WEXFORD — If only the Raiders had started the game the way they finished it.

Seneca Valley's girls basketball team mounted a furious rally Tuesday night at North Allegheny — outscoring the Tigers 17-6 in the final quarter — before taking a 35-32 Section 1-6A loss.

“The girls executed our game plan almost perfectly tonight,” Raiders coach Rob Lombardo said. “Just a few too many turnovers.”

Seneca Valley (7-12, 3-5) turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, yet trailed only 14-9 at intermission. The Raiders sank just one of 11 shots in the third quarter and trailed 29-15 entering the fourth.

From there, the game was theirs. There just wasn't enough game left.

“Turnovers early, then we couldn't hit a shot ... That was the story,” Lombardo said. “But at the end, we were playing the No. 1 ranked team in the state on their floor and had a chance in the final seconds.

“A few games ago, we switched to a methodical pace of basketball ... Be patient, work for the good shot ... and it's been working for us. And North Allegheny didn't like playing that way.”

The Tigers (18-1, 7-1) won their eighth in a row, but were held to a season-low 35 points.

Sophomore Mckenna Gross drained a pair of treys in the fourth period for SV. The first cut the gap to 32-25 with 3:27 remaining. The second — following missed one-and-one's by NA's Hailey Zeise and Rachel Martindale — pulled the Raiders within 32-30 with 48 seconds left.

North Allegheny went nearly five minutes without scoring a point before Martindale canned a free throw with 39 seconds remaining for a 33-30 lead.

“We toughened up as a team in the fourth quarter,” SV senior guard Michaela Lamont said. “We worked together more, started looking for each other more.

“How close this game was shows how hard we've been working to get better.”

Following Martindale's free throw, the Raiders looked for a potential game-tying shot. A pass deflected off Erin Danik's hands and sailed out of bounds with 11.5 seconds to play.

Zeise sank two free throws at the other end with 7.8 seconds left to finally seal NA's victory.

“Erin was ready to make the right play. She knew the pass she wanted to make,” Lombardo said. “Her mind just worked a little bit ahead of her body on that play.

“We're OK. We need to win one of our last two (section) games to make the playoffs. That's all.”

The Raiders have Shaler and Butler remaining on the section schedule.

Zeise paced North Allegheny with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. She is the only senior on the Tiger roster and was honored before the game.

Gross had nine points to lead Seneca Valley. Anna Sullivan scored eight points off the bench. Danik was limited to four points and led SV with seven rebounds.

“Teams have been taking away her offense down the stretch by putting two or even three girls all around her,” Lombardo said. “Other girls have been stepping up for us and scoring the points.”

The Raiders turned the ball over only five times in the second half. They scored 17 points in the final quarter, 15 in the first three.

North Allegheny had six turnovers in the final quarter after losing the ball only six times in the frst three.

“When we started pressing them late, they weren't expecting it,” Lombardo said.

Lamont smiled as she thought about how close her team came to pulling off a major upset.

“If we keep playing like we did in the fourth quarter tonight, we can be unstoppable,” she said. “This was a definite confidence builder.”

North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko could not be reached for comment.

SENECA VALLEY 32

Michaela Lamont 1-8 5-8 7, Gretchen Koken 0-3 0-0 0, McKenna Gross 3-6 1-2 9, Karlie Martin 1-1 0-0 2, Erin Danik 1-6 2-2 4, Anna Crisci 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsey Cruttenden 1-1 0-0 2, Anna Sullivan 2-3 4-6 8. Totals: 9-28 12-18 32.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 35

Kristen Chomos 1-2 0-0 2, Audrey Lane 0-0 0-0 0, Brynn Serbin 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Roman 2-6 0-0 6, Rachel Martindale 0-6 1-3 1, Piper Morningstar 3-9 0-1 7, Hailey Zeise 5-8 2-2 14, Marilyn Fischer 2-3 1-1 5. Totals: 13-34 4-8 35.

Seneca Valley 5 4 6 17 — 32

North Allegheny5 9 15 6 — 35

3-point goals: Gross 2; Roman 2, Morningstar, Zeise 2

JV: North Allegheny, 52-33 (SV: Haley Cramer 13, NA: Mary Evankovich 14, Kristen Chomas 13)

Thursday: Shaler at Seneca Valley