Butler stifles SV in victory
JACKSON TWP — It didn't look all that good, but it certainly felt good.
The Butler girls basketball team hit its first 16 free throws and the defense frustrated Seneca Valley in a 41-33 road win Thursday night.
In a game between two struggling teams, a win — no matter how it came — was welcome.
“No matter what our record is, our goal was to just keep getting better,” said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. “We're looking to carry this into the next year. I think the girls understand this is what it takes every night in this section. I saw a lot of positive things tonight.”
One of those positives was defense.
While points were hard to come by for the Golden Tornado (4-16, 2-10), they made scoring even more of a daunting task for Seneca Valley.
“I thought our defense was the key,” Epps said. “We've been talking about playing better defense and getting after it, and I think that's what they did.”
The Raiders shot a mere 20 percent from the field.
Even more frustrating for Seneca Valley was its 17-of-32 shooting performance from the line.
“We did all the hard work, but we didn't reward ourselves with the foul shots,” said Seneca Valley coach Rob Lombardo.
Tornado sophomore Caitlin Baxter was 12-of-14 from the line, including two big one with Butler clinging to a 36-33 lead.
Baxter finished with 18 points.
“She's played solid all year,” Epps said. “You have to know she's going to make mistakes because, really, this is her first year out there running the show. She's doing a really nice job for us.”
The two teams were even for much of the first half. After the Raiders pulled ahead 19-18 on a jumper by Alyssa Miller at the start of the second quarter, the Golden Tornado went on a 10-0 spurt.
Seneca Valley (6-15, 2-10) never recovered.
The Raiders got as close as two points midway through the fourth quarter and trailed by three with 51 seconds remaining in the game, but they couldn't hit a big shot or a clutch free throw.
“We just played with no emotion,” Lombardo said. “I'm not going to sugar coat it. They've wrote off the season. I just told them that in the locker room. They got outworked from the opening tip to the final buzzer, and that, as a coach, I cannot accept. This is the first time I've doubted the kids' effort since I took over two years ago.”
Playing for the first time in seven days, Alex Karika scored 12 points.The Raiders were without guard Amanda Geiger, who suffered a broken foot.Lombardo is confident his team can end the season on a positive note Monday against Central Valley on senior night.“They'll play well because it is senior night and we have three seniors they love,” Lombardo said.<B>BUTLER 41</B>Natalie Barkus 0-3 0-0 0, Mackenzie O'Donnell 2-5 4-5 8, Samantha Marak 1-2 0-0 2, Jasmine Bailey 2-10 2-2 6, Shelby Johnston 0-6 3-5 3, Lauren Bresnahan 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Houk 2-3 0-0 4, Caitlin Baxter 3-9 12-14 18. <B>Totals:</B> 10-38 21-26 41.<B>SENECA VALLEY 33</B>Brooke Clifford 1-2 0-3 2, Julia Vandrak 0-4 0-0 0, Karlei Fronzaglio 0-3 1-2 1, Alyssa Miller 2-11 1-2 5, Katie Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Mary Kate Fullerton 1-2 0-2 0, Bri Sieminski 0-2 2-2 2, Angie Lalonde 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Karika 0-7 12-17 12, Abby Trzeciak 4-7 1-4 9. <B>Totals:</B> 8-40 17-32 33.<B>Butler 12 6 10 13—41Seneca Valley 12 5 9 7—333-point goals:</B> None<B>JV Score:</B> Seneca Valley 59-31 (SV: Trzeciak 22; B: Barkus 16)<B>Monday:</B> New Castle at Butler; Central Valley at Seneca Valley
