SENECA — Ever since the final whistle blew last season in Blythewood, the expectations for the Seneca High School girls’ basketball team have been sky high for this season.

At least until Tuesday night, it had been easy for Bobcats head coach Amanda Holder and her team to play down those lofty expectations. But with a resounding 78-19 victory over Walhalla to close out its non-region slate in dominating fashion, Seneca is now going to be hearing all about how it is supposed to run through its region schedule, which will begin later this week.

“They really don’t even know that,’ Holder said about the hype. “They’re fixing to find out and hear all about it now, because we really haven’t talked about that yet. That’s where we want to be though.”

Time and time again this season, the Bobcats (11-0) have shown the kind of play that warrants such high expectations, as the only visible chink in their armor, if there is one, came in a come-from-behind victory over Wren last Friday night.

But Seneca came out hot against the Razorbacks on Tuesday, as it jumped out to a 10-0 advantage following four straight points from Rachel Cunningham, who led all scorers on the night with 18 points.

Walhalla (7-6) managed to show a bit of life as freshman Shanna Pearce scored four straight points of her own to cut the deficit to 14-4, but the Razorbacks sputtered in the second quarter, as a lone basket from Ashlee Smith accounted for her team’s entire scoring output in the quarter.

After taking a 29-6 lead into halftime, the Bobcats began to open things up to start the second half, as they scored on their first seven possessions to open the third quarter, with Cunningham and Icey Patterson accounting for six and four points during the run, respectively.

Holder was particularly pleased to see that complete effort following the Wren game, as she said the Bobcats learned that night the importance of playing a complete game.

“I felt like in the second half we were back playing the way we wanted to play,” Holder said. “In the last game we just didn’t play hard. We just showed up, we found out we couldn’t do that and we needed to know that.”

And even though the results were there, and the second half was strong, Holder said her team needs an even stronger start to region play at Pickens on Friday night.

“We’ve got to play harder than that,” Holder said. “We have to come out harder and take care of business in the first eight minutes in our region.”

Perhaps no one knows that vintage assessment from Holder more than Patterson, who said it’s little surprise her coach is hungry for more out of the Bobcats, despite the big win.

“She knows we can play better than what we’re doing,” Patterson said. “We just have to play hard because we haven’t been playing well, and I guess we need to hustle more.”

If the Bobcats can do that, and capture a region crown, they can stay in their own gym through the first round of the preseason.

And although that talk will begin now, look for Holder to keep from getting wrapped up in it.

“We haven’t wanted to look too far ahead,” Holder said. “I just know where we need to be at the end.”

That journey to a region crown will begin when the Bobcats’ game at Pickens tips off at 6 p.m. on Friday night.

Walhalla will also open region play on Friday night, as it travels to take on Liberty at 6 p.m.

Seneca 78, Walhalla 19

WHS 4 2 9 4 — 19

SHS 15 14 23 26 — 78

Walhalla (19) — Pearce 7, Smith 6, Plank 3, Chambers 2, Galbreath 1.

Seneca (78) — Cunningham 18, Patterson 16, Dendy 11, Holland 10, Earle 9, Johnson 6, Haymond 4, Holliday 4.