PINE TWP — Pine-Richland boys basketball is not known as the Runnin' Rams.

But that is the strategy preached by head coach Jeff Ackermann and it overwhelmed Seneca Valley Friday night.

Several Pine-Richland runs served as daggers as the Rams posted an 81-57 home victory in the Section 1-6A opener for both teams.

It is the fourth time in seven games this season that the Rams have reached 80 points. They recently scored 101 in a win against Mt. Lebanon.

“Our goal is to play as fast as we can,” said Ackermann. “That's our goal every season, but we usually can't sustain it for a full season. We want to play up-tempo the whole year.”

The Rams' first big run came in the final three minutes of the first half when they outscored the Raiders 14-3 and led 44-32 at the break.

In the first two quarters, Pine-Richland shot 62 percent (15-of-24) from the field.

“I thought we guarded well tonight,” said SV coach Kevin Trost, “but they were still able to shoot the ball really well. It starts with their point guard (Greg Shulkosky), who is great. Petcash (Dan, senior guard) is really good, but they have secondary guys who are capable of scoring as well.”

The Raiders (3-3, 0-1) did not go down easily, however. They foiled Pine-Richland's plan early in the second half.

“We wanted to come out in the third quarter and put the game away,” said Ackermann, “but Seneca took it to us.”

Two treys from Mason Bush, one from Gabe Lawson and a conventional 3-point play courtesy of Marcus Might helped keep SV in it, trailing 53-49 with 2:55 left in the period.

That's when the Rams (5-2, 1-0) dropped another run, this one by a 10-2 count that gave the Rams a 63-51 lead entering the fourth quarter. There would be no comeback as the Raiders were outscored 18-6 in the final eight minutes.

“We weathered the storm early in that fourth quarter, then took control after that,” said Ackermann.

“We played great for stretches, then we'd have some turnovers and they would have a spark and a run,” Trost said.

Petcash paced the Rams with 22 points, Shulkosky scored 19 and Logan Murray 17.

“Seneca has size and they are bigger than us,” said Ackermann. “That was a concern coming in, but Greg is as fast a point guard as you'll find in high school.”

Might and Zac Zajacs both scored 13 points for the Raiders, Trey Berringer added 12 and Mason Bush 11.

“We have five kids averaging at least eight points per game,” said Trost. “We need a few more guys to pitch in on offense.”

Both teams shot the ball extremely well in the first quarter, with Petcash sinking a basket at the buzzer to give the Rams a 21-20 lead.

SENECA VALLEY 57

Gabe Lawson 2 0-0 6, Trey Berringer 5 1-2 12, Brendan Koken 1 0-0 2, Marcus Might 5 3-6 13, Mason Bush 4 1-2 11, Zac Zajacs 6 0-0 13. Totals: 23 5-10 57.

PINE-RICHLAND 81

Greg Shulkosky 7 4-4 19, Colin Luellen 3 0-0 7, Dan Petcash 9 2-4 22, Patrick Shanahan 1 0-0 3, Levi Wentz 2 0-0 6, Kyle Polce 2 2-2 7, Logan Murray 4 7-7 17. Totals: 28 15-17 81.

Seneca Valley 20 12 19 6 — 57

Pine-Richland21 23 19 18 — 81

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 6 (Lawson 2, Bush 2, Berringer, Zajacs); Pine-Richland 10 (Murray 2, Wentz 2, Petcash 2, Luellen, Shulkosky, Shanahan, Polce).

Thursday: Seneca Valley Tournament