BUTLER TWP — Early in the third quarter, Butler took control.

But from there, Penn-Trafford took the game.

The visiting Warriors — after surrendering a 7-0 run to fall behind 30-23 with 5:45 left in the third period — outscored the Golden Tornado 22-10 the rest of the way to secure a 45-40 Section 1-6A girls basketball win Monday night.

“Our girls never stopped working hard,” P-T coach John Giannikas said. “This is a tough place to play. Butler can shoot the ball. But we really needed this one.”

The Warriors (1-2, 3-5) avoided an 0-3 start in section play. The Tornado (2-1, 6-3) took their first section loss and have powerhouse North Allegheny coming in Thursday.

“This is disappointing because you want to hold serve in section games at home,” Butler coach Maerk Maier said. “We only scored four points in the fourth quarter. I felt like our offense was out of sync all night.”

Makenna Maier sank three treys in the first half for the Tornado, but was limited to just four field goal attempts and two more points the rest of the game.

“After she hit those early three's, they came out on Makenna and took that shot away,” Maier said. “Their defense definitely turned up a notch in the second half.”

After a Lillian Palladio trey pulled the Warriors even at 23 a minute into the second half, Butler struck with its 7-0 run. Aubree Tack sank a layup, Justine Forbes stuck back an offensive rebound and completed a three-pont play, then scored on a fast-break layup off a long inbounds pass.

But treys by Maura Suman and Kamryn Pieper helped pull P-T within 36-35 by quarter's end. A Kylee Piconi trey to begin the fourth period gave the Warriors a 38-36 lead — a lead they never lost.

“Offensive rebounding leads to open three's,” Maier said. “We didn't get after the rebounds enough. We need to get better.”

Suman, PT's lone senior starter, tallied 17 points, four rebounds and three steals. She sank three of four free throws in the final 1:24, including two with five seconds left to account for the final five-point margin.

“Maura is our leader on the floor,” Giannikas said. “She put us on her back at times tonight.

“Once we got the lead, we wanted to spread the floor, either get a layup or get fouled. Butler pressured us into a couple of turnovers there, though.”

Maier said the Warriors “have five guards on the floor and when they spread us out, they gave us trouble.”

Down 43-40 with 10 seconds left, Butler had a chance to tie. But P-T's defenders guarded the 3-point line and Makenna Maier forced a shot that couldn't get any height.

“We didn't execute that last play very well, but give credit to them (P-T),” Maier said. “They were very aggressive defensively. We didn't get many open shots.”

Forbes had 12 points and five rebounds for Butler. Maier had 11 points and five boards, Megan Penrod three assists.

Palladino contributed eight points and seven rebounds for the Warriors.

PENN-TRAFFORD 45

Kylee Piconi 2-5 0-1 5, Olivia Pepple 3-10 0-0 6, Kamryn Pieper 2-6 0-0 5, Maura Suman 6-12 4-5 17, Lillian Palladino 3-7 1-3 8, Laura Marton 0-1 4-6 4, Elle Visco 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 9-15 45.

BUTLER 40

Jessica Chwalik 0-0 0-0 0, Justine Forbes 5-10 1-1 12, Hannah Aldridge 0-3 0-0 0, Macklin Hanley 2-3 0-0 4, Maisy Gibson 2-4 0-0 4, Megan Penrod 0-1 2-2 2, Makenna Maier 4-11 0-0 11, Aubree Tack 2-5 2-2 7. Totals: 15-37 5-5 40.

Penn-Trafford 12 8 15 10 — 45

Butler 15 8 13 4 — 40

3-point goals: Penn-Trafford 4 (Piconi, Pieper, Suman, Palladino); Butler 5 (Maier 3, Forbes, Tack).

JV: Butler, 39-26 (B: Jessica Chwalik 11, Hannah Aldridge 9) Thursday: North Allegheny at Butler