BUTLER TWP — Malina McElroy stole the ball — and Butler stole a win.

The Golden Tornado junior point guard swiped the rock in the frontcourt and drove in for a go-ahead layup with 23 seconds remaining Tuesday afternoon, lifting Butler to a 47-44 girls basketball win over Moon to close out the Butler Holiday Tournament.

McElroy drove for another layup with three seconds left to seal the victory.

“We were able to trap them a couple of times,” McElroy said, as Moon was holding the ball with less than a minute to play, nursing a one-point lead. “They called a timeout the first time, then we were able to get it.”

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The score was tied six times and neither team ever led by more than six points. Butler senior Emily Hoffer sank a 3-pointer to pull the Tornado (8-2) within 44-43 with 1:18 remaining. The Tigers tried holding the ball from there.

Moon coach Mark Pompeo called one timeout with 1:06 remaining, another with 37.4 seconds on the clock. Butler nearly stole the ball after trapping the Tiger ballhandler both times.

“There’s no shot clock, and we were trying to protect the ball,” Pompeo said. “I wanted the girls to move the ball, though, not hold it. It’s easy to get trapped when you’re not moving the ball, and that’s what happened.

“Credit to Butler. They made the plays to win the game.”

The Tornado weren’t playing their best game. Butler had 20 turnovers and an off-night shooting from 3-point range.

“It’s resiliency,” McElroy said. “We needed to slow things up, calm down a little bit and find a way to win. We practice our trapping defense hard, and it worked for us today.”“

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“Our third quarter was terrible,” Butler coach Mark Maier said. “Before the fourth, I told the girls, ‘OK, we played a bad quarter. Are we ready to play a good one?’ And we came up with one.”

Butler senior Hoffer led the charge in that final period, scoring nine of her 16 points, including that late trey. She contributed seven rebounds, two steals and two assists.

“She played like a senior leader,” Maier said.

“We knew we had to get after it and start limiting the turnovers,” Hoffer said. “This was very exciting, not playing our best basketball, yet finding a way to win.”

Eva Stutz paced Butler with 18 points, sinking three treys in the third quarter. The Tornado scored only two other points in that quarter. McElroy had 11 points and three steals, and Campbell Clouse had six rebounds and three assists.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty,” Maier said in describing the win. “Our girls are playing well together, and you never know who’s going to score the points from game to game. We’re a hard team to defend that way.

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“I don’t know the last time we were 8-2. I’ll have to look that one up.”

Senior forward Maria Depner led the Tigers with 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals. She is the only senior in Moon’s lineup.

“She always gets 15 to 20 points a game,” Pompeo said. “Maria is a very aggressive player. She makes things happen. She was outstanding today.”

Avery Pacheco added eight points for Moon, which struggled to find offense from anyone else.

Butler returns to action Friday with a non-section game at Greater Latrobe before getting back into section play next week.

MOON 44

Madilyn Wilson 2-5 2-3 6, Samantha D’Alesio 0-0 0-0 0, Anya Schwartz 0-2 0-0 0, Adriana D’Alesio 2-7 0-0 4, Avery Pacheco 3-8 0-0 8, Camryn Kaufman 0-1 0-0 0, Maria Depner 8-20 10-11 26. Totals: 15-43 12-88 44.

BUTLER 47

Malina McElroy 5-15 1-3 11, Campbell Clouse 1-2 0-0 2, Jules Lockwood 0-4 0-0 0, Eva Stutz 6-13 2-4 18, Payton Kamerer 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Hoffer 5-7 5-5 16, Emily Cornish 0-3 0-0 0, Jordan Ryan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-45 8-12 47.

Moon 13 5 17 9 — 44

Butler 10 10 11 16 — 47

3-point goals: Moon 2 (Pacheco 2), Butler 5 (Stutz 4, Hoffer)

Friday: Butler at Greater Latrobe