Stunning!
BUTLER TWP — The shot was there. Her team needed it. So Danielle Hensel took it.
And she buried it.
The junior guard's 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left capped a furious final 30-second rally. It handed Butler's girls basketball team a 49-48 victory over previously unbeaten Vincentian Academy in the finals of the Butler Christmas Tournament Saturday night.
The Royals (7-1) are two-time defending WPIAL Class A champions. The loss was only Vincentian's fifth in 69 games over the past three seasons.
“This is a huge win for our girls,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. “What I like about it is they never gave up. We showed a lot of character the way we got this one.”
The Golden Tornado (5-2) led by as many as 11 (23-12) in the second quarter before Vincentian began clawing its way back. The Royals took their first lead with 51 seconds left in the third quarter as Cranberry Township's Brenna Wise laid a shot in for a 36-35 edge.
Vincentian built that lead to 45-37 with 3:39 left in the game. Two free throws by Wise gave the visitors a 48-43 edge with 38.6 seconds left.
But it slipped away.
“This one stings,” Vincentian coach Ron Moncrief said. “We didn't take care of the ball. We made some bad decisions late.
“But this is why we play games like this, to learn from our mistakes.”
Alyssa DiPippa drained a trey for the Tornado with 24.2 seconds left, cutting the deficit to 48-46. Lauren Bresnahan, the lone senior on Butler's roster, then stole the ball near midcourt.
Butler worked the ball along the perimeter before Hensel found herself standing beyond the arc, the ball in her hands with time running out.
Hensel had taken only two shots the entire game and had not registered a field goal.
“I was in the open and knew the situation,” she said. “Really, I didn't even think about it. I can hit 3-pointers, so I just let it go.”
Epps described Bresnahan as “a leader on this team. She's not a flashy player, but all she wants to do is win.
“Then Danielle came up big for us, just like Pipp did moments earlier. Obviously ... That's a shot she'll never forget.”
Vincentian threw the ensuing in-bounds pass away and the Royals fouled Bresnahan immediately. She missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Julia Baxter snared the rebound to preserve the win.
Baxter had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Tornado, giving her 44 points and 34 boards in the tournament. DiPippa had 13 points, six boards and three assists Saturday.“Consistency has been Julia's thing so far this year,” Epps said. “She's a different player. She's a monster on the boards.”Moncrief agreed.“That girl is hard to handle inside because she is so strong with the ball,” Moncrief said. “Butler never quit on this game. They made some clutch plays to take it from us.”Butler managed to win despite 23 turnovers. Vincentian had 13.Wise paced Vincentian with 20 points, 13 rebounds and six steals. Torrieonna Cash added 10 points and three steals.“It's nice to win a tournament on your home floor, especially against an undefeated team,” Hensel said. “This will give us plenty of confidence.”Chartiers Valley 43, Bishop Canevin 31 — Neither team shot 30 percent from the floor, but the Colts (2-6) snapped a five-game losing streak.Jenna Devinney sank five 3-pointers to lead Chartiers Valley with 15 points. She sank 11 treys in the tournament. Libby Schneider added 13 points.Gina Vallecorsa had 11 points and eight rebounds for Bishop Canevin (7-3), which shot 27 percent from the floor while scoring a season-low 31 points.VINCENTIAN 48Torrieana Cash 4-13 2-4 10, Ally Barttoszewicz 4-10 0-0 9, Kayla Key 1-4 1-2 3, Maia Joiner 0-7 1-3 1, Kiersten Elliot 2-5 0-0 5, Julia Galbraith 0-0 0-0 0, Brenna Wise 6-15 8-10 20, Marissa Muth 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-54 12-19 48.BUTLER 49Alyssa DiPippa 4-12 4-4 13, Ronni Guiney 1-4 0-0 3, Danielle Hensel 1-3 3-4 6, Kaylynn Callihan 1-3 0-0 2, Lauren Bresnahan 0-3 2-3 2, Julia Baxter 10-14 1-2 21, Paige Lambermont 1-1 0-0 2 . Totals: 18-40 10-15 49.Vincentian 6 19 13 10—48Butler15 11 9 14—493-point goals: Bartoszewicz, Elliot; DiPippa, Guiney, HenselJV: Butler, 41-32 (V: Katie Conner 19, B: Paige Lambermont 16)Thursday: Butler at Pine-RichlandCHARTIERS VALLEY 43Abbey Collins 0-0 0-1 0, Annie Pocella 1-5 0-0 2, Libby Schneider 3-4 6-11 13, Karly O'Keefe 0-1 0-0 0, Jenna Devinney 5-13 0-0 15, Maura Malone 0-3 1-2 1, Jamie Neary 3-6 0-0 6, Lauren Herron 0-8 6-8 6. Totals: 12-41 13-22 43.BISHOP CANEVIN 31Erin Joyce 2-9 0-0 5, Caroline DeFrank 1-3 0-0 2, Gina Vallecorsa 4-15 3-4 11, Riley O'Donnell 0-0 0-0 0, Johnnie Olkosky 3-8 2-2 9, Becca Turney 1-3 1-3 3, Sarah Green 0-0 1-2 1, Riana Conway 0-0 0-2 0, Natashia Rajakovich 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 11-40 7-13 31.Char Valley 8 14 8 13—43Bishop Canevin7 7 6 11—313-point goals: Devinney 5, Schneider; Joyce, Olkosky
