JACKSON TWP — The road to the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs out of Section 1 doesn't figure to be an easy one, but at least Rob Lombardo sees it as a clear-cut path.

“You have to defend your home court and steal what you can on the road,” said the Seneca Valley's girls basketball coach.

It took two overtimes, but the Raiders met with victory in their first home section game of the season, a 44-38 final against North Hills Thursday night at William Paul Gymnasium.

The Indians sliced SV's lead to 40-38 when Kristen Collins drained a 3-pointer with 1:07 left in the second overtime. But senior forward Erin Danik iced the game with four free throws in a 14-second span and a steal that ended North Hills' final possession with 23 seconds remaining.

A loss would have dropped the Raiders (4-6, 1-1) to 0-2 in section play. Instead, it is the Indians (5-5, 0-2) who fell to the bottom of the standings.

“We had to get this game,” said Danik. “We were doing everything we could there at the end and were able to pull it out.”

“Our patience in overtime was the difference tonight,” said Lombardo. “We showed patience in our half-court offense we haven't had all season.”

That led to trips to the free throw line, which is where the Raiders won the game.

Danik, who was 8-of-9 from the free throw line in the game, was 6-of-6 after regulation. Her two makes from the charity stripe gave SV a 33-31 lead with seven seconds left in the first overtime. But the Indians pulled even and forced a second overtime when Jessica Bowen hit two free throws with five seconds left.

“She (Danik) is shooting about 85 percent from the line this year,” said Lombardo. “She's who we want on the line.”

Collins' free throw with 1:51 left in regulation tied the score at 26 and neither team was able to score before the first overtime.

Danik led all scorers with 22 points and pulled down 18 rebounds. Eighteen of her points came after halftime.

“We knew coming in that she was their big gun,” said Indians' coach Lauren Wilmus. “Our goal was to not get beat in the paint and we doubled down on her. Our girls fought extremely hard tonight.”

Both teams failed to hit their stride offensively in the first half, after which the game was tied at 9-9.

Hampered by early turnovers, the Raiders made just two of their 12 field goal attempts in the first two quarters while the Indians were 4-of-22 in the same span.

“That first half set high school girls basketball back 30 years,” said Lombardo.

North Hills was 0-of-15 from 3-point range in the first half. The Indians were 3-of-32 for the game.

“Their style is to penetrate, kick and knock down 3-point shots,” said Lombardo of the Indians. “This is the worst I've seen them shoot and we are lucky they didn't hit more outside shots.”

“We go through spurts,” said Wilmus. “We could go out in our next game and hit 10 or 12. We just didn't hit enough tonight.”

Bowen paced North Hills with 15 points.

NORTH HILLS 38

Jordan O'Malley 2 3-4 8, Jessica Bowen 6 3-3 15, Savannah Powers 1 0-0 2, Anna Treser 3 2-2 9, Kristen Collins 1 1-2 4. Totals: 13 9-11 38.

SENECA VALLEY 44

Gretchen Koken 2 2-2 6, Michaela Lamont 1 0-2 2, Anna Sullivan 1 2-4 4, McKenna Gross 3 2-3 9, Erin Danik 6 8-9 22, Jorden Jamieson 0 1-2 1, Julie Milton 0 0-0 0, Anna Crisci 0 0-0 0, Kelsey Cruttenden 0 0-0 0, Karlie Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 15-22 44.

North Hills 4 5 14 3 7 5 — 38

Seneca Valley4 5 13 4 7 11 — 44

3-point goals: North Hills 3 (O'Malley, Treser, Collins); Seneca Valley 3 (Danik 2, Gross).

Saturday: Seneca Valley at CW North Catholic