Pavlick's big night lifts
PLUM BORO — Chelsey Pavlick didn't need many second chances Tuesday night.
But she made the most of the last one she received.
With Seneca Valley tied with Hempfield at 38 with 9.3 seconds remaining, Pavlick took an inbounds pass and missed a jumper from the foul line that would have given her team the lead.
SV's Tina Mangola got the rebound and dribbled to the perimeter before passing the ball back to Pavlick, who sank a baseline jumper as time expired, giving the Raiders a 40-38 win in a WPIAL Quad A first-round girls basketball playoff game at Plum High School.
Seneca Valley (17-8) will face top-seeded Oakland Catholic in the district quarterfinals at a date, time and site to be determined.
Pavlick was the Raiders' go-to player all night long, scoring 23 points.
She also came up big on the other end of the floor.
Hempfield had possession late in the game when the senior forward rebounded a Spartan miss.
The Raiders brought the ball to mid-court before SV coach Todd Schoeffel called a timeout with 9.3 seconds left in the game.
"I didn't even think we had time for two shots," he said. "We were planning on getting just one."
But Mangola, who was the Raiders' shortest player on the floor in the closing seconds, came up with the game's biggest rebound.
"That's what is most disappointing to me, the fact that we didn't get the loose ball off that first miss," said Hempfield coach Gene Brisbane.
Pavlick's winning shot was her 10th field goal of the game.
"It felt great," she said of the final shot as she let it go. "We all did our part tonight. It's just that my shots were falling."
Seneca Valley played catch-up the entire second half, tying the Spartans on three occasions during the fourth quarter. But the Raiders' lone lead of the final two periods came at the very end of the game.
With the score tied at 19-all with two minutes remaining in the first half, Hempfield reeled off a 6-0 run to lead 25-19 at intermission.
The Raiders had turnover problems in those closing moments of the second quarter and the Spartans (12-13) took advantage."We simply weren't doing the things we needed to do," said Schoeffel.It was SV's second win this season over Hempfield. The Raiders prevailed 63-51 on Dec. 12."In the first meeting, (Hempfield) came at us from the perimeter and tonight, they went into the paint. We were challenged tonight and I'm proud of the way the girls responded," Schoeffel said.Hempfield was led by Kara Waltenbaugh's 13 points, though no Spartan player managed more than two field goals in the game.Hempfield's six points in the final period all came from the free throw line."I don't know if anything slipped away for us late in the game," said Brisbane. "We just tried to get the ball inside more and had some problems doing that."And (Pavlick) hit some tough shots for them."Notes:It was Seneca Valley's first postseason win since a 58-51 first-round victory over Indiana in the WPIAL Quad A playoffs in February of 2002. … The victory marked the 150th win for Schoeffel in his varsity coaching career.HEMPFIELD 38Maria Montini 2 0-0 4, Brittany Bell 2 0-0 5, Cara Esola 2 3-4 8, Kara Waltenbaugh 2 8-10 13, Ashley Pisone 0 2-2 2, Rachel Martinko 2 2-4 6, Jenn West 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 15-20 38.SENECA VALLEY 40Kelsey Spencer 1 1-2 4, Chelsey Pavlick 10 3-6 23, Tina Mangola 2 1-2 7, Ashley Turici 1 4-7 6, Amanda Johnson 0 0-0 0, Jackie Mangola 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 9-17 40.3-point goals:Bell, Esola, Waltenbaugh; T. Mangola 2, SpencerNext:Seneca Valley vs. Oakland Catholic, date, time and location TBD
