WEXFORD - Tina Mangola scored a career-high 17 points Thursday night.

But it was the final two that sent the Seneca Valley girls basketball team into the Christmas holiday feeling merry.

With the Raiders and North Allegheny tied at 42 and just three seconds left in regulation, Seneca Valley's Laura Ness heaved an in-bounds pass near the length of the floor to Amanda Johnson.

Johnson caught the ball at her own free throw line before finding Mangola wide open beneath the basket. The junior guard banked the ball off the glass and through the net as time expired for a 44-42 finish.

The win improves the Raiders' Section 3-AAAA record to 4-0 (5-5 overall).

"It's awesome to be able to win a game like that," said Mangola. "I was so nervous when I put the ball up. I was just hoping it would go in the hoop."

The dramatic ending preceded North Allegheny downing Seneca Valley in the boys' game, 59-38.

The play that decided the girls' contest seemed to be executed perfectly, and it was Ness's split-second decision that set it up.

"Our first option was to have (Mangola) go long and have the ball thrown right to her," said SV coach Todd Schoeffel. "But when (Ness) saw that the NA defender was staying right with Tina, she went to our second option, which was to throw it to A.J.

"It was a great read by Ness."

There were two North Allegheny defenders close to the play, but both converged on Johnson the second she caught the ball, leaving Mangola free under the hoop.

"It was a well-executed play," said Tigers' coach Will Saunders. "I can't fault our girls. We told them to go after the ball and try to force their player to dribble. But (Seneca) executed a backdoor cut and got the basket."

Mangola tied the game at 42 when she drained two free throws with 44 seconds remaining in the game.

"She's been having such tough luck shooting the ball, she was due," said Schoeffel. "It was nice to see her go out and have a game like that."

North Allegheny (3-4, 1-2) had a chance to take the last shot, but turned the ball over on its own baseline with three seconds left, after which Seneca called a timeout to set up the last second shot.

Johnson added nine points for the Raiders, while Rachel Divosevic led North Allegheny with 16 points.

The game featured several swings in momentum.

Seneca Valley managed a 14-6 run in the final 2:30 of the first half, taking a 29-19 advantage into the break.

The Tigers retaliated with a 17-9 burst in the third quarter, cutting the Raiders' cushion to just 38-36 with eight minutes to play.

Both offenses then went into a lull as they combined for just 12 points in the final period.

The Tigers had four players score at least 11 points, led by Tim Crouch and Dan Lavellee (both with 12) and NA won this Section 3-AAAA battle with relative ease.After SV shouldered a 38-20 deficit at halftime, the Raiders' defense did hold the Tigers (4-2, 3-1) to just three points in the third quarter, but made up little ground by just scoring six points themselves.Dave Monteleone led the Raiders (0-9, 0-4) with 11 points."We played an excellent second half," said Raiders' coach Vince Giannotta. "I'm not proud of the (game's) outcome, but we didn't back down."GirlsSENECA VALLEY 44Val Johnson 0 2-2 2, Kelsey Spencer 2 0-0 6, Chelsey Pavlick 2 0-2 4, Laura Ness 1 2-2 4, Tina Mangola 6 4-4 17, Amanda Johnson 2 4-6 9, Ashley Turici 1 0-2 2. Totals: 14 12-18 44.NORTH ALLEGHENY 42Stephanie Wolf 2 2-4 6, Rachel Divosevic 5 6-7 16, Kate Winland 1 0-2 2, Laura Casey 1 0-0 2, Nicole Dudas 2 0-0 6, Bridget Rectenwald 1 0-0 2, Rebecca Mapel 3 2-3 8, Michele Yakelis 0 0-0 0, Cara Davies 0 0-0 0, Sarah Haas 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 10-16 42.3-point goals:Spencer 2, Mangola, Johnson; Dudas 2.JV:North Allegheny 55-50 (SV-Gebrosky 13 points; NA-Gleason 13)Tuesday:Seneca Valley vs. Beaver Falls @ Seneca Valley Holiday TournamentBoysSENECA VALLEY 38Pat Heery 1 0-0 2, Don Barclay 3 0-0 6, Gabe Grinder 1 2-4 4, Dave Monteleone 4 3-4 11, Matt Steinbrink 2 2-4 6, Jason Davis 1 2-2 4, Dan Stanley 2 0-0 5, Andrew Reider 0 0-2 0, Kevin Rohm 0 0-0 0, Kevin Mayberry 0 0-0 0, Shawn Eagle 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 9-16 38.NORTH ALLEGHENY 59Tim Crouch 5 2-5 12, Andrew Krewatch 2 2-2 7, Brad Vlassich 3 3-4 11, Dan Lavellee 4 0-0 12, Ryan Tiesi 4 2-4 11, Doug Dzambo 1 0-0 2, Nick Henderson 1 0-0 2, Kevin Vater 1 0-0 2, Ben Dvorsky 0 0-0 0, Dino Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 9-15 59.3-point goals: Stanley; Lavellee 4, Vlassich 2, Krewatch, Tiesi.Tuesday: Seneca Valley vs. New Brighton @ C.J. Betters Holiday Tournament