Butler guard Kalynn Callihan guards North Allegheny's Taylor Brennan during the second half of the Golden Tornado's 55-37 loss to North Allegheny Friday night.

WEXFORD — Movement will be the key for the Butler girls basketball team moving forward.

Against North Allegheny Friday night, the Golden Tornado offense didn't create a lot of open looks in a 55-37 Section 3-AAAA loss at North Allegheny High School.

Butler (8-6, 3-5) shot 42 percent (14 of 33) from the field and struggled to take care of the ball. The Golden Tornado committed 26 turnovers.

“It was key, it was key. We threw out a different kind of defense and we thought it bothered them,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. “We had opportunities and didn't score. You can't beat good teams with 26 turnovers, many of them were unforced.”

Both teams went back-and-forth before North Allegheny (14-2, 9-0) took control. The Tigers went ahead for good 7-4 after Taylor Lake made a 3-pointer on an assist from Taylor Brennen. Julia Baxter, who finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots, scored on a layup to cut the lead to 10-8 before the Tigers slammed the door.

North Allegheny went on a 5-0 run and turned up the heat defensively in the second quarter.

The Tigers out-scored Butler 14-6 to take a 32-18 lead into halftime.

“They were all over us and our guards didn't step up today. This was a guards' problem today,” Epps said. “We didn't have anyone handling the ball well, they didn't get us into an offense and stood around a lot.”

North Allegheny got 21 points from Devvin LaBarge and also had Meg Morningstar (10 points) reach double figures.

After halftime, Baxter made a layup to open the half and cut the lead to 12 points. Butler wouldn't get any closer, as LaBarge followed with a 3-pointer and a jumper.

Epps said for Butler to make the playoffs, it will have to find other players to score besides Baxter and Alyssa DiPippa, who finished with nine points.

DiPippa and Baxter also attempted 20 of the Golden Tornado's 33 shots.

Epps said Butler will need to be more aggressive and make more trips to the free-throw line.

“The thing of it is they want to stand out on the perimeter instead of cutting to the hoop or going by somebody,” Epps said. “You're never going to score that way.”

BUTLER 37

Alyssa DiPippa 4 1-2 9, Ronni Guiney 1 1-2 3, Kalynn Calliahn 1 3-4 5, Julia Baxter 7 4-6 18, Danielle Hensel 0 0-0 0, Tiana Schaffner 0 0-0 0, Paige Lambermont 0 0-0 0, Melea Barlow 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 9-14 37.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 55

Devvin LaBarge 7 2-2 21, Taylor Brennan 2 2-2, Taylor Lake 2 2-2 7, Abby Gonzales 3 0-0 7, Me Morningstar 5 0-2 10, Sarah Clogan 0 0-0 0, Sammie Dallier 0 0-0 0, Haley Zeise 1 0-0 2, Camille Dvorsky 0 0-0 0, Ali Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 6-8 55.

Butler 12 6 7 12 — 37

North Allegheny18 14 10 13 — 55

3-point goals: North Allegheny 5 (LaBarge 4, Lake)

Monday: Pine-Richland at Butler