JACKSON TWP — Scrawled on a board in the Seneca Valley locker room was one word.

Playoff.

That’s how the Raiders’ girls basketball team treated their game against visiting Butler Monday night.

With good reason.

A loss and Seneca Valley would have been buried under a heap of other teams in Section 1-6A and in dire straights.

But Michaela Lamont stepped up with 17 points, including a 13-of-14 night from the free throw line, as the Raiders were 25-of-29 from the stripe in a 43-33 win over the Golden Tornado.

“It was a must-win,” said Seneca Valley coach Rob Lombardo. “One of the reasons was it was home and, in this section, you don’t want to give up home games.”

Seneca Valley (5-10, 2-3) came into the game 1-3 in the section after blowing a 17-point lead on the road at Shaler last week. Butler (8-5, 2-3) came in at 2-2 on a two-game section losing skid.

It was going to be a fight for survival.

The Raiders answered the bell early, jumping out to an 8-0 lead.

Butler was able to whittle that lead down to two a few times and one once, but could never draw even or take a lead.

“We played out of character tonight, but part of that was because of them,” said Butler coach Joe Lewandowski. “They played like they really needed the game, and they did. Give Michaela credit. She single-handedly put the team in her hands.”

Lamont scored 12 of her points in the second half, all from the free throw line without a miss.

She used her speed to get to the hoop and drew fouls.

Butler was successful at limiting Seneca Valley’s leading scorer Erin Danik, who scored nine points.

“Michaela had the whole world on her shoulders tonight,” Lombardo said. “We figure all teams are trying to take away Erin at this point, and we keep practicing and saying, ‘Hey, someone else has to make a play. Someone else has to step up.’ It was Michaela tonight.”

Butler struggled again from the floor, shooting just 33 percent.

Seneca Valley was worse at 25 percent. The difference, though, was the free throw shooting.

The Raiders scored 58 percent of their points from the stripe.

“That’s probably two or three times we’ve done that this year,” Lombardo said. “That’s one of the main things we did in the offseason. Most teams average between 60 and 65 percent as a team. We’ve been over 70 all year. I told them, ‘You’re going to be in a lot of close ballgames, and they’re won at the foul line.’”

This one certainly was.

Seneca Valley also abandoned the zone defense it has played most of the season, in large part to keep Danik out of foul trouble, and played man-to-man the majority of the night.

That helped the Raiders limit Butler’s sharpshooters on the outside.

“They really, really bought into contest a shot, turn, and box out,” Lombardo said. “They weren’t too over-aggressive with it and didn’t lose shooters.”

Jenna Kunst led Butler with 15 points.

The Golden Tornado bench came up big, partly out of necessity because of foul trouble.

Emilee Altman scored eight points as the Butler reserves scored 14 of the Tornado points.

“Emilee Altman played the entire second half. She guarded,” Lewandowski said. “We had a freshman and a sophomore out there for 90 percent of the game. That’s crazy, you know what I mean, but that’s how much faith we have in them to make plays and get things done.”

Now the section is muddled.

Pine-Richland sits atop the standings at 5-0 and North Allegheny is 3-1, but only a game separates the next four teams.

“The girls are disappointed,” Lewandowski said. “If they weren’t disappointed, then there would be something wrong. We have to keep competing. Keep plugging.”

BUTLER 33

Audrey Hilliard 1-3 0-0 2, Mia Rader 1-3 0-0 3, Alyssa Eyth 1-4 0-0 2, Kylee Lewandowski 0-7 1-2 1, Jenna Kunst 5-8 3-6 15, Julia Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Pepmeyer 0-2 0-0 0, Morgan Gage 0-0 0-0 0, Emilee Altman 3-6 0-0 8, Emma Montleone 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 11-33 6-10 33.

SENECA VALLEY 43

Michaela Lamont 2-6 13-14 17, Gretchen Koken 1-7 1-2 3, Kelsey Cruttendon 1-3 0-0 2, Erin Danik 2-12 5-6 9, Karlie Martin 0-1 2-2 2, Anna Sullivan 2-2 4-5 8, Julie Milton 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Crisci 0-0 0-0 0, Jorden Jamieson 1-2 0-0 2, Haley Cramer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 9-36 25-29 43.

Butler 3 13 11 6 — 33

Seneca Valley10 10 13 10 — 43

3-point goals: Butler 5 (Rader, Kunst 2, Altman 2); Seneca Valley none

Friday: Butler at McDowell

Monday: Pine-Richland at Seneca Valley