Tornado girls drop 4th straight
BUTLER TWP — Butler is getting tired of looking for positives.
Now the Golden Tornado girls basketball team is looking for wins.
The Tornado (2-6) dropped their fourth straight game Thursday afternoon in the Butler Christmas Tournament as Altoona came away with a 55-44 victory.
“We’re doing a lot of things well, but the girls could certainly use some positive reinforcement, a reward for their efforts,” Butler coach Mark Maier said. “We played Altoona tough, but the won-loss record won’t reflect that.
“It’ll just show a loss. But I do like the tough competition. These games are getting us ready for section play.”
The Mountain Lions (6-3) have also played a tough schedule, losing to traditional WPIAL power North Allegheny by two points and to highly-regarded Greensburg Central Catholic in another tight game.
“We’re used to traveling far to play games,” Altoona coach Chris Fleegle said. “Other than a couple of games, our road games are at least two hours away.
“We spend a lot of time on a quality bus.”
Altoona jumped out to an 11-2 lead less than four minutes into Thursday’s contest. Butler pulled within 15-14 late in the opening quarter on consecutive treys by Avery Maier and Amelia McMichael.
A McMichael layup got the Tornado within 26-23 midway through the second quarter. Altoona used a 12-1 run to open up a 38-24 advantage with 7:15 left in the third.
“That was the spurt that opened things up for them,” Coach Maier said. “They just out-executed us.”
A 7-0 run by the Tornado pulled Butler back within seven later in the third, but the Mountain Lions answered with six straight points of their own.
Altoona was not challenged again.
“We did a good job on the boards in this game,” Fleegle said. “We’re not very big, but our guards have a lot lof heart. We’re aggressive in going after the ball.”
Altoona enjoyed a 36-23 rebounding advantage on this day. The Mountain Lions grabbed a number of offensive boards, resulting in second-chance points.
“That is not a big team,” Coach Maier said. “The forwards are maybe 5-foot-6, 5-foot-8 ... but we tell our girls all the time, tall doesn’t rebound.
“Going after it rebounds. On some rebounds we did get, they tied us up for jump balls. Some of thosepossessions we got, some we didn’t. But when you give a team three shots on a possession, odds are one of those is going in.”
McMichael led Butler with 15 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Maier had 13 points, sinking three treys. Sydney Patterson had nine points and five assists.
Patterson had been out of the lineup with a concussion.
“No. 15 (Patterson) makes a big difference for them,” Fleegle said. “She’s long and she’s aggressive. If she hadn’t gotten hurt, they would have probably won a couple of those games they lost,”
Jaiden Krull paced Altoona with 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Melana Eyer had 15 points seven boards and five assists, Lanie Wilt 10 points and five rebounds.
The Butler Christmas Tournament continues on Friday. Armstrong — a 66-50 winner over Avonworth on Thursday — plays Altoona at 1 p.m. while the Tornado play Avonworth at 2:30 p.m.
Rebecca Goetz scored 22 points and Greta O’Brien 12 for Avonworth in the loss to Armstrong. Emma Paul scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures for Armstrong.
Avonworth won the WPIAL Class 3A championship last season.
ALTOONA 55
Melana Eyer 5-15 2-4 15, Zaelinh Nguyen-Moore 2-8 0-2 4, Sam Harpster 1-3 0-0 2, Jaiden Krull 7-9 5-5 19, Lanie Wilt 4-11 1-3 10, Raylin Eyer 1-2 0-0 3, Jersey Hollabaugh 1-2 0-0 2, Ajaycia Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-50 8-12 55.
BUTLER 44
Malina McElroy 1-1 0-0 2, Jess Chwalik 0-4 0-0 0, Cameryn Booher 0-4 0-2 0, Eva Stutz 1-2 2-2 4, Sydney Patterson 3-4 3-6 9, Avery Maier 5-13 0-0 13, Amelia McMichael 6-17 1-2 15, Casey Clouse 0-0 0-0 0, Ashton Huff 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Hoffer 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 16-46 7-12 44.
Altoona 20 13 13 9 — 55
Butler 14 10 9 11 — 44
3-point goals: Altoona 5 (M.Eyer 3, Wilt, R.Eyer), Butler 5 (Maier 3, McMichael 2)
Friday: Butler Christmas Tournament-Altoona vs. Armstrong, 1 p.m.; Avonworth vs. Butler, 2:30 p.m.
