North Allegheny traveled to Butler High School for an important Section 1-6A contest against the Golden Tornado. With the inside track for the fourth and final playoff spot on the line, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead and made a statement on the road defeating Butler, 46-32.

NA got 11 points in the opening frame from Rosalia Varlotta and jumped out to a 16-7 lead after a quarter of play. Varlotta contributed seven more in the second quarter to have 18 at the break and North Allegheny led 31-13 at halftime.

Butler made a move in the third quarter outscoring the Tigers 14-5 in the period but NA still led 36-27 going into the fourth quarter. In the final frame, North Allegheny would rebound to outscore Butler 10-5, and come away with a big 46-32 win.

Varlotta led the Tigers with 22 points. Vange Balouris added nine.

North Allegheny improves to 6-7 overall and 2-3 in the section. Butler falls to 8-6 overall and 1-4 in section play. The Tigers are back in action on Saturday when they host Shaler in a non-section contest at 1:30 p.m. at UPMC Court. This game will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.