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The Seneca Valley Raiders stormed out of the gates for a big lead and grounded the Oakland Catholic Eagles on the road, 62-32, in the Section 3-AAAA opener and the Quad-A Girls’ Basketball game of the Week.  Seneca Valley used a 14-0 run to start the contest and took firm hold of the game with its distinct height advantage and tenacious half-court trap.

In the first few minutes of the game, the Eagles temporarily stalled the Raiders with a box-and-one defense, matching 5-11 senior Laura Pawlik with Seneca Valley’s 6-2 junior Melissa Carter.  The strategy worked until Pawlik garnered two quick fouls and was forced to the bench.  From that point on, the Raiders took what they wanted and scored at will. By the time Pawlik reentered the game in the second quarter, the Raiders had busted the contest wide open.

Seneca Valley point guard Meghan Hess was the game-high scorer with 16 points, doing most of her damage from beyond the arc with four treys.  However, the heavy lifting came courtesy of Carter, sophomore Erin Danik and junior Lexus Lambert.  Carter finished the night with 10 points, Danik scored eight, and Lambert delivered 11 points.  For all three, the bulk of the work was done in the first half as the Raiders took a 40-9 lead into the locker room and then coasted to the victory in the second half. While there were several fine performances for the Raiders, it was Lambert who was selected as the Quad-A Network’s Player of the Game for overall play.

It was a tough offensive night for Oakland Catholic as the Eagles didn’t score their first bucket from the field until a C.C. Cromer three pointer with 6:20 to go in the second quarter. Junior Taylor Renk and sophomore Gabrielle Gevaudan each scored a team-best six points.

With the victory, Seneca Valley improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Section 3-AAAA.  Oakland Catholic remains winless at 0-3 and sits at 0-1 in section play. The Eagles visit the North Hills Indians on Monday night.  The Raiders will also take on North Hills in their next contest, but not until Thursday evening next week.

To listen to our pre-game interview with Oakland Catholic head coach Shannon Kearney, click here. To listen to our pre-game interview with Seneca Valley head coach Rob Lombardo, click here.

WPIAL Class AAAA Championship Game Summary

SCORE BY QUARTERS	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	FINAL
Central Catholic	0	0	0	14	14
Pine-Richland	0	0	14	7	21