Butler coach Mark Maier was pleased with his team’s energy and effort. Not as much with the end result.

Propelled by Makenna Maier’s three first-quarter treys, the Golden Tornado (9-8, 5-6) had an edge for a good part of the opening half at North Allegheny Tuesday night. Nevertheless, the Tigers prevailed in girls basketball action, 61-46.

Nearly a month ago, Butler held a three-point halftime advantage over NA’s crew, which was the top-ranked Class 6A group in the state at the time. In that contest, the Golden Tornado trailed by just two points with 0:32 to go.

“There was no reason to think we couldn’t duplicate that,” Coach Maier said.

Adding to that confidence was the fact that the Tigers (16-1, 10-1) had a 25-game win streak snapped by Norwin the last time they played.

Senior guard Macklin Hanley’s three-pointer gave Butler an eight-point advantage with five minutes left in the second frame. Then, the host team bucketed 10 unanswered points to finish out the opening half, the run being capped off by Lydia Betz’ close-range jumper with seconds to go.

“On paper, yeah, it is big,” Coach Maier said of the lead-stealing make. “It’s a mental thing, especially if you hold the (halftime) lead and you’re like ‘Man, we’re up on these guys, 26-25’ or whatever it is ... Generally speaking, if you would’ve said, ‘Hey Coach, you’re going to be down two at halftime, will you take that?’ I probably would’ve. But, just not the way I saw it happen.”

NA’s Jasmine Timmerson, a University of Pittsburgh commit, poured in 10 of her team’s 19 third-quarter points, but Butler remained within striking distance thanks to treys from Maisy Gibson, Megan Penrod, and Aubree Tack.

“We ran into a team that was well-coached, shoots well, had a little bit more height than us, and a Division I player in (Jasmine) Timmerson,” Coach Maier said. “It ends up (being a) 15-point game and people think, ‘Ah, they blew ‘em out.’ But it was four points toward the end of the third quarter.”

The Golden Tornado’s scoring was limited to three field goals in the final period while NA pulled away.

“You’ve got to give Butler a ton of credit,” Stefko said. “On the road, shooting the heck out of the ball, handling everything that we threw at them on both ends of the floor. They’re a fun team to watch when you’re not coaching against them.”

Each of the six Golden Tornado scorers connected on at least one three-pointer.

With four fixtures remaining on its schedule, Butler sits two games ahead of Shaler in Section 1-6A. Three games back, Pine-Richland will visit on Thursday.

“If you can play the defending state champ close for seven quarters, if you look at the first game (and) second game, you can play with anybody,” Coach Maier said.

BUTLER 46

Makenna Maier 5 0-0 14, Justine Forbes 4 2-4 11, Maisy Gibson 2 1-4 6, Megan Penrod 1 2-2 5, Aubree Tack 2 0-0 5, Macklin Hanley 1 2-2 5. Totals: 15 7-12 46.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 61

Jasmine Timmerson 10 2-3 25, Taylor Rawls 5 1-2 13, Cam Phillips 4 0-0 9, Emma Fischer 3 2-2 8, Lydia Betz 2 0-0 4, Mia Tuman 0 2-3 2. Totals: 24 7-10 61.

Butler 16 10 13 7 — 46

N. Allegheny 10 18 19 14 — 61

3-point goals: Butler 9 (Maier 4, Forbes, Gibson, Penrod, Tack, Hanley); North Allegheny 6 (Timmerson 3, Rawls 2, Phillips)

Thursday: Pine-Richland at Butler