BUTLER TWP — Seneca Valley never trailed.

But the Raiders could feel Butler's breath down their necks through much of the game.

“We're a senior-laden team,” SV coach Victor Giannotta said. “These guys know how to keep it together.”

Up by 20 with 5:45 left in the first half, Seneca Valley saw its lead cut to four through a bizarre ending of the first half. The Raiders wound up leaving Butler's gym with a 78-75 Section 1-6A boys basketball victory Friday night.

“This was a crazy night ... a lot of crazy things happening out there,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “But it was a great high school basketball game.

“They jumped on us early. They're a hot team right now.”

The Raiders (14-7, 7-5) took a 26-11 lead after one quarter as Marcus Might banked home a 3-pointer at the buzzer. SV sank 10 of 15 shots in the first quarter, including four treys.

“We played well early,” Giannotta said. “We had a pretty strong half when we played Shaler, too. We have to learn to sustain it.”

Seneca Valley extended its lead to 32-12 with 5:45 left in the half when Josh Rupert stuck back an offensive rebound. Fueled by three consecutive Mattix Clement treys, Butler (17-4, 8-4) stormed back.

A 3-point play by Ethan Morton with 1.8 seconds left in the half trimmed the lead to 44-38. A Golden Tornado foul before the in-bounds pass put SV's Dalton Peffer on the line.

Peffer sank one of two free throws. Tarik Taoufik rebounded for the Tornado and his desperation shot from three-quarters court sailed through the net.

Seneca Valley's halftime lead was 45-41 after seven points were scored in the final 1.8 seconds.

“That was a big shot for them,” Raider senior Chris Hart said. “In the locker room, we said Marcus had our buzzer-beating shot to end the first quarter. Now they got theirs. We were even.

“We just had to stay the course.”

They did — barely.

“Tarik's shot will always be a memorable moment for him,” Clement said. “it would have been better had it come in a win.”

It almost did.

The Raiders had a 69-62 lead with 2:50 to play, but Morton hit two free throws, then two technical free throws to cut the gap to 69-66 with 1:53 left.

Morton fouled out with 54 seconds left and the Raiders ahead 71-68. Two Chris Hart free throws jumped the lead to five.

A free throw by Might gave SV a 77-72 edge with 23 seconds left. Luke Michalek drained a trey for Butler with 16 seconds to play, then got a steal in the back-court.

Mason Montag's 3-point shot from the right corner rimmed out, Hart rebounded and was fouled. He sank a free throw with 00.5 of a second left to account for the final margin.

“We almost came back and won without Ethan on the floor,” Clement said. “I'm fine with Mason taking that shot every time. It almost went.”

Hart led the Raiders with 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. He did not play in his team's 72-67 loss to Butler last month.

“I was dying to play them,” Hart said. “This is a great county rivalry. I knew they'd make some runs at us.

“They have a lot of good players, but so do we.”

David Ritchie had 17 points and three assists for the Raiders. Peffer had 13 points and five boards, Might eight points and nine rebounds.

The Raiders enjoyed a 38-24 edge in rebounding.

“I don't know if we've lost a game this year with Chris Hart playing,” Giannotta said. “We're playing good basketball at the right time, with the playoffs coming up.”

Morton had 26 points and five assists before fouling out. Taoufik had 16 points and five rebounds, Clement 15 points on five treys and Michalek 12 points and six assists.

“We fought hard to comeback again,” Clement said. “We were in position to win at the end. But we have to get off to better starts.”

Butler seniors Doug Kostelansky, Luke and Ben Kranbacher, John and Luke Michalek, Nick Stazer, Dom Schmidt and Taoufik were honored before the game.

“Both of us were already in the playoffs and the 6A seeding is probably done already,” Giannotta said. “But this still felt like a playoff game.”

SENECA VALLEY 78

Jake Bunofsky 3-4 0-0 6, Chris Hart 5=9 13-16 24, Marcus Might 2-5 3-4 8, David Ritchie 6-11 3-6 17, Dalton Peffer 6-9 1-2 13, Josh Rupert 1-3 0-0 2, Gabe Lawson 3-5 0-0 8. Totals: 26-46 20-26 78.

BUTLER 75

Luke Michalek 4-13 3-3 12, John Michalek 0-2 0-0 0, Mattix Clement 5-8 0-0 15, Tarik Taoufik 7-10 0-0 16, Luke Patten 3-8 0-0 6, Mason Montag 0-1 0-0 0, Ethan Morton 6-17 13-15 26, Dom Schmidt 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Stazer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-60 16-18 75.

Seneca Valley 26 19 11 22 — 78

Butler11 30 14 20 — 75

3-point goals: Hart, Might, Ritchie 2, , Lawson 2; L.Michalek, Clement 5, Taoufik 2, Morton

JV: Butler, 56-51 (SV: Zac Zajacs 13, Trey Berringer 12, Todd Hangliter 10; B: Anthony Malloy 16, Alec Andrews 12

Saturday: Seneca Valley vs. Allderdice at Montour

Monday: Butler at Armstrong