JACKSON TWP — For Seneca Valley, a win was a must.

For Butler, Alex Karika was a must-stop.

The Golden Tornado could not control the Raiders' 5-foot-9 senior guard, however, as Karika produced 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead SV to a critical 48-42 Section 3-AAAA girls basketball win Tuesday night.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Raiders (8-4, 2-4), who welcomed 6-foot sophomore forward Abby Trzeciak back to action. She had missed the last three games with a concussion.

“Now, we're 8-1 with her,” SV coach Rob Lombardo said. “By getting Abby back, we were able to play her and Brooke Clifford at forward and move Alex to guard.

“Alex can hit the 3, she can drive to the bucket, grabs rebounds. ... Once she gets some momentum toward the hoop, she's tough to stop.”

The lead changed hands 11 times Tuesday, all in the first half. Though Seneca Valley never built a double-digit advantage, Butler (4-10, 1-5) never could pull even after trailing by five at the half.

The Golden Tornado were plagued by foul problems. Leading scorer MacKenzie O'Donnell fouled out with 3:33 to play and point guard Sam Marak played the entire second half in foul trouble before getting her fifth foul with a second to go. Jasmine Bailey finished with four fouls.

“Fouls not only hurt the players who get them, they hurt the team because we have lesser experienced girls in the game and have to move people around,” Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. “Karika was able to get free and cut to the basket as a result.”

SV took a 34-32 lead into the final quarter. The margin was 38-36 before Meghan Hess stuck back an offensive rebound with 1:56 to play. Trzeciak sank two free throws at the 1:17 mark before Karika put back an offensive rebound off an assist from Amanda Geiger to open up a 44-37 lead with 1:09 left.

O'Donnell completed a 3-point play for Butler with 13.1 seconds to go, but two Karlei Fronzaglio free throws with 11.9 seconds on the clock iced the win.

“We had everything working tonight,” Karika said. “Our passes were good and we hit the boards hard.

“Rebounding was going to be big against Butler. Their forwards are strong. I just wanted to do anything I could to help us win this game.”

The Raiders had a 33-23 advantage on the boards. SV turned the ball over 20 times to Butler's 13.

“This win puts us back in the hunt,” Lombardo said. “We're a game back of Shaler for a playoff spot. This was win or die for us.”

O'Donnell had 12 points and five rebounds for Butler, while freshman Julia Baxter had eight points, five rebounds and four steals. Marak had three steals.

The Tornado suffered their seventh straight loss, but have been in all but one of those games.

“We're right there,” Epps said. “Once we get a win, I think a few more will follow. We cleaned up the turnovers and that's a definite positive. But we need to get that win.”

BUTLER 42Makenzie Huey 1-6 0-0 3, Jennifer Barry 3-9 1-1 8, Alyssa DiPippa 0-2 1-4 1, Natalie Barkus 1-1 0-0 3, MacKenzie O'Donnell 4-8 4-6 12, Sam Marak 1-9 0-0 2, Jasmine Bailey 0-3 0-0 0, Julia Baxter 4-5 0-0 8, Kalynn Callihan 2-6 0-0 5.

Totals: 16-49 6-11 42.

SENECA VALLEY 48Brooke Clifford 0-2 4-4 4, Julia Vandrak 3-7 0-1 7, Karlei Fronzaglio 0-2 6-6 6, Meghan Hess 2-4 0-0 5, Amanda Geiger 1-7 0-0 2, Alex Karika 7-10 6-8 20, Abby Trzeciak 1-2 2-2 4.

Totals: 14-34 18-21 48.

Butler 10 12 10 10—42Seneca Valley 11 16 7 14—483-point goals: Butler 4 (Huey, Barry, Barkus, Callihan); Seneca Valley 2 (Vandrak, Hess).

Junior varsity: Seneca Valley, 43-40 (B: Lauren Bresnahan 12, SV: Meghan Hess 17)

Thursday: Butler at North Hills, Oakland Catholic at Seneca Valley