JACKSON TWP — Not a lot was riding on Seneca Valley's non-section game against McKeesport Friday.

Everything, however, was riding on a pair of section basketball games elsewhere that would determine if the Raiders would reach the WPIAL playoffs.

The Seneca Valley boys team held a four-point lead late in the third quarter, but the Tigers ran off 15 consecutive points, holding the Raiders scoreless for almost eight minutes en route to the 54-46 victory.

Not great, but the good news? Butler's 37-33 win over New Castle and North Allegheny's 39-29 victory over North Hills allowed the Raiders to secure the fourth playoff spot in Section 3-AAAA.

It was SV's first postseason berth since the 1996-97 season.

Seneca Valley, Butler, New Castle and North Hills tied for fourth place in the section with identical 4-8 records.

The WPIAL four-way tiebreaker rule states that the team with the most wins against the other three advances to post-season play. Seneca Valley has four wins, Butler and New Castle has three and North Hills has two.

"People might look at you in the playoffs with a 4-8 record, but we're in," said Giannotta. "I told our seniors, regardless of what happens, you laid the foundation of what a good basketball team should be."

The Raiders (12-11) led for most of the game against the Tigers, who used a 9-2 run to force a 27-all tie with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

Kevin Mayberry sank two free throws and John Bryant added a driving layup to give the Raiders a four-point advantage with 3:06 left in the frame.

Then, the Raiders shooting went cold.

The Tigers (13-9) closed out the third quarter on a 9-0 run, including a 3-pointer that gave the Tigers a 34-31 lead, one they would not give up the rest of the way.

"That's been a problem. We go into an offensive funk," said Giannotta. "In the first half, we moved the ball around and passed well. (McKeesport) really stepped it up."

Shawn Eagle broke the drought with a score with 3:09 left in the game, but the Raiders would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"We were a little more active. We talked about that at halftime," said McKeesport coachCorey Gadson. "We had been struggling the past couple of weeks and I said 'Let's bring it up another notch.' We played strong man-to-man.

"We played with a little sense of urgency. ... We started passing and found the right guy. We finished the game and made free throws. We'd been struggling to do that,"Gadson added.

The Tigers' Quinten Harding led all scorers with 21 points and Devon Alexander added 14. The Raiders, who had 10 different players score, were paced by Shawn Eagle's nine points.

Notes: Seneca Valley assistant coach Jim Pyle was a member of the last team to qualify for the postseason. ... McKeesport finished 6-6 in Section 2-AAAA and qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.

McKEESPORT 54Tyler Dillinger 0 0-0 0, Devon Alexander 4 6-10 14, Quinten Harding 9 1-1 21, Shadrae King 1 3-6 6, Vince Wassell 3 2-6 8, Jordan Harper 0 2-2 2, Marvase Byrd 0 1-2 1, Zeke Marshall 1 0-0 2.

Totals: 18 15-27 54.

SENECA VALLEY 46Gabe Grinder 2 2-2 6, Kevin Rohm 1 2-2 4, John Bryant 1 0-0 2, Jarrett Shotts 1 0-2 2, Drew Deitch 0 0-0 0, Kevin Mayberry 2 2-3 7, Sean Gress 1 0-0 2, Pat Heery 2 2-2 7, C.J. Brown 0 0-1 0, John Fitzpatrick 1 1-2 4, Shawn Eagle 4 0-0 9, Tony Treser 0 0-0 0, Dan Rohm 1 0-0 3, Dustin Anewalt 0 0-0 0, Matt Voght 0 0-0 0, Zach Hohman 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16 9-14 46.

McKeesport 8 10 18 18—54Seneca Valley 12 11 8 15—463-point goals: Harding 2, King; Mayberry, Heery, Fitzpatrick, Eagle, D. Rohm

JV: Seneca Valley, 80-46

Saturday: Seneca Valley at Ellwood City