ROSS TWP — One free throw.

That's what brought the Seneca Valley girls basketball team's season to an end.

With the score tied at 44, Mt. Lebanon's Morgan Gaetano drained a free throw with 3.4 seconds remaining in the game. SV's Ashley Turici rebounded Gaetano's miss on the second free throw and got the ball to teammate Kelsey Spencer, who was unable to get a shot off from midcourt before the final buzzer as the Blue Devils pulled out a 45-44 win in a PIAA Quad A first-round playoff at North Hills High School Friday night.

"They're hurting right now," Seneca Valley coach Todd Schoeffel said of his players' reaction following the game. "This was the last game for our six seniors."

Gaetano's winning free throw came after she was fouled by SV junior forward Amanda Johnson while attempting a shot.

"We told our kids that if it looked like (Mt. Lebanon) was getting a clean shot at the basket, we needed to foul them," said Schoeffel.

"We were confident that Morgan could make both free throws," said Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker. "But we also didn't want to go over the back for a rebound if she happened to miss."

SV's Chelsey Pavlick had tied the game at 44 with two free throws with 11.1 seconds left.

Seneca Valley's last lead of the game came when senior guard Tina Mangola made two free throws with 3:38 remaining, putting the Raiders up 40-39.

But the Raiders (17-10) were up by much more than that earlier in the game.

With 2:45 remaining in the first half, SV held an 18-9 advantage.

But the Blue Devils (27-2) used an 8-2 run by halftime to cut their deficit to 20-17.

"We needed that," said Oldaker. "For most of the first half, it seemed that (Seneca Valley) had all the momentum until we had that run."

"We had them off-balance," Schoeffel said. "But when they got that run in the last few minutes of the half, it seemed to get them back where they needed to be."

Pavlick led all scorers with 16 points. Mt. Lebanon was led by Kennan Killeen's 13 points and Jaclyn Babe's 12 points off the bench.

The Blue Devils' tallest starter stood 5-feet-9. Three of Seneca Valley's starters– Turici, Johnson and Pavlick–stand taller than that. Yet Mt. Lebanon was able to hold its own in the battle for rebounds, with both teams tallying 31.

"We knew we were outmanned height-wise," said Oldaker. "We kept telling our players they needed to box out."

The two teams met in a regular season affair in early February, with the Blue Devils winning 51-49.

"We knew we would have to play one of our better games to beat Seneca Valley tonight," said Oldaker. "They match up well with us."

Playing their last game for Seneca Valley were seniors Tina Mangola, Chelsey Pavlick, Ashley Turici, Ryan Ingrassia, Laura Wray and Michelle Ulizio.

SENECA VALLEY 44Kelsey Spencer 2 3-5 8, Chelsey Pavlick 5 6-8 16, Tina Mangola 2 2-2 6, Amanda Johnson 1 1-2 3, Ashley Turici 3 0-2 6, Jackie Mangola 2 0-0 5, Ryan Ingrassia 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 12-19 44.MT. LEBANON 45Jaclyn Babe 3 6-8 12, Christine Briercheck 2 0-0 6, Kennan Killeen 5 3-5 13, Emilie Simone 0 3-4 3, Morgan Gaetano 3 1-2 8, Jessica Boyer 0 3-4 3. Totals: 13 16-23 45.

Seneca Valley 8 12 10 14—44Mt. Lebanon 7 10 13 15—453-point goals: J. Mangola, Spencer; C. Briercheck, Gaetano.