BUTLER TWP — Makenna Maier and Aubree Tack answered the 5 a.m. alarm with excitement.

That's not usually how they greet an early wake-up call. Those early mornings are usually accompanied by groans.

But this was different.

They were about to embark on a 500-mile journey to Indian Trail, N.C. — just outside of Charlotte — to take on some of the best AAU girls basketball teams around in the Apache Showcase.

It was a long trip, but one that was well worth it for the Butler High School basketball duo and Mark Maier, their AAU coach and also their coach at Butler High School.

“It was good competition,” Makenna Maier said. “There were teams from all over there, teams we've never seen before. It was a lot of fun.”

Winning always is.

It was Slaam's third tournament of the young AAU season and the first one a significant distance from Western Pennsylvania.

It was also the first tournament the team, which also features Butler's Maisy Gibson, who could not attend the tournament in North Carolina, really meshed.

Slaam went 4-0 in the tournament to win the championship. They beat teams from North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee to win the Gold title.

“We didn't know much about the teams,” Makenna said. “Our goal was just to go hard and compete. I mean, we didn't want to lose, but we really just wanted to give our best effort every game. When we got to the title game we were like, 'We might as well win.' We played well together.”

Defense was the key for Slaam in the tournament.

And Tack may have been the secret weapon.

One of the most tenacious defenders in the WPIAL for Butler, Tack has been unleashed even more in AAU, where officials tend to let more things go.

Tack was everywhere in Charlotte, making steals, swatting passes, diving on loose balls.

She was a huge thorn in each team's side.

“There was one time in the championship game when (Tack) got stuck on a switch and she got caught on the other team's post player,” Coach Maier said. “Aubree was down there trying to dig the ball out and the girl was so frusrated, she ended up throwing an elbow and getting called for a foul. That's classic Aubree.”

Tack takes great pride in her defense.

It's only got better through her AAU play.

“It's my favorite part of the game,” Tack said. “I feel like I get more satisfaction from playing defense than I do from offense. Most people aim for offense, but I'm the opposite. In AAU, I feel like teams aren't expecting a player like me because it's more offensively oriented.”

AAU is more fast-paced than high school basketball and Slaam is well suited for that style with a roster of smaller, but quicker players.

The speed of the game is predicated on how quickly contests must end. In huge tournaments, teams may have only an hour to complete a game.

In the Apache Showcase, however, games were played under more traditional rules.

There was no running clock and teams played two 16-minute halves.

Slaam adjusts to the rules and the competition.

“We're not a huge team,” Makenna said. “Our tallest player is like 5-10. We played against teams that had multiple tall girls and good rebounders, but we beat them in other areas.”

Slaam has several more tournaments on tap this summer, including one in Indianapolis in May.

The team practices two times per week near Shaler.

“You get in probably 25, 30 games and you're practicing twice a week,” Coach Maier said. “It's a great bonding experience. They probably won't remember some of the wins or some of the gut-wrenching losses, but they're remember where they went out to eat or hanging out in the hotel or eating a whole bag of Fritos. They remember they had fun.”