Butler knocks off Tipp in MVL opener

Following their season opening loss to Mississinawa Valley, the Tippecanoe girls basketball team traveled back to Butler three days later to battle the host Aviators in the MVL opener for both teams.

Butler exploded out to a 16-point lead in the third quarter, then withstood a Red Devils run to earn a 44-37 victory over Tippecanoe, dropping the Red Devils to 0-2 on the season. Butler advanced to 2-0 with the win, as they also played in the earlier tournament, defeating Brookville.

“The first game, what hurt us was turning the ball over against pressure and our transition defense,” Tipp coach Julian Grasso. “Tonight, neither of those was a factor at all. They got off to a decent start and hit a big halfcourt shot at halftime to give them a seven-point lead. That was big for them.”

“In the third quarter, we missed some shots and they hit some. Suddenly, we were down 16, and we had to press and do some things to come back. You have to credit Butler. We know we have a lot to get better, with a long way to go.”

It was a slow start to this game, as neither team could score in the first two and a half minutes before Morgan Sessions hit a three. This gave Tipp the first points of the game at the four minute mark of the first period.

Butler then took a 7-3 lead in the opening period and held the advantage heading into the second period.

The Aviators controlled Tipp freshman Abbi Mader, who dropped 30 in the opener. She had four at the half as the Red Devils could only muster 14 points at the half.

It was literally a tale of two different teams in the third period. Butler scored the first nine points in the first part of the third quarter before Tipp went on a 12-2 run for the remainder of the period to close their deficit to six heading to the fourth. Mader scored seven in that stretch, while Reece Hoover knocked down five points.

“We told them to just keep playing,” Grasso said. “I tell them not to worry about the scoreboard, just keep playing possession by possession, get three stops in a row and share the ball.”

“Butler did a good job sharing the ball down the stretch and hit their free throws,” Grasso said.

‘We knew going in that Tipp had the upper hand,” Butler coach Molly Bardonaro said. “They had the size, and we felt like the underdogs. We wanted to run and wear them down as much as we could.”

Mader led Tipp with ten points with Hoover adding ten. Mady Turner was the only other player with more than three for the Red Devils. Emma Dady led Butler with 12 with nine from Dillan Bardonaro.