BUTLER TWP — Just three minutes into the game, the Butler girls basketball team had committed four turnovers and were down to Norwin 11-3 at home.

“It was looking like blowout city,” lamented Butler coach Mark Maier.

It turned out to be a slog for both teams.

Butler and Norwin spent the rest of the game turning up the defensive heat on each other, but the Golden Tornado could never crawl out of that early hole dug for them in a 60-49 home section loss Monday night.

Turnovers were the big bugaboo for Butler.

The Golden Tornado had 13 in the first half and 21 in the game. Most of them turned into easy buckets at the other end for Norwin.

“Here's the thing — I think we're a pretty good shooting team,” Maier said. “Take those away and pretend those are all shots. I'd take Jordan getting five more shots. Gibby (Julia Gibson) getting another four shots. Good things happen when you get off a shot. Granted, they are a good team. They trap well and it's impossible to eliminate all of them.”

The trap was particularly troublesome for Butler (5-5, 2-3).

Because of Norwin's frenetic style on defense and its athleticism, the Tornado were rarely able to get into a set offense.

It turned the game into a 32-minute scramble drill.

Just as Norwin (9-1, 4-1) likes it.

“You can't always determine how you're going to shoot the ball when you come into the gym,” Norwin coach Brian Brozesky said. “You have good days and you have bad days. But you can't have any bad days on defense. You should come ready to play that any day and I was really pleased with how the girls went out and executed the schemes. The effort was definitely there.”

Still, Butler didn't fold under the intense pressure from the Knights.

The Tornado closed the gap to five near the end of the first half and trailed by six after two quarters.

It was Maier feeling confident heading into the second half.

“We came in at halftime and said, 'Boy, for how we played with 13 turnovers to be down by six — we'll take it,'” Maier said.

Norwin, though, pushed the lead back to double digits in the early part of the third quarter.

Butler got as close as seven at the end of the third period, but couldn't trim the Norwin advantage any more.

“This is a tough section. Everyone comes ready to play every game,” Brozesky said. “It was definitely a battle. I was pleased with the way our girls stayed with it and grinded it out ourselves and came out on top.”

Emily Brozesky was the main beneficiary of Norwin's defense, scoring a game-high 22 points on 10 of 14 shooting.

Jessica Kolesar, who had eight points in the first three minutes of the game, finished with 14 for the Knights.

But it was the play of point guard Jayla Wehner that may have been the difference.

Her quickness skirted Butler's own trap. She also scored 12 clutch points.

“What she does doesn't always show up in the box score,” Brozesky said.

Jordan Kauffman scored 11 points to lead Butler. Ali Altman added nine off the bench and Julia Gibson and Sydney Hanratty each had eight.

Butler won't have long to dwell on this loss. The Golden Tornado travel to Knoch Tuesday.

Another night. Another game against a team called the Knights.

Maier is hoping for a better outcome this time around.

“The good news is we have Knoch (Tuesday). We get to get the taste out of our mouths from this one and hopefully get a win,” Maier said. “We picked it up three or four weeks ago. It's good to get a non-section game before we play (North Allegheny Friday).”

NORWIN 60

Emily Brozesky 10-14 2-2 22, Jessica Kolesar 6-11 2-3 14, Maggie Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Jayla Wehner 5-11 0-0 12, Kenzie Yaniga 1-2 0-0 2, Mara Polczynski 1-2 0-0 2, Belanna Zajicek 0-1 0-0 0, Danielle Russo 2-8 2-2 6, Jaclyn Caputo 0-1 0-0 0, Cassie Cole 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-55 8-9 60.

BUTLER 49

Julia Gibson 2-3 4-6 8, Jordan Kauffman 3-12 4-4 11, Emma Monteleone 2-4 0-1 4, Sydney Hanratty 3-5 0-0 8, Emilee Altman 2-5 2-3 6, Ali Altman 1-5 7-8 9, Hailey Metzger 1-2 0-0 4, Aubree Tack 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 14-37 17-24 49.

Norwin 20 11 18 11 — 60

Butler10 15 17 7 — 49

3-point goals: Norwin 2 (Wehner 2); Butler 3 (Kauffman, Hanratty 2)

Tuesday: Butler at Knoch