JACKSON TWP - With New Castle guards Jaleesa Sams and Ryenn Micaletti sitting on the bench for most of the third quarter in foul trouble, the Seneca Valley girls basketball team had a chance to come back.

It did, but just not all the way.

The Raiders used a 6-0 spurt at the close of the third quarter to pull to within one point, 20-19, but the Hurricanes were able to sink 10 of 15 free throws in the final frame to hold on to a 36-29 Section 3-AAAA victory Friday night.

In the game that followed, the Raiders' boys team trailed New Castle 28-27 before the 'Canes went on an 11-0 run late in the second quarter.

A 10-2 run to open the third quarter helped give New Castle some separation on its way to a 72-60 victory.

"It got a little sticky at the point because Ryenn the one and she got into foul trouble," said New Castle girls coach Luann Grybowski. "Jaleesa's in foul trouble and she's our 2.

"We didn't have a point guard on the court, but Nikki (Karatinos) moved over and did a nice job," Grybowski added.

"The third quarter was the ballgame," said Seneca Valley coach Todd Schoeffel. "Sams was on the bench and we didn't score more than seven points. We should have had the lead."

Sams was the key reason the Raiders fell behind early, scoring New Castle's first six points

Sams added even more points in the second quarter - highlighted by a three-point play - to help the Hurricanes take an 18-8 lead.

"With Sams at guard at the beginning, that created a problem for us," said Schoeffel. "She's quick and she can jump. That had a lot to do with us getting down."

The Raiders (8-6, 4-2) closed out the half with a basket by Val Johnson and free throws by Kelsey Spencer and Laura Ness to pull to 18-12.

Sams picked up her third foul with 6:32 left in the third quarter and Micaletti followed with her third shortly after.

The Raiders, however, couldn't take advantage of their opportunities at the line, where they connected on just 5 of their first 13 attempts.

Trailing 20-13, a basket by Chelsey Pavlick and two free throws apiece by Spencer and Pavlick helped the Raiders pull to within one to close out the third quarter.

A free throw by Karatinos and a score by Natalie Wallace opened up a four-point lead for New Castle.

The Hurricanes (10-3, 4-2) held a 26-23 lead, but Micaletti sank a couple of free throws and a basket for a seven-point lead with 2:43 left.

The Raiders would pull no closer to five points the rest of the way.

"We've been having trouble scoring," said Schoeffel. "New Castle matches up against us very well. We rushed a lot of things and we seemed out of sync in the first half."

Sams finished the game with 16 points and Micaletti added nine.

With only one win this season, Raiders coach Vic Giannotta has heard a lot about moral victories, but he'll take this one."Tonight, I'll take it because we played a very good basketball game," said Giannotta. "New Castle shot extremely well, especially in a two-minute span at the end of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter."That totaled a 21-5 run that keyed the Hurricanes win."I've been disappointed in our consistency this year," said New Castle coach John Sarandrea. "We're 15 games in. I thought it would kick in."I'll take the win, as sure as I'm sitting here," he added.Another trouble spot for Seneca Valley was slowing the play of New Castle senior forward Demetrius Searcy, who had a game-high 35 points.It was Anthony Harvey who helped New Castle off right with a pair of treys and two free throws to account for its first eight points.The 'Canes (11-4, 3-3) used that start to open up a 17-9 lead, but baskets by Seneca Valley's Dave Monteleone, Dan Stanley and Kevin Mayberry trimmed the gap to two points early in the second quarter.The Raiders (1-13, 0-6) trailed by one point four times in the second quarter, but New Castle's 11-0 run in a 1:40 span gave it a 39-27 lead.Stanley's buzzer-beater 3-pointer gave the Raiders a boost going into the locker room.But any chance the Raiders had at mounting a comeback faded when New Castle scored 10 of the first 12 points in the third quarter, including six from Searcy, for a 49-32 advantage.New Castle surged to its biggest lead, 19 points, at 63-44 before a 10-1 run by the Raiders cut the lead 64-54 with 2:02 left. But the 'Canes wouldn't allow the margin to drop below that."Seneca Valley's young and they're going to get better," said Sarandrea. "Whenever you get to this point in the season and not had a lot of success, it's tough.Along with Searcy, Anthony Harvey finished with 15 points.Monteleone led the Raiders with 23 points, with 17 coming in the second half. Don Barclay chipped in with 10 points."Monteleone came alive (Friday)," said Giannotta. "He came alive in the second half. Now, we just need him to play all, four quarters, but he played a great game."Girls BoxNEW CASTLE 36Ryenn Micaletti 2 5-6 9, Nikki Karatinos 4-7 4, Logan Hartman 1 0-0 2, Jaleesa Sams 7 2-3 16, Natalie Wallace 2 1-2 5, Morina Joseph 0 0-0 0, Shirl Jones 0 0-0 0, Kara Joseph 0 0-0 0, Julianna Guido 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 12-18 36.SENECA VALLEY 29Val Johnson 1 0-0 2, Kelsey Spencer 1 5-6 7, Tina Mangola 2 3-6 7, Amanda Johnson 3 0-0 6, Ashley Turici 0 0-2 0, Courtney Grootegoed 0 0-0 0, Chelsey Pavlick 1 4-6 6, Laura Ness 0 1-2 1. Totals: 8 13-22 29.3-point goals:NoneMonday:Seneca Valley at Pine-RichlandBoys BoxNEW CASTLE 72Dave Richards 1 3-4 5, Anthony Harvey 5 2-5 15, Demetrius Searcy 14 6-6 35, Tom Canal 2 6-6 11, Hakeem Fitzpatrick 1 0-0 2, Spencer Lane 0 0-0 0, Tony Andrews 2 0-0 4, Chris Harvey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 17-21 72.SENECA VALLEY 60Kevin Mayberry 3 3-4 9, Pat Heery 0 2-2 2, Matt Steinbrink 1 2-5 4, Dave Monteleone 9 5-8 23, Don Barclay 5 0-1 10, Kevin Rohm 1 0-0 2, Jim Sandherr 0 0-0 0, Dan Stanley 3 1-3 8, Jason Davis 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 13-23 60.3-point goals:A, Harvey 3, Searcy, Canal; StanleyJV:New Castle, 64-50Tuesday:Seneca Valley at Pine-Richland