JACKSON TWP— The chant erupted from the stands with one minute left in the game.

"Sec-tion champs! Sec-tion champs!Sec-tion champs!"

The Seneca Valley boys basketball made it happen Friday night, posting a 72-60 triumph over Butler to clinch the first outright section title in the program's history.

"When I was a sophomore, I remember the varsity games. ... Everybody seemed so big," senior forward Matt Vogt said. "Tonight, this feels amazing. I didn't see this day coming. Not at all."

Raiders coach Vic Giannotta ducked, expecting the worst when a Gatorade jug was tipped above his head immediately after the game.

Only it was confetti that poured all over him.

"It could have been water. I wouldn't have cared,"Giannotta said. "These kids deserve this. They've worked for it all year."

The win was the fifth in a row for the Raiders (14-6, 9-3), who end the regular season Saturday with a home game against North Catholic.

"Our theme all season has been 'Next,' but I didn't have a section title in mind with that,"Giannotta said. "It was about doing something more in postseason.

"Now we have expectations. We could wind up with a third, fourth or fifth seed (in the WPIALplayoffs)."

Seneca Valley took its first lead Friday when Christian Durbin completed a three-point play with 1:19 left in the first quarter. The play gave the Raiders a 16-14 edge.

Seneca Valley never lost the lead the rest of the night. The margin peaked at 70-55 with just over a minute to play and the chant began.

Butler coach Joe Lewandowski called a timeout with 56 seconds remaining.

"I wanted our kids to hear that chant,"he said. "To hear something like that in your own gym, you have to earn it. Those guys definitely did. They have a great team.

"But I'm proud of my guys. We gave it all we had tonight, but C.J. Brown, Nate Herrmann, Matt Vogt — those guys weren't going to be denied."

The Raiders didn't get a double-digit lead until a Brown layup upped the margin to 50-40 21 seconds into the final quarter.

Sophomore guard Christian Durbin paced Seneca Valley with 18 points. Brown added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Vogt had 12 points and five boards. Herrmann contributed nine points and five rebounds.

The Raiders owned a 34-23 edge on the boards. They sank 10 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter after hitting just 3-of-9 in the third.

"Sports are so big in Western Pennsylvania,"Giannotta said. "These kids know it. They read the papers. Kids are kids, parents are parents, but the team comes first. That's critical and the kids bought into that."

Brown couldn't decide which was bigger: signing a football scholarship with Maryland Wednesday or winning the school's first section basketball championship Friday.

"One is the future and one is now,"Brown said. "They're both equal in my mind. But the entire school and community are excited about this basketball season.

"All I know is this is the most exciting week of my life."

The Raiders' 72 points mark the most Butler has allowed in a game this season.

"Each senior class the past three years has left its own twist on this program,"Brown said. "Senior leadership during that time led us to this point. This new tradition is going to last for a while."

Vogt agreed.

"There's been a gradual change of attitude in this program,"he said. "Teams look at Seneca Valley now and they say, 'big game.'

"Teams used to look at Seneca Valley and say 'easy win.'"

Jeff Tompkins paced Butler (7-12, 3-8) with a career-high 20 points. He added six rebounds before fouling out in the final seconds. Nate Snodgrass and Vinny Schmidt added 10 points each.

Bobby Swartwout had eight rebounds before fouling out with 4:22 left in the game.

"Jeff Tompkins has been sick all week. He could barely play against Central Catholic (Tuesday),"Lewandowski said. "He told me he really wanted to play tonight. His effort was incredible.

"Jeff's been sick, Vinny Schmidt's knee is hurting, Logan Renwick is all beat up, and these guys were diving on the floor for loose balls with 19 seconds left. That's our mentality."

BUTLER 60Cody Herald 0-0 0-0 0, Eric King 0-1 1-2 1, Brian Jendesky 0-6 6-6 6, Jeff Tompkins 7-11 5-10 20, Nate Snodgrass 3-7 2-2 10, Vinny Schmidt 3-8 2-2 10, David Schmidt 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Renwick 3-4 2-2 9, David Tompkins 0-0 0-0 0, Bobby Swartwout 2-6 0-0 4.

Totals: 18-44 18-24 60

SENECA VALLEY 72Evan Mitro 3-6 2-6 8, Dustin Anewalt 1-2 0-2 2, Christian Durbin 5-10 7-10 18, Nate Herrmann 3-6 3-4 9, Joe Belechak 0-0 0-0 0, Dan Rohm 2-5 0-0 6, Matt Vogt 6-7 0-1 12, C.J. Brown 5-7 5-8 15, Alex Maxfield 0-0 2-2 2, Alan Heery 0-0 0-0 0, Pat Kulp 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 25-43 19-33 72

Butler 14 14 12 20—60Seneca Valley 18 15 15 24—723-point goals: J. Tompkins, Snodgrass 2, V. Schmidt 2, Renwick; Durbin, Rohm 2

JV: Butler, 51-33 (B:Cody Herald 15, SV:Alex Maxfield 10)

Saturday: Butler at North Allegheny, North Catholic at Seneca Valley