It went into the books as a lopsided non-section basketball victory.

But it was the venue for the Seneca Valley boys' 78-30 decision over Freedom Dec. 19 that made it a memorable outing.

The game was played at Quicken Loans Arena, home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.

Seneca Valley and Freedom were two of several teams in a lottery to play the game.

“We found out in March that we had been chosen,” said Raiders' coach Victor Giannotta, whose team used an auxiliary locker room next to that of the Cavaliers.

“You couldn't have asked for a better experience,” Giannotta said. “It's definitely something we'll look into doing again, but not in back-to-back years. You don't want the novelty to wear off on something like this.”

It took SV senior forward T.J. Holl and his teammates a while to get used to the new surroundings.

“During warm-ups, everybody was looking around and saying, 'Holy cow,' looking at all of the seats, lights and the big screen. All of that remained in the back of our minds, but once the game started it was just like any other game. We wanted to take care of business.”

“Every kid on the team got to play,” said SV athletic director Heather Lewis. “The fact that it came at an NBA arena, you can't duplicate that.”

Following the win over Freedom, the Raiders stepped out for dinner, then returned to the arena to watch the Cavaliers take on the Brooklyn Nets.

“When they were warming up, it was crazy how easy it looked for the NBA players,” said SV senior Dakota Topf, who watched LeBron James score 22 points and dish out nine assists in Cleveland's 95-91 victory. “It was a tight game until the end. It was a huge arena. We were sitting in the highest seats and looking right down on the court. It was pretty sweet.”

Topf also took part in a skills competition in between the first and second quarter. He and a Freedom player both had to dribble the length of the floor and around three obstacles while making a layup at both ends of the court. Topf completed the challenge in 16.41 seconds to beat his adversary, earning everyone seated in his section a Kyrie Irving T-shirt. Irving, Cleveland's starting point guard, scored 16 points to aid the win over the Nets.

“Coach G also treated every player on the team to something from the gift shop,” said Holl. “That was pretty nice.”

Giannotta approached Lewis about the opportunity last spring.

“He wanted to know if I would support it and I said 'Absolutely,'” Lewis said. “I contacted (WPIAL executive director) Tim O'Malley to see if it was okay and it was.”

The trip made for a unique opportunity for everyone involved.

“I had never seen a game at an NBA arena before,” Topf said. “To be able to play on an NBA floor, then watch a game, it was a great bonding experience and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“Twenty years from now, these kids will remember it,” said Lewis.