Bombed Out
BUTLER TWP — Early on in Thursday's section girls basketball game between North Allegheny and Butler, the Golden Tornado were hanging with the undefeated Tigers.
Then NA began playing the game on its terms.
Leading 9-7 late in the first quarter, the Tigers dropped a 15-0 run on Butler and were never threatened again in a 56-23 road win.
“You have to limit their possessions and that's what we were working on coming in,” said Butler coach Mark Maier. “But we turned the ball over (15 times in the first half) and NA has four really good shooters and a post player (Madelyn Fischer) who knows what she is doing. Our deficit got to be 14-7 and 16-7 and our girls started to press a little bit.
“They're ranked No. 1 in the state and have done this to a lot of teams.”
Outside shooting was at the center of the Tigers' offensive dominance. They drained 12 treys in the game, six in both halves.
“When we're shooting from the perimeter like we were tonight, we look very good,” said NA coach Spencer Stefko.
Senior Courtney Roman hit four of her six treys in the first half as the Tigers (18-0, 9-0) led 32-13 at the break. Roman scored a game-high 20 points.
Both teams removed their starters in the third period as North Allegheny opened the second half with a 16-0 run.
Mia Rader, Emilee Altman and Alison Altman each tallied five points in defeat.
“I don't think we're 33 points worse than NA, but that's what the scoreboard says,” Maier said.
Butler (10-8, 5-4) has already clinched a WPIAL Class 6A playoff berth, but Maier is hoping his team can finish with an above-.500 section record by winning at Seneca Valley (10-8, 5-4) on Monday.
“That game will be for second place in the section, which is big,” said Maier. “It sounds a lot better to be 6-4 in the section than 5-5.”
Butler's JV team moved its record to 17-1 with a 52-49 win over the Tigers. Jordan Kauffman scored 25 points to pace the Golden Tornado, who avenged their only loss of the season.
NORTH ALLEGHENY 56
Brooke Barcia 1 0-0 3, Courtney Roman 7 0-0 20, Rachel Martindale 4 0-0 11, Piper Morningstar 1 0-0 2, Lizzy Groetsch 1 0-0 3, Katerina Balouris 3 2-2 8, Madelyn Fischer 2 2-2 6, Dana Manz 1 0-0 3, Brynn Serbin 0 0-0 0, Kristen Chomos 0 0-0 0, Olivia Whitacre 0 0-0 0, Kamaria Carioto 0 0-0 0, Mary Evankovich 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 4-4 56.
BUTLER 23
Mia Rader 2 0-0 5, Jenna Kunst 0 1-2 1, Julia Gibson 1 0-0 2, Emilee Altman 1 2-2 5, Emma Monteleone 0 1-2 1, Sydney Hanratty 1 2-2 4, Alison Altman 2 1-2 5. Totals: 7 7-10 23.
North Allegheny 14 18 16 8 — 56
Butler7 6 1 9 — 23
3-point goals: North Allegheny 12 (Roman 6, Martindale 3, Groetsch, Manz, Barcia); Butler 2 (Rader, E. Altman).
Monday: Butler at Seneca Valley
