Tipp earns tough Miami Division win at Butler

Despite only scoring one field goal in the fourth quarter, the Tippecanoe girls basketball team connected on 7-10 free throws in the final 1:20 to hold on for a 37-30 at Butler last week. With the win, Tipp closes the gap in the Miami Division race as both teams have three losses.

“It was a good bounce back game for us and I could tell the last two days they were excited for this game; you could feel it today when we got here,” Tippecanoe coach Christina Pentaudi said. “Every girl was bought in and ready for this game. It is always one of our biggest rivalries and Butler would say the same thing. It is always a battle between the two of us.”

The scoring was at a premium in the opening quarter as neither team could find the basket with Butler holding a 6-5 lead after the opening period of play.

Tipp came to life to start the second as Macey Griffin knocked down a three and Tipp used an 8-0 run to open a 13-6 lead, capped by a three from Reese Hoover. The Red Devils then went as cold as they were hot, watching Butler run off six points in 45 seconds, all driving layups from Noel Smith as she brought the Aviators back to even the game at 15. Courtney Post scored at the rim as the buzzer sounded and Tipp held a slim two-point lead at the half.

The Red Devils reeled off seven straight points to end the third period and start the fourth to push their lead to 28-20 with 6:09 left. Ironically for Tipp, when Post scored on a layup with under two minutes left, it was their only field goal of the fourth quarter as they took a nine point lead. From there, it was all free throws for the Red Devils, finishing with seven to maintain the lead and get out of Vandalia with the win.

“We could tell that we were going to get to the foul line as physical as their girls were starting to play, so it was important that our girls mentally stayed composed and hit their free throws,” Pentaudi said. “I was pleased how accurate we were at the end of the game from the free throw line.”

Post led Tipp with 11 points while Clawson added eight, and Hoover and Turner each scored five.