4th quarter dooms Raiders
PINE TWP — Through three quarters, Seneca Valley seemed primed to score its first Section 1-6A boys basketball win of the season.
“Then ... I think we just ran out of gas,” Raiders coach Kevin Trost said.
Pine-Richland outscored the Raiders 24-5 in the final eight minutes, the Rams (5-6, 1-2) securing their first victory in P-R’s new gym by a 58-43 count.
Prior to the fourth quarter, Pine-Richland held the lead for a total of 39 seconds. Eli Wentz sank a pair of free throws with 3:11 left in the first half for a 17-16 Rams advantage. The Raiders’ Kai West answered with a layup 39 seconds later.
SV (3-11, 0-3) kept the lead from there until Pine-Richland began the final period with a 12-0 run, opening up a 46-38 edge with 4:11 left.
“We changed up our defense in the fourth and forced them to make some different decisions with the ball,” Rams coach Bob Petcash said. “We went to a smaller lineup that seemed to give them trouble.”
The Raiders generally use a six-man rotation, which burned them on this night. Owen Congdon and Jaxon Householder fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Pine-Richland rotated nine players in and out of its lineup.
“Our bench played really well tonight,” Petcash said. “JT Aiello stuck back a couple of offensive rebounds late in the third and that’s what got us started.”
Two Congdon free throws cut the gap to 46-41 with 3:40 left, but P-R’s Grant Spacciapolli converted a three-point play at the other end with 2:33 remaining, giving the hosts a 49-41 lead.
The Rams put the game away at the free throw line from there.
Seneca Valley had dropped seven games in a row.
“We’ve played well in spurts,” Trost said. “We just have to put together a 32-minute game. We haven’t done that yet.”
Andrew Omasits paced the Raiders with 18 points, four rebounds and four steals. West had nine points and a pair of assists, Tyler Pepin eight points and four boards.
The Rams rallied to win despite missiing their first nine shots from the floor and going 2-for-17 in the first quarter.
“Turnovers hurt us and they beat us up on the boards,”
Trost said.
Seneca Valley had 16 turnovers to Pine-Richland’s nine. The Rams enjoyed a 34-21 advantage on the boards.
Carson Baer had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for P-R. Grant Spacciapolli came off the bench to score 11 points and grab six boards.
The Rams scored 17 points in the first half, 41 in the second.
“We looked flat in the locker room before the game and that concerned me,” Petcash said. “I loved the way we responded in the second half.”
Cheerleaders from both schools wore “Be The Match for Jax” T-shirts and players from both teams wore them during pre-game warm-ups. The theme of Tuesday’s game was to promote awareness of the need for stem cell transplants for people seeking such medical treatment.
Seneca Vallery third-grader Jack Ramirez, 8, has a rare autoimmune disease and is in need of a stem cell transplant.
SENECA VALLEY 43
Owen Congdon 0-1 3-6 3, Esheza Okponobi 1-5 0-0 2, Tyler Pepin 2-8 3-4 8, Andrew Omasits 7-12 1-2 18, Kai West 2-5 5-7 9, Luke West 0-0 0-0 0, Jaxon Householder 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 13-33 12-19 43.
PINE-RICHLAND 58
Vasilios Balouris 2-8 2-2 6, Andrew Mendelovich 1-7 0-0 3, Carson Baer 4-12 4-5 14, Doolin Stober 2-8 0-0 4, Zachary Kenny 1-3 0-0 3, Eli Wentz 0-2 7-12 7, Grant Spacciapolli 4-8 1-1 11, Eli Cantalano 2-4 0-0 6, JL Aiello 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 18-55 14-20 58.
Seneca Valley 14 6 18 5 — 43
Pine-Richland 6 11 17 24 — 58
3-point goals: Seneca Valley 5 (Pepin, Omasits 3, Householder), Pine-Richland 8 (Mendelovich, Baer 2, Kenny, Spacciapolli 2, Catalano 2)
JV: Pine-Richland, 60-43 (SV: Nico Santapau 12, Aaron Wehner 12; P-R: Jalen Neals 9, Lucas Thompson 9)
Friday: Seneca Valley at North Allegheny
