BUTLER TWP — Turnovers and injuries have been hurting the Butler girls basketball team so far in the young season.

Unfortunately for the Golden Tornado, the trend continued Thursday night.

South Park rolled to a 56-35 non-section victory at Butler High School, as the Tornado failed to overcome 23 turnovers and the loss of starting forward MacKenzie O'Donnell to a concussion.

“Turnovers have been our Achilles' heel. We've got to clean that up,” said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. “Especially when we don't have our scoring punch, we have to find some points from somewhere.”

Julia Baxter, a freshman making the first start of her career, provided some offense with 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting.

“I thought she did a nice job. It's very nerve racking to go out there for the first time,” said Epps of Baxter. “She played a nice game.”

However, she didn't get much help.

Baxter was the only member of the Tornado with a field goal until Morgan McLaughlin scored a bucket with 4:45 to go in the third quarter.

On the other hand, South Park (4-1) knew exactly where to find offense.

Halie Torris led the Eagles with 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Shelby Lindsay added 14 points and five assists.

The Tornado (3-3) hung tough early, as the Eagles held an 8-7 edge after the first quarter of play.

South Park exploded in the second quarter, though, and outscored the Tornado 20-3 to build a comfortable halftime cushion.

Butler committed seven turnovers in the second frame, while the Eagles turned it over just once.

“When we had opportunities to score, we turned the ball over and that's how they went on that big run,” said Epps. “Now you're fighting an uphill battle against a very good team. When you don't have a lot of firepower, that's hard.”

South Park parlayed the turnovers into points by executing in transition.

“I think we were able to get out on a couple of fast breaks and that loosened us up a little bit,” said South Park coach Reggie Kelly. “We started knocking down some shots.”

But after scoring just 10 points in the first half, Butler tallied 14 in the third quarter alone.

“I'll give them credit,” Epps added. “They kept fighting.”

The Tornado will need to continue the resilience as the season progresses.

Butler is already without last year's leading scorer Caitlin Baxter for the season, so the loss of O'Donnell — another offensive weapon — will test the mettle of the Tornado.

“Without Mac, we've just got to find a way to pull out some games,” said Epps.

Julia Baxter also led the team with seven rebounds on Thursday.

Samantha Marak pulled down six boards and is a key to the Golden Tornado going forward as she becomes accustomed to being the point guard.

“We've got Samantha Marak, who doesn't get enough credit because she was thrown into that position,” said Epps. “Having to run the ‘1' is a tough job, especially when you don't have your normal offensive people. ... She's done a nice job.”

Torris piled in her 20 points on 9 of 19 shooting for the Eagles. She also tallied four steals, a block and two assists.

Lindsay was efficient, going 6 for 9 from the field with four rebounds and two steals.

“Shelby Lindsay is really the glue for us,” said Kelly. “She does a lot and she's relentless. She's learning how to control the game.”

SOUTH PARK 56Carly Zandier 4-8 0-0 8, Halie Torris 9-19 2-2 20, Ashley Mikelonis 0-8 0-0 0, Shelby Lindsay 6-9 2-3 14, Bre Raymond 2-9 1-2 5, Amanda Quinn 1-3 0-0 2, Miracle Malloy 2-3 1-2 5, Monica Davison 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Stanley 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsay Noss 0-0 0-0 0, Lashawnda Ramsey 1-1 0-0 2, Melissa Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Krisa Mosi 0-0 0-0 0, Samantha Miller 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 25-62 6-9 56.

BUTLER 35Julia Baxter 7-14 2-2 16, Natalie Barkus 0-4 2-4 2, Sam Marak 0-1 2-5 2, Jennifer Barry 0-10 1-2 1, Jasmine Bailey 1-4 0-2 2, Makenzie Huey 2-6 1-2 6, Alyssa DiPippa 0-3 2-2 2, Morgan McLaughlin 1-1 0-0 2, Kalynn Callihan 1-3 0-0 2, Lauren Bresnahan 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 12-46 10-19 35.

South Park 8 20 17 11—56Butler 7 3 14 11—353-point goals: South Park 0-6 (Mikelonis 0-5, Quinn 0-1); Butler 1-9 (Huey 1-3, Barry 0-6).

Tuesday: Deer Lakes at Butler, 1 p.m.