WEXFORD — The Seneca Valley boys basketball team entered Friday night's game against North Allegheny with a golden opportunity.

At 2-1 in the ultra-difficult Section 1-6A, the Raiders had a chance to virtually bury the 1-2 Tigers early in the league slate.

North Allegheny had other ideas.

The Tigers' pressure disrupted Seneca Valley's offense as the Raiders shot just 32 percent from the floor and NA won the battle on the boards as well.

It all added up to a 65-47 loss for Seneca Valley.

“We struggled offensively — give credit to them,” said Seneca Valley coach Kevin Trost. “They guarded.”

Both teams guarded well, particularly early, as neither team could get much of a rhythm offensively in the first half.

After a sloppy first quarter in which NA led 7-5, the Tigers were able to hold off the Raiders for a 23-20 lead at the break.

North Allegheny (7-4, 2-2) broke the game open a bit in the second half, taking a 43-33 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Seneca Valley (7-4, 2-2) never got closer than that in the final eight minutes.

“We tell the kids all the time if we can defend and rebound, we can hang and we did in the first half,” said Trost. “In the second half, it kind of got away from us a little bit. We couldn't put the ball in the basket. We couldn't score and that didn't allow us to get into any kind of pressure.”

North Allegheny coach Keith Noftz said he was concerned with Seneca Valley's firepower — Zac Zajacs and Mason Bush in particular.

The Tigers held Zajacs scoreless on 0-of-12 shooting.

Bush, though, led all scorers with 20.

“The Bush kid is one of the best players in the league right now,” Noftz said.

“Our defense played outstanding,” the coach added. “Zajacs doesn't score — that was big for us. But our offense was sloppy.”

NA did finish with four players in double digits, led by Mike Egnaczyk with 15. Nico Erimias added 12, Mike Iuzzolino 11 and Justin Altmeyer 10.

The Tigers were also 25 of 31 from the free throw line with 23 of their last 30 points in the game coming from the charity stripe.

“That was the difference in the game,” Noftz said. “(Trost) has his team playing unbelievable. They're playing with confidence. We were lucky to win this, but we always feel if we play that hard on defense, you're going to win a lot of the time.”

For the most part, Trost was also pleased with the way his team played defense.

NA shot just 37.8 percent from the floor in the game.

“I felt like we could guard them in the half court,” Trost said. “I felt like if we could have stayed with them, we could have ground it out in the fourth quarter.”

Instead, the Raiders are going home 2-2 in the section instead of 3-1 and lamenting a missed opportunity to steal one against NA on the road.

“It was a two-game swing,” Trost said. “But we have great kids and they're tough and resilient.”

SENECA VALLEY 47

Gabe Lawson 2 0-0 4, Trey Berringer 4 6-7 14, Marcus Might 2 1-2 5, Mason Bush 6 5-6 20, Brendan Koken 2 0-0 4, Zac Zajacs 0 0-1 0. Totals: 16 12-16 47.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 65

Mike Egnaczyk 4 5-6 15, Mike Iuzzolino 3 2-2 11, Walker Davidson 1 5-6 8, Nico Erimias 4 4-5 12, Stephen Humphries 1 1-2 3, Justin Altmeyer 1 8-9 10, Khalil Dinkins 2 0-0 4, Anthony Hattrup 1 0-0 2, Jared Black 0 0-1 0. Totals: 17 25-31 65.

Seneca Valley 5 15 13 14 — 47

North Allegheny7 16 20 22 — 65

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 3 (Bush 3); North Allegheny 6 (Iuzzolino 3, Egnaczyk 2, Davidson).

Tuesday: Butler at Seneca Valley