Seneca Valley's Chad Albert (15) eyes a pass to teammate Ryan McCauley (32) on Tuesday during the Raiders' 56-46 victory over Pine-Richland.

JACKSON TWP — Victor Giannotta got the best of both worlds Tuesday night.

Seneca Valley's boys basketball coach was not just pleased with his team's effort, he got the win to go with it.

The Raiders jumped out to a 31-17 first-half lead and dispatched visiting Pine-Richland 56-46.

Pine-Richland's modest 4-0 run at the end of the third quarter cut the Raiders' lead to 41-33.

The Raiders regained control with buckets from Austin Bream, Chad Albert and Alex Maxfield, which pushed their team's edge to 47-33.

The Rams had one last rush, a 13-4 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from Andy Andrle and another from Pat Sullivan.

With 48 seconds remaining, SV held a 51-46 lead and the Raiders scored the final five points of the game.

“Our composure down the stretch was key,” said Giannotta. “Our kids didn't panic.”

The Rams (4-7, 1-3) were coming off an impressive 50-45 victory over Central Catholic on Saturday.

But the Rams opened Tuesday's game by turning the ball over 11 times in the first half and getting off just 16 shots in that span.

“We were hoping to use that win against Central Catholic as a springboard into tonight,” said Pine-Richland coach Brian Gaetano. “We just didn't play well in the first half tonight.

“If we would have played the first half with the same intensity, toughness and concentration we had in the second half, it could have been a completely different game,” added Gaetano. “It's frustrating.”

“Our defensive intensity, both on the ball and against the weak side, was better than it's been this season,” said Giannotta. “We didn't give up many back-door points.”

The Rams were led by Andrle's 15 points and Sullivan added 11.“This was the best performance I've seen out of Seneca Valley,” said Gaetano. “You have to credit them.”Seneca Valley (7-5, 2-2) was led on offense by three players — Easton Bazzoli (15 points), Maxfield (14) and Albert (13).Bazzoli managed 11 of his points in the second quarter, which saw the Raiders outscore the Rams 21-10.“Points are good, but the most important thing for us is having all five guys on the floor working as one,” Giannotta said.Seneca Valley travels to North Allegheny Friday night.<B>PINE-RICHLAND 46</B>Andy Andrle 4 4-5 15, Shea Sullivan 1 0-0 3, Tim Williams 2 2-4 6, Sam Dunsmore 3 0-0 6, Pat Sullivan 4 1-2 11, Collin Jackson 1 1-3 3, Nate Roberts 0 2-2 2, Tyler Johnson 0 0-0 0, Addison Dishart 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 15 10-16 46.<B>SENECA VALLEY 56</B>Matt Smith 1 0-0 2, Easton Bazzoli 6 3-3 15, Chad Albert 5 3-4 13, Alex Maxfield 5 4-4 14, Ryan McCauley 2 0-0 4, Austin Bream 3 0-0 6, Alex Snyder 1 0-2 2, Matt Darby 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 23 10-13 56.<B>Pine-Richland 7 10 16 13—46Seneca Valley 10 21 10 15—563-point goals:</B> Pine-Richland 6 (Andrie 3, P. Sullivan 2, S. Sullivan); Seneca Valley 0.<B>Friday:</B> Seneca Valley at North Allegheny

SV's Alex Maxfield (23) fouled by P-R's Collin Jackson (32) in the closing seconds of their mens section basketball game on Tuesday.