Pine-Richland loses first game

When Friday began, Seneca Valley needed to win at least two of its remaining three games to remain in the Class 6A playoff hunt. Well, the team that needs to win just to get in looked unbeatable Friday night.

Seneca Valley (12-8, 5-5) scored a whopping 26 fourthquarter points to shock previously unbeaten and top-ranked Pine-Richland, 70-56, in Section 1.

“It was senior night, so our kids were fired up,” Seneca Valley coach Victor Giannotta said. “We thought if we could keep the game close … ”

Close? How about a rout by the time the final horn sounded for the Raiders, who have won three games in a row and six of their past seven. Four players connected on 3-pointers in the final quarter and five finished in double figures, led by Patrick Uner’s 14.

The Rams (19-1, 9-1) got 18 points from Andrew Petcash and 17 from Phil Jurkovec. led all scorers with 17 for Allderdice, the three-time defending City League champions.

Robby Carmody netted a game-high 30 points and Class 5A No. 2 Mars (12-8, 7-3) beat No. 1 Moon, 70-63, in Section 2. Jarrod Castlebetter poured in 28 for Moon (14-4, 7-3).

Darius Wise’s game-high 33 points wasn’t enough as No. 4 Beaver (10-9, 6-6) fell to third-ranked Beaver Falls, 7063 in Class 5A Section 2. The Tigers (10-7, 7-5) have won four games in a row.

Mark Saghady provided the winning shot to help Class 5A No. 5 Hampton (13-7) get by Class 6A Butler (11-8), 6765. The Talbots’ Ben Shuber connected on four 3-pointers en route to 16 points. Tyler Frederick of Butler also scored 16.