JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley earned some valuable breathing room for itself in Section 3-AAAA Tuesday night.

Zach Snyder scored a game-high 27 points and added 13 rebounds as the Raiders’ boys basketball team held off North Hills 60-54 at SV’s William Paul Gymnasium.

With Pine-Richland losing at New Castle, Seneca (9-6, 5-4) now has a two-game lead over both the Rams and North Hills (8-8, 3-6) for the fourth and final playoff berth from the section.

In fact, as Indians’ coach Buzz Gabos explained, his team’s deficit is even greater.

“Seneca beat us at our place earlier in the season, so we really needed this one tonight,” said Gabos. “Now that they have swept us, they have the tiebreaker and we have to finish with a better record than them. That’s really going to be tough. We were treating this like a playoff game.”

The Raiders’ win did not come without some anxious moments for coach Victor Giannotta.

Though his team dominated the boards (37-26 for the game and 26-13 in the first half), 12 turnovers in the first two quarters and several missed layups kept the game close.

“To be able to win a game when you don’t play up to your potential, we’ll take it,” said Giannotta.

SV led 43-38 after three quarters, then received clutch plays from several players to keep the Indians at bay.

Dakota Topf scored seven points in the first 3:05 of the fourth quarter and Mike Smith added a basket following a steal by T.J. Holl to put their team up 52-42. The Indians did not cut their deficit to less than seven points until Kindhal Taylor hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

“We did have a lot of kids make plays, especially late,” said Giannotta. “It was a team victory.”

In the Raiders’ 83-69 win at North Hills last month, the Indians drained 14 three-pointers. Tuesday night, they attempted just 17 shots from beyond the arc, making five.

“They knew who our shooters are,” said Gabos of the Raiders. “We got some decent looks from the outside, but just didn’t make a lot of them. We also missed four layups with nobody around (to defend).”

Snyder continued his stellar season, scoring 25 of his team’s 43 points in the first three periods.

Nine of his points came in the first quarter, when the Raiders shot just 29.4 percent (five-of-17) from the field.

Shawndale Jones paced the Indians with 14 points and C.J. Paulauskas added 12.

Despite taking a huge step toward a third consecutive WPIAL playoff appearance, Giannotta is taking nothing for granted.

“We’re only worried about North Allegheny on Friday,” he said.

The Raiders will attempt to avenge a 71-69 loss to NA Dec. 20.

NORTH HILLS 54

Dylan Mitchell 3 1-2 8, Kindhal Taylor 2 0-0 5, Ryan Burek 2 0-0 6, Danny White 3 0-0 6, Shawndale Jones 6 1-2 14, Andrew Vojtko 1 0-0 2, C.J. Paulauskas 6 1-1 13, Nick Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 3-5 54.

SENECA VALLEY 60

Matt Darby 1 0-0 3, Mike Smith 3 0-0 6, T.J. Holl 3 0-0 8, Dakota Topf 4 0-3 9, Zach Snyder 9 9-9 27, Chad Izenas 2 2-2 7, Josh Bauer 0 0-2 0, Bryce Schnatterly 0 0-0 0, Sam Barbe 0 0-0 0, Matt Dramble 0 0-0 0, Jack Cook 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 11-16 60.

North Hills 14 11 13 16 — 54

Seneca Valley11 14 18 17 — 60

3-point goals: North Hills 5 (Burek 2, Jones, Taylor, Mitchell); Seneca Valley 5 (Holl 2, Topf, Darby, Izenas).

JV: North Hills 51-43

Friday: Seneca Valley at North Allegheny