With a berth to the Sweet 16 on the line, the Butler High School girls basketball team had watched Mercy reel off 11 straight points to tie the score at 50 with 3:34 remaining.
Bearettes fans were tense, but neither Butler coach Larry Just nor his players panicked. Just didn’t even bother calling a timeout during the run.
“My kids know I don’t call a lot of them; they just have to play,” Just said, before breaking into a wry grin. “We got lucky.”
Butler was quite good, as well, gathering itself and scoring the final 11 points of the game to beat Mercy 61-50 in Saturday’s final of the Class Act Federal Credit Union Sixth Region Tournament at Valley.
GALLERY: Butler-Mercy
“We had to keep pushing through and not panic,” Butler guard Tasia Jeffries said.
Jeffries was calm all night, hitting 9 of 11 shots and 4 of 5 free throws on her way to a game-high 25 points. Micaiah Bowden added 12 points, and Jaelynn Penn pitched in 11 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.
Butler (27-5) – No. 2 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings – advanced to face the Fourth Region champion (Bowling Green or Glasgow) at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the St. Elizabeth Healthcare/KHSAA Sweet 16 in Highland Heights, Ky.
Sadie Zeisloft scored 13 points to lead No. 8 Mercy (22-12), which shot just 31.5 percent and tired down the stretch, according to coach Keith Baisch.
“I was worried about our legs there at the end, if we were going to have enough gas,” Baisch said. “I was trying to use my timeouts to rest.”
After an even first half, Jeffries helped the Bearettes build a big lead early in the fourth quarter. She scored 10 points during a 14-3 run, including the capper that gave Butler a 50-39 lead with 5:50 remaining.
“She was probably the most relaxed kid I had out here tonight,” Just said. “She hit some shots early, and that helped her relax. She had a phenomenal night.”
Baisch said Jeffries, a left-handed junior who has committed to Saint Louis University, was his main concern entering the game.
“She’s pretty deadly,” he said. “She’s a good shooter and also can get to the basket.”
Mercy answered back behind Zeisloft, who followed a four-point play with a 3-pointer to pull the Jaguars within 50-48 with 3:55 left. Jessica Laemmle’s two free throws tied the score at 50 with 3:34 left, and the Jaguars had two possessions to take the lead but couldn’t convert.
Penn’s free throw gave Butler a 51-50 lead with 3:14 left, and her jumper in the lane made it 53-50 with 2:40 remaining.
Mercy missed two more chances to tie, and Jeffries sank two free throws with 1:06 left for a 55-50 cushion.
“Give Butler credit,” Baisch said. “They didn’t budge. We put their backs to the wall, and they pushed it out on us.”
Now the Bearettes are heading to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in Just’s seven-year tenure at the school. After winning the state title in 2014, many expected Butler to return last season. But a 56-53 loss to Bullitt East in the regional quarterfinals ended a disappointing 23-6 season.
Jeffries said those who returned learned from that experience.
“There was way more trust,” she said. “All of us were focused on the same thing. We were all in on for the team, and we all had the same goal. We knew that would be the key to our success.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
| Butler | 13 | 15 | 19 | 14 | — | 61 |
| Mercy | 15 | 13 | 8 | 14 | — | 50 |
Butler (27-5) – Jeffries 25, Bowden 12, Penn 11, Lewis 9, Just 4.
Mercy (22-12) – Reese 4, Schmitz 2, Zeisloft 13, J. Woods 5, Muss 1, M. Woods 8, Laemmle 8, Muthler 2, Feldkamp 7.
3-point goals — Jeffries 3, Bowden; Zeisloft 4, J. Woods, M. Woods 2.
Dr. Rudy J. Ellis all-tournament team – Micaiah Bowden, Tasia Jeffries, Jaelynn Penn (Butler); Sadie Zeisloft, Jessica Laemmle (Mercy); Lindsey Duvall (Bullitt East); Carnethia Brown (Pleasure Ridge Park); Jaida Wiggins (Fairdale); A’shauntee Hooten (Doss); Belle Leonard (Bullitt Central); Katie Downey (North Bullitt).