Seneca Valley drops 55-49 decision to P-R
JACKSON TWP — For any team not named North Hills, there’s a small margin for error in a grouping as competitive as Section 1-6A.
In the middle of its longest home stand this season, Seneca Valley was aware of this. The Raiders (6-10, 2-6) entered their boys basketball clash with Pine-Richland at the foot of the standings, but still very much in the mix for a postseason slot.
The Rams, 55-49 winners on Tuesday night, are sitting pretty in the division’s second spot. With the win, P-R put itself at least two games ahead of the three teams looking up at them.
“That was the key today,” Rams coach Bob Petcash said. “Winning this game here at Seneca, where we were in position from a section standpoint, this was critical.”
Propelled by junior forward Luke Lawson’s six first-quarter points, the Raiders got out to a solid start. SV held a lead for a little over two minutes, but the visitors’ Andrew Swartout snatched it back with a pair of baskets in the opening frame’s final minute.
The hosts would face an uphill battle the rest of the way.
“We just didn’t close the quarter out very well and it came back to bite us,” SV coach Kevin Trost said. “We ended up down two after the first quarter instead of up two. After that, it was a struggle to score.”
Without senior point guard Caiden Oros, Trost’s crew stumbled in its previous three outings. Oros returned, but the Rams (9-7, 5-3) weren’t fooled.
P-R held him scoreless in the middle quarters and limited him to nine points overall.
“We didn’t prepare and say, ‘Oh, he has an injury,’” Petcash said. “We played like he was coming to play full-time. He’s an excellent outside shooter, he moves well without the ball. We had to track him constantly.”
SV scratched back within four a couple of minutes into the second half, but P-R’s Swartout, Jameson O’Toole, and Andrew Alexander combined for eight points in the 1:15 that followed to let some of the air out of the Raiders’ balloon.
Senior forward Luke Shanahan scored a game-high 21 points for the guests, including a half-dozen free throws in the fourth that helped ice the contest.
“I think, collectively as a whole team, we all played really well,” Petcash said. “Luke is a captain and leader and, playing varsity for three years, it’s expected for him to play consistently. Andy Swartout played really, really well. He’s really stroking the ball.”
SV’s offense came in averaging fourth lowest points per contest (54.4) in the classification. The loss was the fifth time they failed to hit the 50-point plateau this year.
Jameson Grieco and Luke Lawson posted 14 points and 13 points, respectively, for SV.
Pine-Richland stares at two upcoming non-conference tilts before rounding into the final section stretch next week.
The Rams will visit Allderdice on Thursday and host Chartiers Valley on Saturday.
As for the Raiders, they’ll play half of their six remaining fixtures at home, including Friday’s showdown with North Allegheny. The Tigers lost to undefeated North Hills Tuesday night and are tied with SV in the section’s basement.
“We need to start to put some section wins together, for sure,” Trost said. “We’re going to have to win a couple games, probably, to get in. We need to get going.”
PINE-RICHLAND 55
Luke Shanahan 5 9-10 21, Andrew Swartout 6 2-2 16, Jameson O’Toole 3 0-0 8, Andrew Alexander 2 1-1 5, Nathan Zavasky 1 0-0 3, Owen Luellen 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 12-13 55.
SENECA VALLEY 49
Jameson Grieco 5 2-3 14, Luke Lawson 5 2-2 13, Caiden Oros 4 1-2 9, Aiden Lyczek 1 2-2 4, Beaux Lizewski 1 2-2 4, Connor Oros 1 0-0 3, Andrew Roy 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 9-11 49.
Pine-Richland 13 14 16 12 — 55
Seneca Valley 11 10 13 15 — 49
3-point goals: Seneca Valley 4 (Grieco 2, Co. Oros, Lawson); Pine-Richland 7 (O’Toole 2, Swartout 2, Shanahan 2, Zavasky)
Friday: North Allegheny at Seneca Valley
