HAMPTON TWP — Butler's girls basketball defeated Hampton 31-27 in its season finale on the road Monday night.

The Golden Tornado finished the season with an 8-14 overall record. Hampton had a chance in the final stages of the game to tie the Tornado — trailing by four — but fell short behind a strong Butler defense.

“When we were up four or five and they had the ball I said 'no three's and no fouls,'” Butler coach Mark Maier said. “If they earn a two-pointer, that's okay, don't foul them, keep the clock running and we gotta be strong with the ball.

“I thought we turned it over too many times in the end and we did give them a chance.”

Butler grabbed its first lead of the game at the 2:40 mark of the third quarter and never gave it back. The Tornado extended their lead to five at 5:02 of the fourth period behind a steal from Emma Monteleone, who then drove the ball in for two points.

“I thought we really competed in the final two minutes,” Hampton coach Tony Howard said. “We were kind of hesitant, but more aggressive defensively. We gave ourselves some chances.”

Jordan Kauffman lead the Tornado in scoring with 17 points, behind a 12- point third quarter where she landed two of her three treys.

“It's funny, I sit here and I know we won, but as a coach you kind of take the 30,000 foot view, but we hit some big shots,” Maier said. “Shoot good, coach good. If you shoot well, in theory you're looking like you know what you're doing, but No. 15 Jordan Kauffman hit those three's.”

The Talbots took a 13-11 lead into halftime.

“(Butler) was doing some switching with the talls and the smalls and we hadn't seen that all year, to be honest, so in the second quarter we talked about it, but our girls just weren't seeing the mismatches,” Howard said. “We finally started to get under control, handle the switch and beat the ball to the post players. We were able to make something happen from that.”

Monteleone was able to notch six points for the Tornado, while Ali Altman and Sarayne Forbes added four each. The Talbots were led by Kate Schmitt's eight and Kayla Hoehler with five.

“We were up five, seven, but probably had four turnovers in the end, but to their credit they were really scrambling,” Maier said. “Had nothing to lose, a little bugaboo with turnovers, but it was a good thing we made enough shots in the end to get the win.”

BUTLER 31

Sarayne Forbes 0-0 4, Jordan Kauffman 2-4 17, Emma Monteleone 0-1 6, Ali Altman 0-0 4. Totals: 13 2-5 31.

HAMPTON 27

Liv Bianco 0-0 3, Kayla Hoehler 1-2 5, Sophie Kelly 0-0 4, Katie Baker 2-2 4, Maddie Stevens 0-0 2, Kate Schmitt 0-0 8, Kayla Januck 1-2 1. Totals: 12 4-6 27.

Butler 9 2 14 6 — 31

Hampton9 4 11 3 — 27

3-point goals: Kauffman 3; Bianco