Colts gallop to 22-point win over Butler
BUTLER TWP — It appeared as though Butler had weathered the storm in the second quarter on Thursday’s girls basketball game against Chartiers Valley.
The Golden Tornado had committed nine turnovers in the quarter, yet trailed the Colts by just five points at the break.
“It was 25-20 with all those turnovers and we weren’t rebounding well either,” said Mark Maier. “I was optimistic we could turn things around in the second half.”
Instead, the storm clouds were just beginning to brew. The Colts forced eight more turnovers in the third period, outscoring Butler 23-7, en route to a 56-34 victory in the Tornado’s gym.
Rachel Boehm’s two treys in the final 35 seconds of the third served as the dagger, pushing CV’s lead to 48-27.
Maier was hopeful of a strong back end of the game, but he also knew odds were against his team with junior point guard Sydney Patterson out with an injury sustained against Hampton on Monday.
Not only was Butler’s most experienced ball-handler not in uniform, Patterson is also, when healthy, a legitimate threat to reach double digits in points in support of teammate Amelia McMichael.
The latter scored 22 of Butler’s 34 points on Thursday.
“We had a lot of inexperienced players on the floor tonight and everybody was turning the ball over,” Maier said. “We showed our youth.”
The turnovers hobbled Butler’s offense, so much so that the Tornado attempted just 31 shots in the game compared to Chartiers Valley’s 60, of which the Colts made 21 (35 percent).
“I’d be willing to bet that they made just 10 percent of their first shots,” Maier said of the Colts. “We played pretty good zone defense, playing man-to-man would’ve been even harder, but they killed us with offensive boards.
“Chartiers Valley is a good team. They are really good one through seven, but rebounding isn’t about height. It’s all about wanting to go get it.”
The Colts improved to 4-1 on the young season. Iyla Ozbey scored 13 points to lead the team. Rachel Boehm and Ava Shazer both added 11. But CV’s defense was the biggest thorn in Butler’s side.
“We like to play a full-court press when we can, get some back traps going,” said Colts coach Mike Semplice. “It worked well at times tonight, but at other times we ended up fouling and I hate to foul.”
Butler (2-3) hosts Shaler on Monday.
CHARTIERS VALLEY 56
Ava Shazer 4 2-3 11, Iyla Ozbey 5 1-2 13, Katie Johnson 3 0-0 6, Lilah Turnbull 1 2-2 4, Ella Cupka 2 0-0 6, Rachel Boehm 4 0-2 11, Rebecca Zemaitis 1 1-2 3, Ava Antonucci 1 0-0 2, Kelsi McKenna 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 6-11 56.
BUTLER 34
Malina McElroy 0 3-4 3, Jessica Chwalik 1 0-0 2, Amelia McMichael 9 2-4 22, Ashton Huff 1 2-2 4, Eva Stutz 1 0-0 3, Cameryn Booher 0 0-0 0, Avery Maier 0 0-0 0, Casey Clouse 0 0-0 0, Emily Cornish 0 0-0 0, Emily Hoffer 0 0-0 0, Payton Kamerer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 7-10 34.
Chartiers Valley 12 13 23 8 — 56
Butler 15 5 7 7 — 34
3-point goals: Chartiers Valley 8 (Boehm 3, Ozbey 2, Cupka 2, Shazer); Butler
Monday: Shaler at Butler
