WEXFORD — Seneca Valley knew Mt. Lebanon's press was coming.

For a good portion of the game, the Raiders dealt with it well enough and even held a nine-point lead early in the second half.

But the swarming Blue Devils wore down the Raiders' offense and used the final 14 minutes of the game to drop a 36-13 run and prevail, 54-40, in Friday's WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball quarterfinal playoff at North Allegheny High School.

“That's what they do,” Seneca coach Dorothea Epps said of Mt. Lebanon's press defense, which the Blue Devils employed virtually the entire game. “I thought we handled it in the first half, but then we just got loose with the ball.”

Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker lauded her players' effort in off-the-court workouts, a necessity if a team is going to press for 32 minutes as the Blue Devils did.

“We truly believe in conditioning,” she said. “It's a huge factor for us.”

Led by forward Maddie Karchut, the Raiders (15-8) led 27-18 two minutes into the third quarter before the Blue Devils used outside shooting to ignite their rally.

By the end of the period, Patrice Smith, Brooke Collins and Reagan Murdoch each drained a trey and Seneca's lead was just 32-29 with one quarter to play.

The 3-point infusion helped make up for a dreadful stretch the Blue Devils had from inside the arc.

From the start of the second quarter until two minutes into the fourth — a span of 18 minutes — Mt. Lebanon missed every one of its 18 2-point attempts.

“Oh, I was worried,” admitted Oldaker, “but I believe in these kids. We just had to stop rushing shots and let the game come to us.”

In the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils began hitting shots from both the inside and outside.

Those points proved just as vital to the team advancing as its suffocating defense.

The Raiders turned the ball over six times in the fourth period and when Morgan Palmer hit two free throws with 6:19 left, Mt. Lebanon was up for good at 34-32.

Seneca cut its deficit to two points one other time — Jess Bickart's pair of free throws made it 38-36 with 4:31 remaining — but the Blue Devils pulled away with late free throws.

“We started with a zone defense tonight and stayed with it for a while because Mt. Lebanon wasn't hitting shots,” said Epps. “Then we changed things up a few times, but we just had too many turnovers to keep us in it.”

Karchut turned in a great game, the senior's last. She led all scorers with 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Her four field goals in the second quarter helped the Raiders turn a 15-9 deficit into a 23-18 lead at halftime.

Karchut scored 13 of her team's 18 field goals in the game.

“She was terrific for us this season,” Epps said of Karchut. “She came to work every day and turned into a great leader for us.

“Maddie was a consistent scorer for us. Even when she was not scoring, her presence open the offense up for everyone else.”

Mt. Lebanon (18-5) received balanced scoring with Smith scoring 15 points, Ashleigh Connor 13 and Palmer 11.

SENECA VALLEY 40

Jaden Davinsizer 1 0-0 3, Jess Bickart 1 2-2 4, Maddie Karchut 13 0-0 26, Olivia West 3 0-2 6, Chloe Leonard 0 1-3 1, Kaitlyn Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Morgan Sinan 0 0-0 0, Sydney Ring 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 3-7 40.

MT. LEBANON 54

Patrice Smith 5 1-2 15, Brooke Collins 1 2-2 5, Ashleigh Connor 2 7-10 13, Reagan Murdoch 3 0-0 8, Morgan Palmer 3 5-6 11, Anna Streiff 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 15-20 54.

Seneca Valley 9 14 9 8 — 40

Mt. Lebanon12 6 11 25 — 54

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 1 (Davinsizer); Mt. Lebanon 9 (Smith 4, Connor 2, Murdoch 2, Collins).