JACKSON TWP — Everything didn't go as planned for the Seneca Valley girls basketball team.

But in the clutch, coach Todd Schoeffel was able to count on an old mainstay: defense.

With three minutes remaining in the third period, the Raiders trailed Fox Chapel 31-23.

But SV (13-4, 7-2) held the Foxes to just five points and no field goals in the final 11 minutes in a 41-36 Section 3-AAAA victory Monday night.

The win came despite the fact the Raiders made just nine of 17 free throw attempts and committed 22 turnovers.

"We'll go out one night and make the big free throws, and the next night we'll miss them," said Schoeffel.

"But if you're missing free throws, you better play well defensively, and we did that tonight," he added.

Fox Chapel (10-7, 5-4) committed seven turnovers in the final eight minutes and missed all four of its field goal attempts in the period.

"We panicked and we didn't need to," said Foxes' coach Jeremy Bennett. "Seneca Valley executed better than us in the fourth quarter and they played more disciplined than us."

Seneca Valley senior forward Chelsey Pavlick, who led the Raiders with 11 points, hit a basket with 6:16 remaining in the game to give the Raiders the lead for good at 34-32.

The Raiders held a one-possession lead (39-36) with 24.7 seconds left when Pavlick hit one of two free throws to make it 40-36.

Kelsey Spencer added 10 points for Seneca Valley.

The Raiders led 13-10 after one quarter, but scored only six points in the second period and trailed 21-19 at halftime.

"Fox Chapel gave us some different looks from the first time we played them," said Schoeffel. "But we were able to adjust to it.

"I thought the big difference was when we were down in the third quarter, we switched to a zone defense," added Schoeffel. "We created some turnovers with that and got some easy baskets."

SV's win, coupled with Butler's loss to North Allegheny, gives the Raiders sole possession of second place in the section.

The lone team ahead of SV in the section is New Castle.

"This win was very important for us," said Schoeffel. "We now have a tie-breaker on both Fox Chapel and Shaler. We don't have to be looking in the rear-view mirror anymore."

Fox Chapel's senior guard Lauren Cowher led all scorers with 16 points. Her second basket of the game, which came early in the first quarter, gave her 1,000 points for her career.

FOX CHAPEL 36

Veronica Badway 1 0-0 2, Erin Cooper 0 1-2 1, Lauren Cowher 7 2-4 16, Lindsay Cowher 0 3-4 3, Catlyn Kriston 3 2-3 9, Beth Thompson 2 1-2 5, Caroline Heffernan 0 0-0 0, Carrie DeStout 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 9-15 36.

SENECA VALLEY 41

Kelsey Spencer 4 1-3 10, Chelsey Pavlick 4 3-4 11, Tina Mangola 2 1-3 6, Amanda Johnson 1 1-3 3, Ashley Turici 4 1-2 9, Jackie Mangola 0 2-2 2. Totals: 15 9-17 41.

3-point goals:

Kriston; T. Mangola, Spencer.

JV:

Seneca Valley 36-26 (SV-Kelsey Patsilevas 8 points)

Thursday:

North Hills @ Seneca Valley