JACKSON TWP — North Allegheny's inside-outside game was hitting on all cylinders Thursday night.

The Tigers received 11 combined baskets down low from Taylor Lake and Madelyn Fischer while their teammates sank ten 3-pointers in a 74-57 girls basketball win over Seneca Valley at William Paul Gymnasium.

Five Tigers reached double figures in points, with Rachel Martindale's 16 leading the way.

“We've got good players, it's that simple,” said first-year NA coach Spencer Stefko. “I knew coming in that Taylor and Abby (Gonzales) were star players, but I didn't know what to expect from the other girls. We give those two the green light, but they are so unselfish. They like to get the ball to the other players.

“The balanced scoring has been a pleasant surprise. It's the story of our season.”

The high-water mark for Seneca was the second quarter in which the Raiders committed just two turnovers, forced the Tigers into 11 miscues and outscored them by four points to trail by just two points (28-26) at halftime.

But NA (10-3, 5-0) used a 14-4 run in the first 4:50 of the third quarter to build a 42-30 edge.

“Our halfcourt trap rattled them a bit in the first half, but like all good teams do, they found the openings in the trap and then just knocked down shots,” said Raiders' coach Rob Lombardo. “Them making shots had as much to do with it as anything we were unable to do defensively.”

Brooke Lyczek handed SV a small shot of momentum when she drained a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer, cutting the Raider deficit to 49-39. But Martindale (2) and Gonzales combined to hit three treys in the first 90 seconds of the fourth period to push the Tiger lead to 58-39.

Martindale hit five 3-pointers in the game. Lake scored eight of her 11 points in the first half while Fischer tallied 10 of her 12 in the second half. Gonzales' night ended with 12 points.

“They have so many playmakers, we knew we'd be picking our poison,” Lombardo said.

The Raiders pride themselves in winning most rebound battles, but were soundly beaten there as well, 43-29.

“He (Stefko) watched film and he knows that against us, you have to pound the glass,” said Lombardo. “And you have to get backside help on defense. One thing we've been doing really well is driving to the basket, but we were called for three charges in the first quarter.”

Erin Danik paced the Raiders with 18 points. Paige Montrose had 15 and Michaela Lamont 13.

SV senior point guard Cristina Dunning returned from injury and made her first start of the season while senior forward Lexus Lambert missed the game with an undisclosed injury. The Raiders (9-4, 2-3) have dropped two straight Section 3-AAAA games, losing to Pine-Richland earlier this week.

“We have Butler and Oakland Catholic coming up,” said Lombardo. “We need to get those two to get back over .500 (in the section).”

NORTH ALLEGHENY 74

Kari Karanikos 2 0-0 5, Taylor Lake 5 1-2 11, Rachel Martindale 5 1-2 16, Piper Morningstar 1 0-0 2, Abby Gonzales 4 1-2 12, Savannah Strickland 1 0-0 2, Hailey Zeise 5 3-5 14, Madelyn Fischer 6 0-0 12. Totals: 29 6-11 74.

SENECA VALLEY 57

Michaela Lamont 5 1-2 13, Cristina Dunning 0 2-4 2, Brooke Lyczek 2 0-3 5, McKenna Gross 2 0-0 4, Paige Montrose 5 4-5 15, Erin Danik 7 1-3 18, Ayami Harada 0 0-2 0. Totals: 21 8-19 57.

North Allegheny 13 15 21 25 — 74

Seneca Valley7 19 13 18 — 57

3-point goals: North Allegheny 10 (Martindale 5, Gonzales 3, Zeise, Karanikos); Seneca Valley 7 (Danik 3, Lamont 2, Lyczek, Montrose).

Monday: Seneca Valley at Butler