JACKSON TWP — Through his team's first eight games, Seneca Valley girls basketball coach Rob Lombardo knew the effort was there.

On Monday night, the result was, too.

Trailing the Raiders 36-35 with 3.1 seconds left, Pine-Richland inbounded the ball beneath its own basket and got it to Abby Altman, who took a good look before launching a 3-pointer that would have won the game as time expired.

The shot bounced off the rim, however, preserving a one-point SV win and the first victory of the Lombardo era.

"Ever since I took over in May, the girls have been trying hard," Lombardo said. "This win shows that we're moving forward."

The Rams had 33 turnovers.

"We struggled with our execution on offense with all the turnovers, and Seneca Valley didn't quit," said Rams coach Molly Copple.

It was SV junior guard Kara Moyer who gave the Raiders the lead for good when she made one of two free throws with 21 seconds left.

Pine-Richland's next shot attempt was errant, but as the ball was headed out of bounds, Altman jumped to save it before throwing it off a Raiders player to give the Rams (5-5, 1-3) one last chance.

Lombardo then called a timeout with 3.1 seconds on the clock.

"First, I took us out of our man-to-man and put us in a 2-3 zone to force (P-R) to shoot a jump shot instead of a layup," he said. "I'm not surprised that they settled for a 3-pointer. I thought they might get it out far enough to do that."

Altman already had made two trifectas earlier in the quarter, the second of which put the Rams up 35-33 with 1:55 remaining.

SV's Alex Karika, who recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds, tied the game at 35 with 1:41 left, setting the stage for Moyer's free throw and for SV's defense to win it.

"I think this win is going to take a lot of weight off our shoulders," said Karika. "We believed we could win tonight, but to actually come out and do it, it was huge."

"I know last week's game against North Hills was playing over and over in the girls' minds," Lombardo said of the game Jan. 4 in which the Raiders (1-8, 1-3) lost a fourth-quarter and the game, 57-52. "But, tonight, we came up with the defensive stop."

Alyssa Miller added 11 points to SV's win.

PINE-RICHLAND 35Abby Altman 3 1-1 9, Kayleigh Jackson 0 2-5 2, Lisa Rader 3 2-2 8, McDarragh Minnock 1 5-5 7, Brittany Kilian 0 1-3 1, Kathleen Humes 2 2-2 7, Kara Peters 0 1-4 1, Brittany Byerly 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 9 14-22 35.

SENECA VALLEY 36Karlei Fronzaglio 1 0-0 2, Kara Moyer 0 1-2 1, Alyssa Miller 3 4-6 11, Brianna Sieminski 0 1-2 1, Amanda Geiger 1 1-4 4, Alex Karika 7 3-6 17, Brooke Clifford 0 0-1 0, Gabby Allen 0 0-0 0, Mary Kate Fullerton 0 0-0 0, Angie Lalonde 0 0-0 0, Dani Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 12 10-21 36.

Pine-Richland 13 5 8 9—35Seneca Valley 7 11 8 10—363-point goals: Pine-Richland 3 (Altman 2, Humes); Seneca Valley 2 (Miller, Geiger).

JV score: Pine-Richland 51-18

Today: Chartiers Valley at Seneca Valley, 5 p.m.