BUTLER TWP - Butler played a nearly perfect basketball game Wednesday night - for 18 minutes.

It wasn't long enough.

"You have to play four full quarters," Lady Tornado coach Dorothea Epps said. "We broke down defensively and we made too many mental mistakes."

That combination - and Franklin Regional's ability - enabled the visiting Panthers to wipe out an 18-point third-quarter deficit and rally for a 69-68 girls basketball win in the championship game of the Butler Christmas Tournament.

Franklin Regional (8-3) trailed 46-28 with 6:25 left in the third quarter before a 31-10 run gave the Panthers a 59-56 lead with 4:08 left in the game.

"Our girls never gave up," Franklin Regional coach Rod Scott said. "They knew this would be a tough place to get a win, but they kept on coming."

Amy Achesinki's lay-up and an Ashley Nocera trey gave Butler (7-6) a 61-59 edge with 3:23 left. The score would be tied three times from that point before a pair of Julie Ehrman free throws gave the Tornado a 67-65 lead with 1:22 left.

Butler got the ball back again, but missed a lay-up with 28 seconds to go.

"That was one of those mental errors," Epps said. "I didn't want us taking a shot with that much time left.

"We should have run the clock down or let them foul us."

Instead, the Tornado did the fouling and 5-foot-2 point guard Lacey McAfoose sank a free throw to pull the Panthers within one with 25 seconds left.

McAfoose missed her second shot, but the Panthers grabbed the offensive boards and senior guard Melissa Bertosh laid one in for a 68-67 lead with eight seconds remaining.

Butler in-bounded the ball to Kelly Miller, but she was trapped and had to pass the ball up court. Freshman Karissa King got off a 3-point attempt before the buzzer, but it missed.

"We wanted the ball in Kelly's hands and we knew they'd try to force her hand," Epps said. "We still got off a good shot."

Tournament MVP Natalie Gulyas, Franklin Regional's 6-foot-1 senior center, led the Panthers with 22 points and 11 rebounds. McAfoose added 19 points.

"Natalie's a big girl, but she's not all that strong and we make her try to do things out there that don't play to her strengths," Scott said. "But she works hard at it.

"Lacey McAfoose has more heart on the floor than anyone on our team, or anyone I've seen on any team we've played."

McAfoose joined Gulyas on the all-tournament team.

Miller had 16 points, six assists and three steals for Butler. Achesinski added 14 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Both were all-tournament team selections.

Nocera added 12 points for the Tornado.

Blackhawk 65, Knoch 43 -

The Lady Knights (6-4) fell behind 10-0 in the first four minutes and never got closer than six the rest of the way.

Blackhawk (5-6) led by as many as 26 (64-38) midway through the fourth quarter despite playing without top scorer Renee Rawding, who missed the entire tournament.

"We're still trying to find ourselves in some ways, but this was more about Blackhawk playing well than us playing poorly," Knoch coach Curt Vasas said. "They really wanted to win this game."

Maura Boggs had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cougars, who sank 27 of 45 shots from the floor after scoring just 32 points in Tuesday's loss to Franklin Regional.

"We knocked down some shots tonight," Blackhawk coach Mike DeChellis said. "That was the difference."

Chelsea Feltrop added 15 points and five boards for Blackhawk, which held a 31-15 rebounding edge.

Nicole Reiser scored 16 points for Knoch with Liz Burgard adding 13. Knights center Jen Robinson missed much of the game because of early foul trouble.

"They really controlled the game inside without Jen in there," Vasas said.

Knoch guard Lauren Koegler missed the game with a sprained ankle.

Notes:

Boggs and Reiser rounded out the all-tournament team … Blackhawk's Rebekah Gouldsbarry won the 3-point shooting contest in triple overtime over Franklin Regional's McAfoose.

BLACKHAWK 65

Lyndi Miloszewski 3-6 0-0 7, Chelsea Feltrop 6-13 2-2 15, Rebekah Gouldsbarry 4-6 0-1 10, Noelle Miloszewski 2-5 0-0 4, Krista Franitti 2-3 2-2 6, Maura Boggs 8-10 0-0 16, Bethany Brewer 2-2 1-2 5, Courtney Klein 0-0 1-2 1, Sara McClain 0-0 0-1 0, Annie Patton 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 27-45 7-12 65

KNOCH 43

Meghan McCrea 0-1 0-0 0, Leanne Wiefling 1-1 0-0 2, Nicole Reiser 4-8 7-8 16, Pam Gagen 0-1 0-0 0, Liz Burgard 5-8 2-4 13, Ashley MacArthur 1-3 0-0 2, Kristin Robb 0-0 2-2 2, Liz King 2-5 0-0 4, Sarah Cooper 0-0 1-2 1, Maria Frey 1-8 0-0 2, Jen Robinson 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 14-38 13-19 43

3-point goals:

L.Miloszewski, Feltrop, Gouldsbarry 2; Reiser, Burgard

FRANKLIN REGIONAL 68

Lacey McAfoose 8-12 2-4 19, Melissa Bertosh 3-6 0-0 6, Natalie Gulyas 10-16 2-2 22, Kristin Iovino 2-4 2-4 6, Ashley Heakins 1-5 2-2 4, Lauren Bradosky 1-3 5-6 7, Erin Cline 0-0 0-0 0, Eden Antalik 0-0 0-0 0, Becky Steele 1-2 2-2 4. Totals: 26-48 15-20 68

BUTLER 67

Rachel Barry 1-2 2-2 4, Kelly Miller 8-14 0-2 16, Ashley Nocera 5-6 0-0 12, Julie Ehrman 2-7 5-5 9, Karissa King 2-7 0-0 6, Michelle Ritchey 0-2 0-0 0, Amy Achesinski 6-13 2-2 14, Kelley Crater 0-0 0-0 0, Maria Baroffio 3-4 0-2 6. Totals: 27-55 9-13 67

3-point goals:

McAfoose; Nocera 2, King 2

Monday:

Butler @ Seneca Valley