Drama queens
BUTLER TWP — Butler girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps leaped into the air.
When she landed, she looked around to see if it was true.
The Golden Tornado's Kayla Gilliland had just snatched the rebound on an errant shot by teammate Karissa King and kissed it off the glass and through the hoop at the buzzer to give Butler a 50-48 home section win over Shaler Thursday night.
Epps and the rest of the Golden Tornado suspended their frantic celebration for just a second to see if Gilliland's shot beat the buzzer.
It did. The officials were long gone, prompting Shaler junior varsity coachHolly Anderson to chase after them into the locker room area.
Butler will take it, even though it wasn't easy.
"Man, I'm drained," said Epps as she leaned against the wall outside the Butler locker room.
The win extends Butler's winning streak to 18 games, keeps it perfect in the section and came without Olivia Bresnahan.
The standout sophomore missed the game with a broken nose she suffered against North Hills Monday. At the time, Bresnahan didn't realize it was broken, but her teammates watched it swell that night.
She will have it set today and will be back on the court Monday againstSeneca Valley.
"She hated being out," Epps said. "She's a tough cookie. Winning a game without her was big."
And so was Gilliland.
She scored eight points, but none were as big as her final two.
"Kayla is that girl who just when you don't expect it, she comes out and does her job very, very well," Epps said. "That was big for her and our team because I think she needed that booster. The last couple of games, she has been struggling. But one thing about her, she never puts her head down."
The game went back and forth for much of the night with 11 lead changes in the first half alone.Butler (19-1, 9-0) led by five points late in the second quarter, but watched that advantage quickly slip away in the initial minutes of the second half.Shaler (8-10, 3-6) took a 30-29 lead with 6:13 remaining in the third quarter and didn't lose it until the final second.The Titans led by as many as eight points in the second half."It's tough to lose a game like this," said Shaler coach Eric Mozzetti. "But it's just another game in our section. You have to move on."Butler's Lyndsy Day dueled with Shaler's Jackie Sauer in the first half. Day scored 13 points in the first two quarters, many coming on steals and layups. Sauer scored 16 in the first half, including all 10 of Shaler's second-quarter points.Day, taking the bulk of the ballhandling load with Bresnahan out, tired in the second half and finished with 13 points. Sauer scored a game-high 24."You need more than one girl to score," Mozzetti said. "You need two or three or four. She played a great game."Casie Cygan scored seven of her nine points for Butler in the fourth quarter to help the Golden Tornado close the gap.Jenna Manuel and Erica Miller also scored nine points in Butler's balanced attack."That's what I love about this team," Epps said. "We just have a bunch of girls who want it bad."<B>SHALER 48</B>Sara Knaus 1-3 0-2 2, Maria Bozzo 0-0 0-0 0, Olivia DiNucci 4-9 2-5 12, Val McQuade 2-3 0-0 5, Hilary Sauer 1-2 0-0 2, Holly Knaus 0-1 2-2 2, Jackie Sauer 11-16 2-2 24, Jenna Conrad 0-2 0-0 0, Haley Sauer 0-1 0-0 0, Erica Frank 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Hohman 0-0 1-2 1. <B>Totals:</B> 19-38 7-13 48<B>BUTLER 50</B>Lyndsy Day 5-7 2-2 13, Erica Miller 4-8 0-0 9, Karissa King 0-6 0-2 0, Kayla Gilliland 4-6 0-0 8, Jenna Manuel 4-13 0-0 9, Casie Cygan 3-10 2-3 9, Katherine Sylvia 0-3 0-1 0, Rachel Doutt 1-1 0-0 2.<B> Totals: </B>21-54 4-8 50<B>Shaler 14 10 17 7—48Butler 15 12 9 14—503-point goals:</B> DiNucci 2, McQuade; Day, Miller, Manuel, Cygan<B>JV:</B> Butler 36-33<B>Monday:</B> Butler at Seneca Valley
