Breakthrough
BUTLER TWP — Sarayne Forbes lost one of her contact lenses midway through the game.
Even shooting at a blurry net, Forbes made Pine-Richland pay.
The senior guard knocked down three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 16 points as the Golden Tornado girls basketball team cleared up a cloudy start to the season with a 47-31 home win Monday night.
“I think I shoot better without (the contact lense),” Forbes joked.
Butler (1-2, 1-0) craved a fast start after falling behind 17-0 at North Allegheny Friday and 16-2 against South Fayette at home Saturday.
The Golden Tornado led 7-5 after one and ballooned that lead to 17-7 midway through the second quarter.
“It was 7-5 after one, and you know what, I was thinking, 'I'll take it.'” said Butler coach Mark Maier.
Forbes said it was supremely important to get off to a good start after two disastrous ones to begin the 2021 campaign.
“I'm glad we were finally able to get the urgency we needed at the start of the game,” Forbes said. “Section wins are great. We're looking forward to continue with the same urgency, drive and toughness we displayed tonight.”
Toughness was certainly needed against the big and physical Rams and Butler got a lot of it from a variety of sources.
Perhaps more from Aubree Tack than anyone.
The smallest player on the court — Tack is 5-foot-3 — she came up the biggest.
She scored just five points, but had a slew of steals and assists and played the point well in the place of Makenna Maier, who was haunted by foul trouble most of the night.“That's her game,” Mark Maier said. “She's a disrupter on the court. Shortest girl, biggest heart.”Pine-Richland struggled shooting all night while battling the pesky Butler defense.The Rams were just 2 of 14 from the floor in the first quarter, 6 of 28 in the first half and 13 of 45 in the game.No one reached double figures and Division I prospect Kaili Doctor was held to 2 of 9 shooting for four points.“She's an incredible volleyball player, too,” Maier said of Doctor. “Incredible job on her defensively. She makes them go.”Butler also showed a knack of milking the clock in the second half.The Golden Tornado burned nearly two minutes on one possession at the end of the third quarter and another two-minute possession in the fourth that resulted in points.Butler's ability to shorten games may help them in this shortened season.What Maier was most proud of was the resilience his team showed and its unselfish play.“Contributions from everybody,” Maier said. “I thought we shared the ball very well. We played for the we, not the me.”<b>PINE-RICHLAND 31</b>Sarah Pifer 2-5 0-0 4, Ekaterini Balouris 0-0 0-0 0, Rylie Bach 0-0 0-2 0, Gianna Reighard 2-11 0-0 6, Kaitlyn Kems 3-4 0-0 8, Sophie Catalano 1-5 0-0 2, Kaili Doctor 2-9 0-3 4, Madelyn Laird 3-10 0-0 7, Madison Zavasky 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-45 0-5 31.<b>BUTLER 47</b>Sarayne Forbes 6-8 1-2 16, Sam Miller 1-5 3-4 5, Alison Altman 1-4 0-0 2, Makenna Maier 3-8 0-0 7, Aubree Tack 2-7 1-2 5, Maisy Gibson 0-5 4-6 4, Justin Forbes 3-6 0-0 8, Hannah Aldridge 0-0 0-0 0, Yenkeira Rivera 0-0 0-0 0, Ava Selfridge 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Fiorina 0-0 0-0 0, Jessica Chwalik 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 9-14 47.Pine-Richland 5 10 9 7 — 31Butler7 20 15 5 — 473-point goals: Pine-Richland 5 (Reighard 2, Kems 2, Laird); Butler 6 (S. Forbes 3, Maier, J. Forbes 2)JV: Butler, 71-30Thursday: Butler at Norwin
