JACKSON TWP — A tale of two halves was told Monday night as the Seneca Valley girls basketball team was held to just nine second-half points in a 49-29 loss to North Allegheny.

“I think NA kinda woke up a little bit,” SV coach Todd Schoeffel said. “(NA) beat us by 20 before, they might have just come in a little soft and it didn't take them long, as soon as they saw 6-0 (SV lead), it was time to play.”

The Raiders came out to a flying start on the first few possessions in leaping to the early edge. North Allegheny's Rachel Martindale quickly answered with two three-pointers, along with some help to put the Tigers up 15-9 after the first quarter.

SV brought more firepower in the second quarter, out-scoring NA 11-9 behind a five-point period by Jaden Davinsizer to trim the deficit to 24-20 by halftime.

In the third quarter, the Raiders couldn't get anything rolling as they were only able to rack up three points, all from the free throw line. The Tigers' defense was as strong as ever after halftime and it was able to lead to 25 second- half points.

“The kids put a ton of energy into the second half, we talked at halftime and they weren't happy with a couple of ways we let them get after us in the first half,” NA coach Spencer Stefko said.

North Allegheny's Martindale was unstoppable throughout the night as she was able to notch 19 points, including five buckets beyond the arc.

“(Martindale) has left me speechless about 30 to 40 times in four years and tonight is just 41,” Stefko said. “I don't know what to say, just write a bunch of superlatives and it'll be true.

“(NA) picked it up defensively, they made a good adjustment about keeping us to one side of the floor and playing defense early on our cuts and our screens and we didn't adjust,” Schoeffel added. “We turned the ball over, we probably had more turnovers than we had shots in the second half.”

The senior guard also received high praise from Schoeffel following the game.

“Her confidence. She's just been there and done that so many times that she knows how to do it,” Schoeffel said. “When you can handle the ball and shoot the ball that well, then that makes you a confident player. She's never afraid of the situation and that's hard to play against.”

The Tigers (16-0, 9-0) would hang on to the lead that they had since halfway through the first quarter and go on to keep their record perfect.

Seneca Valley's top scorers were Haley Cramer and Maddie Karchut, who both notched six points on the evening.

Seneca Valley's record falls to 11-4 overall (5-4 in section) with its next matchup set for Friday at home against Norwin. Monday's loss was the Raiders' first of the season on their home court.

“I think we learned that we can play defense with anybody,” Schoeffel said. “I think we learned we have a long way to go, but the bottom line is we lost. So you know, back at the gym on Wednesday and work hard and try to get the next one.”

NORTH ALLEGHENY 49

Morningstar 0-0 8, Serbin 0-0 5, Barcia 0-0 3, Martindale 0-0 19, Rawls 0-0 3, Groetsch 0-0 6, Balouris 0-0 5. Totals: 0-0 49.

SENECA VALLEY 29

Gretchen Koken 2-2 4, Haley Cramer 1-2 6, Jaden Davinsizer 2-2 5, Jess Bickart 0-0 2, Maddie Karchut 2-2 6, McKenna Gross 0-0 2, Olivia West 2-2 4. Totals: 7-9 29.

North Allegheny 15 9 9 16 — 49

Seneca Valley9 11 3 6 — 29

3-point goals: Serbin, Barcia, Martindale 5, Rawls, Balouris, Cramer, Davinsizer.

Friday: Norwin at Seneca Valley