Butler decision vs. SV puts Epps on plateau
JACKSON TWP — When it comes to rivalries, anything is possible.
Butler girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps is just glad it wasn't proven Thursday night.
Seneca Valley stayed on Butler's heels much of the night before the Golden Tornado pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 64-49 win.
The victory was the 100th career coaching win for Epps as her team put the finishing touches on a Section 3-AAAA title with a perfect 12-0 mark.
But the Raiders (3-17, 3-9) kept the game in doubt until late.
"When you talk about rivalries, you can throw the records out the window," said Epps. "We were going for the first undefeated section record in 21 years. Seneca Valley has a lot of pride and they wanted to spoil it for us."
With Butler (19-1 overall) leading 50-46 after three quarters, the Golden Tornado defense clamped down.
In the final eight minutes, Seneca Valley scored three points and was 1-of-7 from the field.
Butler received a basket from Olivia Bresnahan that gave her team a 57-47 edge with 5:31 left to play.
The Raiders answered moments later with Alyssa Miller's field goal that cut the deficit to 57-49, but SV would not score again.
<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE6421426.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>Bresnahan, Katresa Savisky, and Amanda Dymun went a combined 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and the Butler lead was pushed to 15 points with 2:28 to play."When we needed big plays late in the game, we got them," said Epps. "Every team has to weather storms and the players have to keep the faith that it will work out in the end."Trailing 30-25 at halftime, the Raiders outscored Butler 21-20 in a wild third quarter, thanks in large part to eight points from Alex Karika and seven from Aly Eagle, who ended the game with 12 and 14 points, respectively.Bresnahan led all scorers with 19 points, 15 of them coming in the second half. Casie Cygan added 14 points for Butler.The Tornado won the battle for rebounds by a count of 30-21 and committed 18 turnovers to the Raiders' 24.Butler defeated SV 58-32 Jan. 13.SV coach Kelly Mathews was not available for comment.<B>BUTLER 64Casey Fleeger 2 0-0 4, Katresa Savisky 1 3-3 5, Olivia Bresnahan 5 9-14 19, Amanda Dymun 1 4-6 6, Casie Cygan 6 0-1 14, Rachel Doutt 4 0-1 8, Jenna Manuel 2 4-4 8. </B>Totals: 21 20-29 64.<B>SENECA VALLEY 49Aly Eagle 6 0-0 14, Alyssa Miller 3 3-5 9, Brianna Sieminski 1 0-0 2, Kara Moyer 1 2-2 4, Alex Karika 4 4-6 12, Catherine Messmer 3 0-1 6, Angie Lalonde 1 0-0 2, Gabby Allen 0 0-0 0.</B> Totals: 19 9-14 49.<B>Butler 18 12 20 14—64Seneca Valley 9 16 21 3—493-point goals:</B> Butler 2 (Cygan 2); Seneca Valley 2 (Eagle 2).<B>JV:</B> Butler 31-19 (B-Ali Sedwick, 12 points; SV-Kara Moyer, 11 points).<B>Saturday:</B> Seneca Valley at Montour; New Castle at Butler
