BUTLER TWP — It's the end of a Sunday practice and Sarayne Forbes grabs a basketball, toes the free throw line and gets ready to put up more shots.

A lot more shots.

For Forbes, a 5-foot-5 junior guard, it's what she feels she must do to gain an edge, especially with her role and importance increasing for the Butler girls basketball team.

“The game is going to have to be a steady part of my life,” Forbes said.

Forbes has been a steady part of the Golden Tornado this season, a year after she saw very few varsity minutes.

Her role expanded when she cracked the starting lineup at the beginning of the season and increased even more when senior Jordan Kauffman went down with a torn ACL.

“What led to that was definitely unfortunate, but I'm glad for the experience and hopefully it will lead to better things next year,” Forbes said.

Forbes is averaging 8.5 points per game this season for a Butler team that had a disappointing campaign, due in part to injuries and a slew of narrow defeats.

But a core that features Forbes, sophomore Makenna Maier and junior Ali Altman seems to have a brighter future.

“The only thing that Jordan's injury allowed us to do was figure out how we're going to play without her sooner than we wanted to,” said Butler coach Mark Maier. “But we figured it out.”

Figuring things out is a Forbes specialty.

Smart, articulate and very cerebral, Forbes attacks a problem from all sides.

Sometimes, as Maier pointed out, she thinks too much while on the court, instead of letting her natural talent take over.

“Sometimes when we're in practice and I ask a question, I'll look at Sarayne and say, 'Dr. Forbes, what's your answer?'” Maier said. “She's very well-spoken. Good kid. Sarayne puts a lot of time into this. Unlike other girls, I try to get her to think less.”

Forbes also puts a lot of time into other things.

Cyber-schooled, Forbes thinks that opens up her time to practice basketball more.

It also affords her the opportunity to do work in the community.

Since she was 11, Forbes has volunteered at the Butler Area Public Library and had an internship there over the summer.

That internship allowed her to travel to Chicago and Washington D.C. to participate in a nationwide program.

“In the summer I helped out with the summer reading program,” Forbes said.

An avid reader herself, Forbes has found the library a second home.

“I really love being at the library,” she said. “Recently I've been reading more non-fiction narratives. But I read most things, really.”

Forbes' goal is to play basketball in college.

She began playing when she was 7, but didn't really warm up to the game until a few years later.

“I think I liked it. I don't remember disliking it,” Forbes said. “I just don't remember an avid love of it until maybe when I was joining school teams. I'm the kind of person who enjoys being very good at things.”

Thus taking free throws on a Sunday afternoon after practice.

Maier, for one, thinks Forbes can accomplish her goal of playing at the next level.

“She's the type of player who can play in college with her skill set,” the coach said.

To do that, Forbes knows her role will have to change.

Again.

“That's why I've been focusing on ballhandling,” Forbes said. “If I play in college, being 5-5, I'm going to have to be a point guard, probably.”