JACKSON TWP — Deep into the third quarter of Monday night's girls basketball collision between a pair of section foes, Seneca Valley forward Olivia West had nearly posted as many points (21) as Pine-Richland had as a team (24).

The Raiders cruised to a 70-54 home victory, rebounding from a pair of losses in a tournament at Bethel Park over the holidays.

“She's the main key,” SV coach Dorothea Epps said of West's importance to the group. “And then we have (point guard) Jess Bickart that really controls the show for us. With the two of them out there, I feel really confident.”

Against the Rams (2-6, 0-3), the two girls showed why Epps trusts them so much. Two games removed from her highest scoring performance of the year — 31 points against South Fayette — West ended up acconting for 23 in Monday's win.

Bickart added another 16, 12 of which came in the second half.

After entering the second quarter down by a manageable five points, P-R had trouble from the field. The Raiders picked up their pace and took advantage, embarking on a 15-2 surge.

The Rams ended up going four of 19 from the field in the middle quarters.

Epps said, “I thought the girls came out with some fire today and that was the difference.

“We turned up our defense. I'm a defensive coach, so that's where it all starts at for me. They've bought into it and I thought they played a really nice all-around game.”

SV (6-3, 3-0) opened its advantage up to 27 points at one point in the final quarter and was up by at least 20 for much of the second half.

Still, the guests poured in 28 in the final eight minutes, led overall by senior guard Christina Yarbrough's 19 points.

“We needed that for a confidence booster,” Epps said of the victory. “We hung in there (in our losses in last week's tournament), but of course, there's no moral victories. It was good to get back into the flow in our gym and get it going again.”

In the thick of things in the WPIAL's Section 1-6A standings, eleven of the Raiders' last dozen outings will come against section opponents.

PINE-RICHLAND 54

Christina Yarbrough 8 2-2 19, Madelyn Laird 4 5-7 13, Madison Zavasky 3 2-3 8, Sarah Pifer 2 2-2 7, Gianna Reighard 2 2-2 7. Totals: 19 13-16 54.

SENECA VALLEY 70

Olivia West 9 2-2 23, Jess Bickart 7 0-0 16, Emerson Peffer 4 1-2 9, Lauren Folino 3 0-0 8, Gracie Cato 2 1-3 5, Allison Sevin 1 1-1 3, Kirsten Vislosky 1 0-0 2, Anna Felitsky 0 2-2 2, Brionna Brown 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 7-10 70.

Pine-Richland 11 4 11 28 — 54

Seneca Valley 16 17 18 19 — 70

3-point goals: Pine-Richland 3 (Pifer ,Yarbrough, Reighard); Seneca Valley 7 (West 3, Bickart 2, Folino 2)

Thursday: Seneca Valley at Shaler