IMPERIAL — The second half had a different feel to it, one that was not conducive to Seneca Valley extending its season.

The Raiders led Canon-McMillan 25-21 at halftime, but the Big Macs hit their stride in the final two quarters and went on to defeat SV 57-52 in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round boys basketball playoff Saturday at West Allegheny High School.

Canon-McMillan set the tone for the second half with a pair of offensive rebounds in the opening moments of the third quarter, leading to a 3-pointer from Ethan Beachy and two free throws from Jason Fowlkes. The Big Macs were out-rebounded 19-8 in the first half, but won the glass in the second half 12-9.

“Seneca Valley is a very physical and aggressive team,” said Big Macs' coach Rick Bell. “We told our kids that they (Raiders) may out-big us, but they weren't going to out-physical us.”

“That was a big 3-pointer to start the third quarter,” said Raiders' coach Victor Giannotta. “It wasn't just Canon-McMillan taking shots in the second half, they were making them, too.”

The Raiders (14-9) trailed 40-34 after three quarters, but opened the final period with a 6-0 spurt thanks to a pair of buckets from David Ritchie and Chris Hart and two free throws from Dalton Peffer. Canon-McMillan's Drew Engel buried a trey seconds later, however, and the Big Macs (21-2) were up for good.

SV's Jake Bunofsky had a 3-point attempt rattle out and Beachy hit another trey — one of eight in the game for the Big Macs — to give his team a 46-42 lead. Beachy then hit two crucial free throws with 23 seconds remaining, pushing the edge to 54-48.

Thanks in large part to their rebounding advantage, the Raiders led by as many as nine points (25-16) late in the first half. Ritchie and Hart both went into halftime with 10 points.

“Between me and our assistant coaches, we watched just about every one of Seneca's games on tape the last couple of days,” said Bell. “We told the team at halftime that we didn't know if Seneca Valley could play any better, but they hadn't come close to seeing our best.”

Hart led all scorers with 18 points while Ritchie (17) and Peffer (13) also had solid games.

Kenyon Lewis paced Canon-McMillan with 16 points, Engel tallied 13 and Beachy 12. Fowlkes leads the team in scoring this season with 18 points per game. All nine of his points Saturday came in the second half.

Canon-McMillan is capable of scoring points in bunches. It has tallied at least 78 points in three games this season.

“I'm disappointed in the outcome, but not the effort,” said Giannotta. “If we played those guys 10 times, we'd probably go 5-5. They just played better today.”

The Raiders had their backs to the wall in January with a 2-5 section record before winning five straight section games and qualifying for the postseason.

“There were a lot of positives this season, a lot to be proud of,” said Giannotta.

SENECA VALLEY 52

Chris Hart 6 4-4 18, David Ritchie 5 6-7 17, Marcus Might 2 0-0 4, Dalton Peffer 4 5-8 13, Jake Bunofsky 0 0-0 0, Josh Rupert 0 0-0 0, Gabe Lawson 0 0-0 0, Zac Zajacs 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 15-19 52.

CANON-MCMILLAN 57

Kenyon Lewis 6 3-4 16, Jason Fowlkes 3 3-4 9, Ethan Beachy 3 3-4 12, Drew Engel 4 2-2 13, Elliott Waller 3 0-0 7. Totals: 19 11-14 57.

Seneca Valley 15 10 9 18 — 52

Canon-McMillan14 7 19 17 — 57

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 3 (Hart 2, Ritchie); Canon-McMillan 8 (Beachy 3, Engel 3, Waller, Lewis).