Spencer

JACKSON TWP — Their team's season hasn't gone the way Seneca Valley seniors Kelsey Spencer and Amanda Johnson anticipated.

Their final home game?Different story.

Spencer scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds while Johnson netted 12 points and 10 boards in the Raiders' 64-24 girls basketball victory over Albert Gallatin Saturday night.

The victory clinched a winning record for Seneca Valley (13-10, 3-8) in Kelly Mathews' first year as head coach.

The 64 points marked the most Seneca Valley has scored in a game this year. Only once — a 49-16 win at North Hills — did the Raiders allow fewer than 24 points.

"This means a lot to us, being able to have our final home game turn out like this,"said Spencer, a 5-foot-11 guard. "You always remember your last game."

Spencer and 6-2 center Johnson are both four-year letterwinners. Both are going on to college basketball — Spencer at New York University, Johnson at St. Bonaventure.

"It's disappointing to not go to the playoffs, but we worked hard and tried hard all year,"Johnson said. "Adjusting to a new coach took a little while.

"We finally put it all together in the second half today."

Albert Gallatin (2-20) entered the game having lost 17 of 18 games. Jeremiah Powell is the Colonials' third head coach in four years.

Yet the visitors drained three 3-point field goals in the first quarter and held the lead briefly in the first half. Seneca Valley took a 27-16 lead into halftime.

"I told the girls in the locker room, no more 3-point shots,"Mathews said. "We were 1-for-12 from out there in the first half, just standing around, tossing the ball toward the basket.

"We were much more active in the second half and worked for better shots."

The Raiders outscored Albert Gallatin 37-8 in the final two quarters, including a 25-0 run that ballooned a 38-21 lead midway through the third quarter to a 63-21 edge with 2:29 left in the game.

Seneca Valley sank 14 of 25 shots in the second half. Albert Gallatin had 20 turnovers in the game.

"Turnovers have killed us all year,"Powell said. "They pressured us a lot more in the second half and we didn't handle it well.

"There's a lot of squabbling going on among our players right now. It's been a hard, frustrating year on them. We're trying to bring stability back to the program and get it back to where it was."

Only a few years ago, the Colonials polished off a third consecutive section title.

They could do nothing inside against the Raiders. Albert Gallatin was out-rebounded 17-5 in the second half and managed only four two-point field goals all night.

Megan Gebrosky had 14 points and four steals, Jackie Mangola 12 points and six rebounds for Seneca Valley. Aly Eagle had four assists."This season gave valuable experience to players like Jackie Mangola, Aly Eagle, Megan Gebrosky ... Those girls had seen little, if any varsity time before this year,"Mathews said."And this was a great way for Kelsey and Amanda to go out. They are four-year performers and the fact they're moving on to college ball shows the younger girls what hard work can do. And these girls know the kind of hard work I expect from them now."The Raiders end their season tonight at Shaler."I knew this section would be tough, but the physicality of the defensive play and that the officials let teams play that way surprised me,"Mathews said. "But I like that style. You have to be memtally and physically ready to play every night."We weren't always ready to do battle as a team and that's reflected in our record."<B>ALBERT GALLATIN 24</b>Kasey Ruble 0 0-0 0, Marquis Demaniak 3 0-0 8, Dawn Angelo 1 0-0 3, Jessica Lint 3 0-0 7, Megan Angelo 2 1-4 6, Jade Turner 0 0-0 0, Whitney Epps 0 0-0 0, Marissa Murray 0 0-0 0. <B>Totals: 9 1-4 24</b><B>SENECA VALLEY 64</b>Aly Eagle 1 0-2 2, Megan Gebrosky 5 4-5 14, Kelsey Spencer 7 1-1 16, Kelsey Patsilevas 4 0-0 8, Nicole Roche 0 0-0 0, Amanda Mauck 0 0-0 0, Amanda Johnson 2 8-11 12, Jackie Mangola 3 6-8 12, Catherine Messmer 0 0-0 0.<B> Totals: 22 19-27 64</b><B>Albert Gallatin 11 5 5 3—24Seneca Valley 13 14 22 15—643-point goals:</B> Demaniak 2, D.Angelo, Lint, M.Angelo; Spencer<B>JV:</B> Seneca Valley, 47-26 (SV-Nicole Roche 14, Katie Sterling 11)<B>Monday:</B> Seneca Valley @Shaler

Johnson