CRANBERRY TWP — A 10-2 run — capped by two Chloe Leonard free throws — handed Seneca Valley a 15-point lead at North Catholic with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

“A win there would have been a big momentum boost for us heading into the playoffs,” SV coach Dorothea Epps said.

Not to be.

The Trojanettes (16-4) outscored the Raiders 29-10 the rest of the way — scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter — to pull out a 53-49 girls basketball victory Saturday.

“We finally figured it out,” North coach Molly Rottmann said. “They were face-guarding Alayna (Rocco) and Dacia (Lewandowski) and doing a good job with it. We applied a little more pressure defensively and forced them out of some things.

“We started rebounding better, too. That definitely helped.”

Seneca Valley (11-10) dominated the boards for most of the first three quarters. Sophomore Emerson Peffer wound up with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, but could not prevent the North Catholic comeback.

The Raiders closed the regular season with five straight losses, four of them by margins of six points or fewer.

“What happened today is what’s been happening to us,” Epps said. “We’re not playing four complete quarters. If you don’t do that against a good basketball team, they’re gonna get ya.

“We got caught standing around too much in the fourth quarter. We stopped scoring. We stopped defending. We just didn’t finish it off. Hopefully, now that the playoffs are here, we’ve learned that lesson.”

The WPIAL playoff pairings will be announced early Monday evening.

Butler resident Dacia Lewandowski led North Catholic with 19 points, adding four rebounds. Rocco had 18 points and seven boards, with 12 of her points coming in the fourth quarter.

“I finally got free and was able to get to the basket,” Rocco said. “They defended us well. Playing a team like that will help us in the playoffs.”

“Our offense was definitely struggling in the first three quarters,” Rottmann admitted. “We had to turn it up a notch. I was pleased with the way our girls kept battling.”

The Trojanettes will carry a seven-game winning streak into the postseason.

A layup by Leonard gave SV a 41-30 edge with 6:20 to play. North responded with a 17-5 run, capped by a Tori Drevna trey that gave her team a 47-46 lead with 1:07 left. Jess Bickart’s second trey of the final quarter gave the Raiders a 49-47 edge with 37 seconds on the clock.

A three-point play by Rocco gave North the lead for good with 24.2 seconds to play.

Trailing 52-49 with 6.2 seconds left, SV’s Allison Sevin stepped to the foul line for a one-and-one. She made the first, but the Raiders were whistled for a lane violation and the issue was decided.

Drevna had eight points and four assists, Anna Waskiewicz 10 rebounds for the Trojanettes. Bickart had 10 points and four assists for the Raiders despite playing in foul trouble for much of the game.

“Jess did a great job staying in control with four fouls,” Epps said. “She’s a true leader for us.”

SENECA VALLEY 49

Surina Vellody 1 0-0 2, Jess Bickart 4 0-1 10, Olivia West 1 2-3 4, Chloe Leonard 4 2-2 10, Gracie Cato 2 0-0 4, Emerson Peffer 5 1-2 11, Allison Sevin 4 0-0 8, Kirsten Vislosky 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 5-9 49.

NORTH CATHOLIC 53

Anastasia Peterson 2 0-1 4, Anna Waskiewicz 0 4-6 4, Alayna Rocco 6 5-7 18, Dacia Lewandowski 8 3-7 19, Kaitlyn Tavella 0 0-0 0, Tori Drevna 3 1-1 8, Carys Mundy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 13-22 53.

Seneca Valley 16 13 10 10 — 49

North Catholic 16 6 6 25 — 53

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 2 (Bickert 2), North Catholic 2 (Drevna, Rocco)

Monday: Bethel Park at North Catholic