun); Seneca Valley 3 (Talarico, Miller, Moyer).

JV score: Butler 38-15 (B-Sedwick 9 points; SV-Hensler 4)

Thursday: Moon at Seneca Valley; Butler at North Hills