BUTLER TWP — Once the Butler girls basketball team got over the jitters, it got down to business.

The Golden Tornado got off to a sluggish start against Wilkinsburg at the Butler Tip-Off Tournament, but used a swarming defense to generate offense in a 64-31 win Friday night.

“I knew there were going to be some nerves,” said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. “We have a lot of young girls, and even the seniors haven't played the last two years. I knew they would be a little bit nervous, too.”

But Butler relaxed and went on a 9-0 run to end the first quarter to take a 13-2 lead.

The Tornado advantage swelled to 30-10 at the half and Butler seized complete control with a 26-point third quarter on the way to a season-opening victory.

“We let our defense get us easy points,” Epps said. “That's what turned it around for us. They seemed to relax a lot more.”

MacKenzie O'Donnell had eight of her team-leading 12 points in the third quarter.

The junior forward was 5-of-5 from the floor in limited minutes because of foul trouble.

Jasmine Bailey added eight points for the Tornado.

Butler, though, has a deep bench and showcased it throughout the night.

The Tornado played 15 against Wilkinsburg and 13 of them scored at least one point.

Natalie Barkus and Morgan McLaughlin came off the bench to score seven points for Butler. In all, the reserves scored 29 points for the Tornado.

Butler went back to its roots with a press defense that forced 15 turnovers in the first quarter alone.

Wilkinsburg had 26 turnovers in the game.

“That was our whole focus this year. That's what we worked on in the spring, summer and even in the fall,” Epps said. “We knew that we had to play better defense. That was our trademark and we had to get back to that.”

The Tornado will play Hopewell in the championship game of the Butler Tournament at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Hopewell jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first four minutes of its game against Upper St. Clair and cruised to a 72-29 win.

Vikings' junior Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 17 points in the first quarter and finished with 28.

Upper St. Clair will play Wilkinsburg in the consolation game at 4 p.m. Saturday.

WILKINSBURG 31Tiaunte Anderson 3-7 3-5 10, Shannon Delaney 3-10 4-4 12, Erica Johnson 0-7 1-2 1, Dayna White 1-2 0-0 2, LaKeisha Wright 1-4 0-0 2, Mariah Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Kenae Boyd 1-2 0-2 2, Jeanetta Chapman 0-0 2-2 2.

Totals: 9-34 10-15 31.

BUTLER 64Jennifer Barry 1-6 1-2 3, Sam Marak 0-2 4-6 4, Makenzie Huey 2-4 4-5 8, MacKenzie O'Donnell 5-5 2-2 12, Jasmine Bailey 4-8 0-0 8, Natalie Barkus 3-5 0-0 7, Alyssa DiPippa 1-5 1-2 3, Kalynn Callihan 1-2 0-2 2, Julia Baxter 2-4 1-2 5, Morgan McLaughlin 3-3 0-0 7, Lauren Bresnahan 0-1 1-2 1, Leah Murphy 1-1 0-0 2, Ciarra Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0, Ronni Guiney 1-1 0-0 2, Kristina Friel 0-2 0-0 0.

Totals: 9-34 10-15 31.

Wilkinsburg 2 8 9 12—31Butler 13 17 26 8—643-point goals: Wilkinsburg 3 (Anderson, Delaney 2); Butler 2 (Barkus, McLaughlin).

JV score: Butler 47-9

UPPER ST. CLAIR 29Madison Serio 2-4 0-0 5, Erika Malarkey 1-4 1-2 4, Jordan Serio 2-8 2-2 6, Rachel Mazzie 2-6 0-2 4, Alayna Kaylor 1-7 1-2 4, Uche Lloanusi 1-3 0-0 2, Amanda Vargo 0-1 0-0 0, Anne Steen 2-5 0-0 4, Stephanie Sortino 0-2 0-0 0.

Totals: 11-40 4-8 29

HOPEWELL 72Shaniya Rivers 2-5 5-10 10, Raquel Farris 3-4 0-0 8, Kari Steuer 3-3 0-0 6, Jharrin Gill 7-13 0-0 15, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough 10-12 6-6- 28, Kady Becker 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Marie Santia 2-3 0-2 5, Cassidy Rizzo 0-1 0-0 0, Paige Levinger 0-0 0-0 0, Alexis Parish 0-1 0-0 0, Desirae Ritmiller 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 27-42 11-18 72

Upper St. Clair 7 8 12 2—29Hopewell 28 23 12 9—723-point goals: Upper St. Clair 3 (M. Serio, Kaylor, Malarkey); Hopewell 7 (Rivers, Farris 2, Gill, Walker-Kimbrough 2, Santia).

Saturday: Upper St. Clair vs. Wilkinsburg, 4 p.m.; Hopewell at Butler, 5:30 p.m.