BUTLER TWP — With all five starters back from last season, Shaler doesn't need any help.

The Titans got some anyway, taking advantage of 33 Butler turnovers Tuesday night to snare a 59-39 Section 3-AAAA girls basketball win over the Golden Tornado.

Butler (1-3, 0-2) had 14 of those turnovers in the first quarter, managing to get off only three field goal attempts in the first eight minutes.

“We've got to start games better,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. “Once we settle in, we do OK, but we're digging ourselves too big a hole.

“We need to make games ugly, but we need to stay competitive, too.”

Despite the rough start, Butler trailed only 10-4 after the firtst period. The Titans (5-1, 1-0) outscored the Tornado 35-21 in the middle two quarters to seize control of the game.

Shaler outrebounded Butler 27-14 in the second half. 40-28 for the game.

“We talked about rebounding at halftime,” Shaler coach Eric Mozzetti said. “We didn‘t change anything. We just wanted to be more aggressive on the boards.

“We feel like this could be our year to do something in this section. We need to take over games.”

Shannon Powell, a 6-foot-1 senior center, paced the Titans with 15 points and nine rebounds. Val McQuade added eight points and six boards, Hilary Sauer nine points and five rebounds.

Shaler's lead peaked at 24 — 57-33 — with 1:51 left in the game.

“Our big girls need to play big,” Epps said. “When your guards are getting more rebounds than your big girls, that's a problem.”

Sophomore point guard Caitlin Baxter led Butler with 12 points, but sank only four of 16 shots from the floor. Jasmine Bailey had 11 points and five rebounds.

“They have a young team and, sure, we wanted to pressure them,” Mozzetti said. “But we want to pressure everybody.”

Shaler attempted 32 free throws to Butler's 11. The Tornado's Ali Houk and Shelby Johnston fouled out of the game.

The Tornado have yet to score more than 42 points in a game this season.

“Our biggest problem is that we can't score,” Epps said. “When we give up points off turnovers and fall behind by 14 or 16, we can't play a zone defense and our options are limited.

“That's what happens when you have a young team. That's what we're dealing with right now.”

SHALER 59Aila Bradford 3-3 1-3 7, Maria Bozzo 0-2 2-2 2, Paige Quinn 0-3 0-0 0, Courtney Bauer 0-2 0-0 0, Hilary Sauer 3-4 3-4 9, Ashley Domachowski 3-7 2-4 8, Val McQuade 3-9 2-4 8, Haley Sauer 1-5 2-4 4, Shannon Powell 5-12 5-7 15, C.J. Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Kelly Barry 2-6 2-2 6.

Totals: 20-52 19-32 59.

BUTLER 39Mackenzie O'Donnell 1-1 1-2 3, Sam Marak 2-3 1-2 6, Jasmine Bailey 5-10 1-4 11, Emily Eyth 2-8 0-0 5, Shelby Johnston 0-1 0-0 0, Ali Houk 1-4 0-0 2, Caitlin Baxter 4-16 3-3 12.

Totals: 15-43 6-11 39.

Shaler 10 17 18 14—59Butler 4 11 10 14—393-point goals: Shaler 0; Butler 3 (Marak, Eyth, Baxter).

Junior varsity: Shaler, 45-27 (S: Aila Bradford 15, C.J. Harris 12; B: Mackenzie O'Donnell 9, Emily Eyth 8)

Thursday: Altoona at Butler