JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley had the lead, but the Raiders had failed to find any consistency on offense.

That is, until Easton Bazzoli caught fire.

The senior guard scored 13 points in the third quarter alone, during which SV extended its eight-point halftime lead over Knoch to a 40-20 cushion.

Bazzoli ended the night with a game-high 22 points as the host Raiders defeated the Knights 51-36 at William F. Paul Gymnasium.

“When we needed him, Easton came alive,” said SV coach Victor Giannotta. “He stepped up for us.”

Despite being the recipients of 15 Knoch turnovers in the first half, the Raiders struggled to find the basket, shooting just 33.3 percent from the field at 9-of-27.

“We had a tremendous amount of empty possessions in the first half,” said Giannotta.

“We just needed to get down the floor and make better cuts,” said Bazzoli. “We had missed a lot of layups in the first half and had to start finishing.”

The best way to lead is by example and Bazzoli did just that in the third period. His conventional 3-point play gave SV a 23-13 lead early in the quarter.

He drained a trio of 3-pointers by the end of the period, one of them putting his team up 33-18 with 2:42 left.

In the first two quarters combined, Bazzoli had scored just two points.

“It was just a case of me getting more looks and better looks in the second half,” Bazzoli said.

Unlike the Raiders (2-1), the Knights did not settle in on offense until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter. A total of 25 turnovers didn’t help.

“We worked on it as much as we could, but it is hard to simulate Seneca’s size and speed,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb. “I thought No. 4 for them (Matt Darby) did a good job at point guard.”

SV senior forward R.J. McCauley brought down 14 rebounds to go with his six points.

“I thought we played much better in the second half tonight,” said Giannotta. “We seemed to have a sense of urgency.”

Ben Pfieffer led Knoch (1-2) with 10 points.

Both teams will now prepare for section play. Knoch hosts Freeport Thursday, while Seneca Valley travels to Shaler Friday.

“My style of play is all new for our players,” said McNabb, in his first season at Knoch. “I like the effort so far.”

KNOCH 36

Dakota Bruggeman 1 0-0 2, Ben Pfieffer 3 2-2 10, Marc Vaughan 3 3-4 9, Austin Miller 2 2-3 6, Matt Zanella 4 1-4 9, David Gallagher 0 0-2 0, Troy Hixson 0 0-0 0, Chris Kier 0 0-0 0, Alex Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 8-15 36.

SENECA VALLEY 51

Matt Darby 1 0-0 2, Easton Bazzoli 7 4-7 22, Zach Spangler 1 0-0 2, T.J. Holl 2 0-0 4, Eric Woods 2 0-0 5, R.J. McCauley 3 0-0 6, Taylor Mantick 1 0-4 2, Alex Snyder 4 0-0 8, Zach Snyder 0 0-0 0, Dan Cashdollar 0 0-0 0, Dakota Topf 0 0-0 0, Mike Smith 0 0-0 0, Bryce Schnatterly 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 4-11 51.

Knoch 1 10 9 16—36

Seneca Valley11 8 21 11—51

3-pointers: Knoch 2 (Pfieffer 2); Seneca Valley 5 (Bazzoli 4, Woods)

Thursday: Freeport at Knoch

Friday: Seneca Valley at Shaler