Butler High School’s girls basketball team used a dominating inside game to put away Sacred Heart 81-63 in the semifinals of the Republic Bank/Coca-Cola Louisville Invitational Tournament Saturday morning at Assumption.
Butler guard Breia Torrens looks toward the basket as Mercer County guard Lexy Lake puts on the pressure. 07 January 2017
Center Molly Lockhart scored 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting in just under 17 minutes to lead the Bearettes, the top-ranked team in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings. Senior center Janna Lewis came off the bench to score 17, as she was perfect from the field on seven shots.
A 6-foot-3 junior on a team with four Division I-bound seniors, Lockhart scored 19 of her points in the first half as the Bearettes jumped out to a 35-19 lead early in the second quarter.
“It gives us a lot of weapons, there’s no question about it,” Butler coach Larry Just said.
In winning their 22nd straight game, the Bearettes shot 61.5 percent, including making 13 of 19 baskets in the second half. However, it wasn’t until midway through the third period when Butler (22-1) eventually pulled away from the No. 5 Valkyries (17-5).
Sacred Heart, which never led in the contest, actually had a chance to tie or take the lead midway through the third quarter as Butler clung to a 49-47 lead. But the Valkyries missed a layup, and Butler responded by scoring six points in less than a minute and pulling away from there thanks to a 19-2 run.
The Valkyries shot 57.6 percent in the first half as they cut that 16-point deficit to just a 44-40 Butler advantage at halftime. Most of that run came as Lockhart grew tired and went to the bench and Lewis picked up a couple fouls in the second quarter.
“We started moving the ball on offense and we made some shots,” Sacred Heart coach Donna Moir said about the first-half run.
However, Sacred Heart made just 8 of 27 shots in the second and went more than eight minutes between quarters only scoring two points.
“We knew we had to get the defense going and make sure we got the stops and (allow) no second chance shots,” said Lockhart, whose team outrebounded Sacred Heart 35-18.
Sophomore Ashlee Harris led Sacred Heart with 15 points and six assists.
Butler also got 13 points from senior Tasia Jeffries, a Saint Louis commit, and 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists from senior Jaelynn Penn, an Indiana commit.
The Bearettes will play Male in tonight’s championship game, also at Assumption. Butler lost to No. 2 Male in its season opener on Nov. 29 and beat No. 3 Mercer County 80-55 on Jan. 7.
► Male 81, Mercer County 72: Cameron Browning scored 22 points to lead Male to a victory over Mercer Country in Saturday’s other semifinal.
The Bulldogs, the No. 2 team in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings stormed out to a 24-8 lead in the first quarter, but they needed to withstand a couple rallies by the No. 3 Titans to set up a rematch of last year’s LIT championship with Butler.
Lyric Houston scored 26 to lead Mercer County, which made just 7-of-32 3-pointers against Male’s 2-3 zone defense.