JACKSON TWP — Abbie Trzeciak didn't wait long to test her shooting form.

After missing two games, Trzeciak wanted to find her rhythm on offense.

Seventeen seconds in, Trzeciak tried her first shot. It went off the glass and in, starting a trend.

Trzeciak made her first four shots and helped raise the Seneca Valley girls basketball team's offense, which struggled in her absence.

Trzeciak finished with a game-high 18 points in the Raiders' 51-49 Section 3-AAAA win over Butler Thursday night at Seneca Valley High School.

“We did a little shoot-around before practice and I was hoping to get back into the groove of things,” said Trzeciak, who also grabbed 14 rebounds. “Luckily, it did. It was nice to come out strong in the first quarter.”

Before beating the Golden Tornado, Seneca Valley had scored 67 points in its last two games, including a season-low 21 in a Feb. 3 loss to Oakland Catholic.

Lexus Lambert also finished in double figures for the Raiders, scoring 12 points.

“Everyone in this section struggles to get out of the 30s and 40s. For us to get to 51 tonight, it showed we can score,” Seneca Valley coach Rob Lombardo said. “We found a way to score 30 more points tonight against, in my opinion, a better basketball team.”

Seneca Valley (9-11, 7-5) opened with a flurry. Midway through the first quarter, the Raiders led 16-6 after Hannah Parey made a 3-pointer on an assist from Meghan Hess.

A letdown followed. Butler (9-9, 4-5) worked back and took its first lead, 21-20, on a layup by Lauren Bresnahan with 6:50 left in the first half.

That was the start of a major offensive drought for the Golden Tornado. Butler wouldn't score another field goal for nearly 14 minutes.

Seneca Valley took the lead for good, 28-25, when Hess made a 3-pointer with 1:46 left in the first half.

The Raiders pushed the lead to 33-26 at halftime and 41-28 at the end of the third quarter.

That was what Lombardo wanted to see.

“I know typically on Senior Night ... they came out of the gate flying on that emotional high,” Lombardo said. “We've been in so many close games. That's going to make us a tough playoff team.”

Danielle Hensel, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds, snapped the drought for Butler, scoring early in the fourth quarter.

“Our problem was at the offensive end, I thought our defense played great,” Golden Tornado coach Dorothea Epps said. “We just couldn't put the ball in the basket. There was a lot of good things I saw out of girls who I was challenging to mix up their game. Some things were off for us.”

In the final minute, both teams had a hard time holding on. Julia Baxter helped Butler cut the lead to 48-46 with a layup with 56.6 seconds remaining.

Seneca Valley's Michaela Lamont was called for traveling, then stole the ball back. Another Raiders' turnover followed. Baxter, who scored a team-high 14 points and had nine rebounds, missed a driving layup and Hensel was fouled shooting after the offensive rebound, but missed both shots.

Trzeciak made two free throws to seal the game.

“We calmed down really well. On the three-turnover run, we were really frantic,” Trzeciak said. “We came together and realized we didn't have to score anymore. They were fighting for their lives. We weren't fighting for ours.”

BUTLER 49

Alyssa DiPippa 0-4 2-4 2, Danielle Hensel 3 1-4 10, Kalynn Callihan 2 4-4 10, Lauren Bresnahan 3 3-4 9, Julia Baxter 4 4-10 14, Ronni Guiney 1 2-2 4, Tiana Schaffner 0 0-0 0, Paige Lambermont 0 0-0 0, Kelsee Callihan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 16-28 49.

SENECA VALLEY 51

Meghan Hess 2 3-5 8, Katie Brown 1 0-0 2, Hannah Parey 1 5-8 8, Lexus Lambert 5 2-4 12, Abbie Trzeciak 7 2-2 18, Melissa Carter 0 0-0 0, Shaley Bream 0 0-0 0, Sarah Jones 0 1-2 1, Cristina Dunning 0 0-0 0, Michaela Lamont 0 2-4 2. Totals: 16 15-25 51.

Butler 16 10 2 21 — 49

Seneca Valley20 13 8 10 — 51

3-point goals: Butler 4 (Ka. Callihan 2, Hensel, Baxter); Seneca Valley 3 (Hess, Parey, Trzeciak)

JV: Seneca Valley 47-38

Saturday: Butler vs. Westinghouse at Shady Side Academy; Keystone Oaks at Seneca Valley