JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's offense visited both ends of the spectrum in the span of six and a half minutes.

The Raiders' boys basketball team was tied with Pine-Richland at 34 entering the fourth quarter before Gabe Grinder opened the scoring with three free throws after being fouled from beyond the arc.

Jarrett Shotts followed with a free throw and a baseline jumper to give SV a 40-34 lead with 6:32 left.

That's when things began to unravel for the Raiders (9-7, 2-5).

The team scored only three points the rest of the way and lost a 49-43 decision to the Rams.

In the decisive fourth quarter, Seneca Valley was 2-of-11 from the field for 18 percent and committed three turnovers on critical possessions.

"We got up on them and then we have six or seven straight empty possessions," said SV coach Vic Giannotta. "And we had six turnovers the whole game until the fourth, but had three late in the game."

SV's last lead came when Pat Heery's jumper gave his team a 42-40 lead with 3:27 left.

The Raiders would score just one more point — on a free throw from Sean Gress — the rest of the game.

While the Raiders were searching for an offense, the Rams (11-6, 5-2) had no trouble finding theirs in the closing minutes.

Senior center Eric Duerr scored six points in fewer than three minutes.

Junior guard Brett Matson scored seven of his game-high 18 points in the final period.

"Our five starters have been playing varsity for three years now," said Pine-Richland coach Dave Krakoff. "They're veterans and we challenged them."

Gress gave the Raiders a huge shot of momentum in the final seconds of the third quarter when he drained a 3-pointer to tie the game just before the buzzer.

"A team comes back on you at the end of the third and it's just a gut check," added Krakoff. "We told the players that these are the tough section games on the road against good teams that you have to find a way to win."

Pine-Richland had the early advantage, enjoying an 8-2 lead at one point and a 13-7 edge after one quarter of play.

Duerr scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half. That performance was in contrast to the Rams' first meeting against SV this season. In a 70-64 win on Dec. 15, Duerr scored 12 points, but only three in the first two quarters.

"We made a conscious decision to try and get the ball to Eric early in the game," said Krakoff. "Our offense works better when we get him the ball early. Defenses have to change things up and adjust to it."

Kevin Mayberry, who leads the Raiders in scoring at 11.8 points per game, left early in the contest with an undisclosed injury. His absence affected SV's offense the rest of the game.

Sophomore C.J. Brown led SV with 10 points.

Though Giannotta has had to endure several tough losses this season, this latest setback may be the most difficult to take.

"Pine-Richland is the best team in the section, that's just my opinion," he said. "Their role players are good and Matson, Duerr and (Brian) Felker could play on any team in the WPIAL.

"They thoroughly outplayed us in the first half and we were only down a few points," added Giannotta.

PINE-RICHLAND 49Brandon Bove 0 1-3 1, Brian Felker 2 1-2 5, Eric Duerr 8 0-0 16, Nick Madia 3 0-0 8, Brett Matson 6 6-9 18, Tom Johnson 0 1-2 1, T.J. Kuban 0 0-0 0, Eric Schlegel 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19 9-16 49.

SENECA VALLEY 43Gabe Grinder 1 5-6 8, Sean Gress 1 1-2 4, Kevin Rohm 2 0-0 4, Pat Heery 3 0-0 6, John Fitzpatrick 1 1-5 3, Shawn Eagle 2 0-0 4, C.J. Brown 3 4-7 10, Jarrett Shotts 1 2-4 4, Kevin Mayberry 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14 13-24 43.

Pine-Richland 13 13 8 15—49Seneca Valley 7 16 11 9—433-point goals: Pine-Richland 2 (Madia 2); Seneca Valley 2 (Grinder, Gress)

JV: Seneca Valley 50-41

Saturday: Taylor Allderdice at Seneca Valley