BUTLER TWP — It was fast. And it was furious.

A fast Golden Tornado flurry in the second quarter broke open a tight defensive struggle and a furious Raider rally to start the fourth quarter nearly turned the tide in Butler's hard-fought 45-39 victory over visiting Seneca Valley Thursday night.

It was the Section 1-6A finale for both teams, which will continue with some non-section play before the playoffs begin.

Butler (11-9, 7-7) broke open the game with a 13-2 run in the second quarter, but Seneca Valley (11-9, 8-6) fought back with a 13-0 spree of its own to end the third quarter and the start of the fourth.

"We went from up 14 to hanging on," said a relieved Butler coach Mark Maier. "We don't want to give up leads like that, but credit to them ... they came back."

The first quarter featured tight defense by both squads. Butler was held without a field goal, managing just six successful free throws. Seneca Valley managed just a pair of three-pointers in the 6-6 deadlock. In fact, Butler did not score from the field until Justine Forbes tallied with 5:40 remaining in the second period.

At that point, the Tornado's Makenna Maier dropped in two 3-pointers and Hannah Aldridge made a third to push Butler out to a 19-10 lead that it never gave up.

Meanwhile, the Raiders got into foul trouble right away. Butler made 11 of its 13 first-half free throw attempts.

"We had three girls who were in foul trouble in the first three or four minutes," Raiders coach Dorothea Epps said.

Unfortunately, one was their leading scorer, Olivia West, who sat out a large portion of the first half with three personal fouls.

Butler led by 10 at the half, then extended that margin to 17 in the third quarter, 35-18. But Seneca Valley's furious comeback was still to come. Down 37-34 to begin the final period, the Raiders, led by eight points from West, moved to within two points at 38-36 with 2:56 remaining.

Makenna Maier, who finished with 21 points, preserved the victory by sinking four free throws in the final half-minute. West finished with 18.

"I'm very proud of the way the girls fought back," Epps said. "We actually had a chance to tie it at the end. We just learn from it and keep moving on."

Butler was limited to just one field goal in the fourth quarter, by Maisy Gibson.

"We were on our heels when they threw that trap at us," Coach Maier said.

SENECA VALLEY 39

Olivia West 6 5-7 18, Jess Bickart 4 0-0 9, Chloe Leonard 2 0-0 4, Gracie Cato 1 1-2 3, Emerson Peffer 2 0-0 4, Allison Sevin 0 1-4 1. Totals: 15 7-13 39.

BUTLER 45

Aubree Tack 1 4-9 6, Makenna Maier 4 11-12 21, Maisy Gibson 1 0-0 2, Justine Forbes 1 0-0 2, Megan Penrod 0 2-2 2, Hannah Aldridge 1 0-0 3, Macklin Hanley 2 2-2 6, Ava Selfridge 1 0-0 3. Totals: 11 19-25 45.

Seneca Valley 6 6 11 16 -- 39

Butler 6 16 15 8 -- 45

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 2 (Bickart, West); Butler 4 (Maier 2, Aldridge, Selfridge).

Saturday: Seneca Valley at North Catholic, Butler at Armstrong