PINE TWP — Judging by his play through the first three quarters, you wouldn't have guessed that Brett Matson was Pine-Richland's leading scorer.

But the junior point guard showed his true colors when his team needed it the most.

With the Rams holding a 48-45 edge over Seneca Valley, Matson scored his team's first nine points of the final period, giving P-R a 57-48 advantage en route to a 70-64 boys basketball win to open the Section 3-AAAA season.

Matson ended the game with 16 points after tallying six in the first three quarters.

"He's our leading scorer, averaging 18 points per game," said Rams coach Dave Krakoff. "We want the ball in his hands as much as possible. But he's also a very unselfish player and will do anything he's asked to do."

Matson's nine points to open the fourth period included a pair of two-point buckets, a 3-pointer and back-to-back free throws.

The theme of the night was Pine-Richland's ability to stay ahead of the Raiders (4-2, 0-1) The Rams (4-3, 1-0) opened a 14-6 lead at 3:40 of the first quarter.

Though the Raiders made a handful of runs, they never did take the lead.

"Every time we'd get close, they would make a big shot," said SV coach Vic Giannotta. "We never got over the hump."

In the first half, the thorn in the Raiders' side was P-R's perimeter game, as the Rams made seven of their 10 3-pointers in the first two quarters. The long-range shots helped P-R to claim a 38-34 lead by halftime.

Brian Felker and Nick Madia each connected on three attempts from beyond the arc in the first half, ending the game with 15 and 17 points, respectively.

"The best part about our 3-point shooting is that we have several guys who can hit shots from out there," said Krakoff. "This offense is designed to be balanced. We don't focus on one player."

Eric Duerr, the Rams' 6-foot-8 senior center, ended the game with 12 points after scoring just three points in the first half.

But the Raiders were surprised with the Rams' ability to shoot from the outside.

"We weren't expecting them to hit all of those 3s," said Giannotta. "We just weren't challenging their shots and our defensive rotation wasn't good."

When Brandon Bove drained his team's final 3-pointer of the game with 3:11 remaining, it gave the Rams a 62-48 lead.

But P-R's inability to hit free throws — they made only 6-of-16 in the fourth quarter — allowed SV to creep back into the game.

With 17 seconds remaining, the Raiders pulled to within 68-62 on a drive and a bucket from Pat Heery, but time ran out on SV's comeback attempt.

Kevin Mayberry led the Raiders with 17 points.

SENECA VALLEY 64Gabe Grinder 4 0-0 9, Kevin Mayberry 8 1-3 17, Tony Treser 1 2-2 4, Kevin Rohm 1 1-2 3, Pat Heery 2 4-6 8, John Bryant 0 4-6 4, John Fitzpatrick 2 0-0 5, Shawn Eagle 4 1-2 9, Jarrett Shotts 1 3-4 5, Sean Gress 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23 16-25 64.

PINE-RICHLAND 70Brandon Bove 2 0-0 5, Brett Matson 5 4-8 16, Eric Schlegel 1 0-0 3, Brian Felker 5 2-3 15, Nick Madia 6 2-4 17, Ryan Brown 1 0-0 2, Eric Duerr 5 2-8 12, T.J. Kuban 0 0-0 0. Totals:

25 10-25 70.Seneca Valley 15 19 11 19—64Pine-Richland 21 17 10 22—703-point goals: Seneca Valley 2 (Grinder, Fitzpatrick); Pine-Richland 10 (Madia 3, Felker 3, Matson 2, Bove, Schlegel)JV: SV 32-25 (SV-Matt Plautz, 10 points)Tuesday: Seneca Valley at North Allegheny