WEXFORD — Down by 19 at halftime, Butler appeared to be dead.

Then North Allegheny forgot about the burial.

The Golden Tornado forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter, pulled within eight points and had possession with just under five minutes to play before the Tigers pulled away for a 51-38 girls basketball victory Friday night.

“I'm so proud of these girls and the effort they displayed against an experienced, talented team on the road,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. “But it takes so much out of you to fight back from that far.

“We won the second half against a very good team. But we have to play four quarters that way. Hopefully, we learned that tonight.”

North Allegheny (9-2, 2-1) built a 33-14 lead in the first half, including a 13-0 run after Butler scored the first two points of the contest.

Alexis Aiken had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the first half for the Tigers. She finished the game with 20 points and 14 boards. Sophomore guard Taylor Brennan scored 10 of her 16 points in the first two periods.

Aiken and Brennan both sank three treys on the night.

“Alexis does everything for us,” Tigers coach Sherri McConnell said. “She rebounds, handles the ball, shoots from outside and knows how to get everyone else involved.

“Taylor Brennan comes off the bench and provides scoring punch. Both were keys tonight.”

Butler had 13 turnovers to NA's five in the first half. The Tigers had 13 turnovers to the Tornado's six in the second half.

“I put some younger girls on the floor and just told them to play with tenacity and intensity, not to worry about the scoreboard,” Epps said. “We went to a trapping defense and the girls executed it well.”

Natalie Barkus and Kalynn Callihan had three steals each during the second half for Butler (4-7, 1-3), which couldn't avoid its fourth straight loss.

The Tornado trailed 42-34 with less than five minutes on the clock when MacKenzie O'Donnell drove for the hoop and collided with a Tiger defender.

None of the officials blew a whistle, NA grabbed the loose basketball and headed the other way. Aiken drained her final trey with 4:34 on the clock and the Tigers weren't threatened again.

“They hit us with a trap we didn't handle well,” McConnell said of the second half. “Butler came back out and played hard. They always do.

“They picked up the aggressiveness and we backed away from it a bit. We'll be better prepared for that next time.”

Sam Marak paced Butler with 11 points. O'Donnell had seven of 36 Tornado rebounds. Freshman forward Julia Baxter, a high scorer of late, only played a handful of minutes Friday.

“The pace and flow of this game dictated that,” Epps said. “I couldn't keep both big girls on the floor at the same time.

“Some of our girls, particularly Sam, looked for their shot a lot more in the second half. That was nice to see. We need more of that.”

BUTLER 38Makenzie Huey 1-1 0-0 3, Jennifer Barry 1-4 0-0 2, Alyssa DiPippa 0-4 1-2 1, Natalie Barkus 0-3 4-8 4, Morgan McLaughlin 1-2 0-0 3, MacKenzie O'Donnell 2-7 2-6 6, Sam Marak 5-9 0-0 11, Jasmine Bailey 0-3 0-0 0, Julia Baxter 1-2 0-0 2, Kalynn Callihan 3-5 0-0 6.

Totals: 14-40 7-16 38.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 51Jackie Dallier 0-5 1-4 1, Maddie Nellis 0-2 5-8 5, Taylor Brennan 5-11 3-6 16, Chrissy Figan 0-5 4-5 4, Jamie Robatisin 1-4 0-0 2, Alexis Aiken 7-11 3-5 20, Jessica Mancosh 1-8 0-0 3, Sam Blue 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14-49 16-30 51.

Butler 5 9 12 12—38North Allegheny 18 15 5 13—513-point goals: Butler 3 (Huey, McLaughlin, Marak); North Allegheny 7 (Brennan 3, Aiken 3, Mankosh).

Junior varsity: North Allegheny, 37-29 (NA: Danielle Wall, B: Alyssa DiPippa 16)

Monday: Butler at Franklin Regional