BUTLER TWP — Alex Karika stepped into the Seneca Valley huddle during a timeout with 3.2 seconds remaining in a tie game against Butler.

Karika was about to step to the foul line for the Raiders with a chance to give her team a late lead.

Her message to her teammates and coaches was simple.

“I'm knocking them both down,” she said.

And Karika, a senior forward on the Seneca Valley girls basketball team, kept her word, draining both free throws and adding an insurance layup at the buzzer to give her team a 46-42 road win Thursday night.

“She's just that type of kid,” said Seneca Valley coach Rob Lombardo.

Karika's free throws put the finishing touches on a tightly contested game between two teams with nothing left to play for other than pride.

Neither team led by more than four points and the game was deadlocked 12 times.

“Whether we were coming here playing for a playoff spot or coming here just to end the season, we knew it was Seneca vs. Butler,” Lombardo said. “We knew both teams were going to be ready to play tonight even though we weren't playing for anything.”

Karika was certainly ready.

The senior, who arrived at Butler midway through the junior varsity game because she was getting therapy on a shoulder she injured during volleyball season, scored 29 points and added 10 rebounds.

More importantly, she was 5-of-5 from the free throw line, including four clutch foul shots in the fourth quarter.

Following her free throw that gave the Raiders a 43-42 lead with 3.2 seconds remaining, Karika raised her arms in joy.

“I was like, ‘Yes. OK. Good,'” Karika said, laughing. “I knew we really needed them. It didn't matter what was going on around me. I zoned everyone else out, and I had confidence when I went up there. I told myself, ‘I'm not missing these.'”

The Golden Tornado (6-15, 3-9) were a dismal 4-of-16 from the line, including a 2-of-8 performance in the pivotal fourth quarter.

“The game came down to foul shooting,” said Butler coach Dorothea Epps. “We didn't make our foul shots when we needed to, and I'm even talking about the last ones, but the ones earlier on. You have to make foul shots in close games.”

Butler was coming off a dreadful performance against Oakland Catholic on Monday in which the Tornado had 30 turnovers.

Butler cut those in half against Seneca Valley (13-8, 5-7).

“We did a much better job with that,” Epps said. “It's good to see they fought back tonight and after that game the other night, they didn't come back in here and give up.”

Karika may have scored 29 points, but none of them came easy.

Jasmine Bailey, one of three seniors along with Makenzie Huey and Jen Barry recognized on senior night, was charged with the task of blanketing Karika all night.

For the most part, Bailey acquitted herself well with the difficult challenge of shadowing Butler County's leading scorer.

“She's a great player, a great defender,” Karika said of Bailey. “She definitely put the pressure on me.”

Bailey also scored six points for the Tornado, who were led with eight points each from Huey and Mackenzie O'Donnell.

For Seneca Valley, missing the playoffs is disappointing, but the season has been far from a failure.

“Here's the thing, we won two (games) in the first year, seven last year,” Lombardo said. “This is a process. Yes, it would have been nice to sneak into the playoffs this year. But the program is feeding itself now and they set that mark for the next three, four groups to come through.”

SENECA VALLEY 46Katie Brown 0-2 2-2 2, Brooke Clifford 1-4 0-2 2, Karlei Fronzaglio 1-4 0-0 3, Amanda Geiger 2-6 1-2 6, Meghan Hess 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Karika 12-18 5-5 29, Julia Vandrak 2-3 0-0 4.

Totals: 18-38 8-11 46.

BUTLER 42Makenzie Huey 3-7 0-0 8, Jen Barry 3-8 0-3 6, Mackenzie O'Donnell 3-10 2-7 8, Sam Marak 0-3 0-0 0, Alyssa DiPippa 1-2 2-3 4, Jasmine Bailey 3-4 0-1 6, Natalie Barkus 3-4 1-2 7, Kaetlyn Callihan 1-2 0-0 3, Lauren Bresnahan 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17-40 4-16 42.

Seneca Valley 9 14 11 12—46Butler 8 15 13 6—423-point goals: Seneca Valley 2 (Fronzaglio, Geiger); Butler 3 (Huey 2, Callihan 3).

JV Score: Butler 33-30

Monday: Butler at New Castle; Seneca Valley at Central Valley