JACKSON TWP — Though its valiant comeback attempt fell short, it wasn’t a total loss for the Seneca Valley girls basketball team.

The Raiders proved something to coach Rob Lombardo that should be beneficial as the team looks to make a run to the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs for the second straight year.

SV trailed visiting Pine-Richland by 18 points entering the fourth quarter of Monday’s key Section 3 tilt. That’s when the Raiders switched to a man-to-man defense and it nearly led to an incredible reversal of fortunes.

The Rams were held to just five field goal attempts over the final eight minutes and turned the ball over five times as the Raiders’ 17-3 run got them right back in the game.

Melissa Carter’s two-point basket with just under two minutes remaining cut SV’s deficit to 47-43, but they proved to be the final points the Raiders could muster in a 49-43 defeat.

But after the game, Lombardo was upbeat.

“Most of the time, you can learn a lot more from a loss than you can from winning a game,” he said. “We went to a man defense for the entire fourth quarter and Pine-Richland’s girls panicked when we made our run. They shredded every other team that tried to play man against them this year. They beat North Allegheny by (18) points.”

The Raiders’ run included a trio of 3-pointers, two from Shaley Bream and one from Michaela Lamont.

“Seneca Valley is a very talented team and they like to first look to their bigs,” said Rams’ coach Cliff Foster. “But in that fourth quarter, we didn’t get to their (outside) shooters.

Victory was within Seneca’s grasp, but the Raiders missed their final four field goal attempts. The only two points scored by either team in the final two minutes and 30 seconds were free throws from Pine-Richland’s Caitlyn Byerly in the last 11 seconds.

In fact, free throws were a huge difference in this game. The Rams were 15-of-25 at the line while the Raiders were just 2-of-7.

“I never blame the officials, though the fouls were very one-sided tonight,” Lombardo said. “They (Rams) pressed us a lot in the first half and had just two fouls. This was the first game this season where the officials did not call a lot of hand checks.”

In the end, the sizeable lead the Rams built over the first three quarters was too much for the Raiders to overcome. That advantage was fueled by eight 3-pointers, four of them coming from senior guard Megan Grzybek. Her second 3-pointer came just before the halftime buzzer, giving the Rams a 29-19 cushion. She added two more trifectas in the third period.

“She’s basically our sixth man, but she’s like a starter,” said Foster. “She can shoot from anywhere on the floor.”

Pine-Richland was 8-of-17 from beyond the arc and just 5-of-13 in its two-point attempts.

“That’s all they do (shoot 3-pointers),” Lombardo said. “They like to penetrate and kick.”

With the win, the Rams improved to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in section play.

“We are thrilled to be 3-1,” said Foster. “We’re still a mid-level program, but we’re making strides.”

Another positive for Seneca Valley (6-4, 2-2) was that junior forward Paige Montrose saw action for the second straight game. She is returning from a leg injury suffered during the soccer season.

“She hadn’t played basketball for 18 months,” said Lombardo. “She knows the offense, it’s just a question of getting her back into basketball shape. We’re also playing her in the junior varsity games.”

PINE-RICHLAND 49

Caitlyn Byerly 1 3-6 5, Gianna DeTemple 1 0-0 3, Chelsea Rourke 2 5-7 10, Kaitlyn Jenkins 5 2-4 14, Megan Grzybek 4 0-1 12, Amanda Kalin 0 5-7 5, Makenzie Jenkins 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 15-25 49.

SENECA VALLEY 43

Michaela Lamont 3 0-0 8, Shaley Bream 2 0-0 6, Meghan Hess 1 0-0 3, Lexus Lambert 5 0-0 10, Melissa Carter 3 0-2 6, Erin Danik 3 2-3 8, Toni Augustine 1 0-0 2, Paige Montrose 0 0-2 0, Sarah Jones 0 0-0 0, Carolyn Palaski 0 0-0 0, Christina Dunning 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 2-7 43.

Pine-Richland 14 15 15 5 — 49

Seneca Valley10 9 7 17 — 43

3-point goals: Pine-Richland 8 (Grzybek 4, K. Jenkins 2, DeTemple, Rourke); Seneca Valley 5 (Bream 2, Lamont 2, Hess).

Friday: Seneca Valley at North Allegheny