WEXFORD — Seneca Valley was looking to hand rival North Allegheny its first loss of the season, but a crippling start by the Raiders set the tone for a lopsided Section 3-AAAA boys basketball setback.

The Tigers jumped out to a 12-1 lead just a minute and 35 seconds into the game and were never threatened in an 84-58 decision on their home floor.

Ten turnovers by the Raiders helped the Tigers lead 27-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The performance left Seneca Valley coach Victor Giannotta short on words.

“We weren’t ready to play tonight,” was his only comment following the game.

Earlier in the night, SV’s girls fell to the Tigers 64-49.

NA’s boys (12-0, 5-0) have now collected five section wins by an average of 22 points and that includes a tight 76-74 victory over Pine-Richland last month.

“We’ve been shooting the ball really well and have been very aggressive with attacking the basket,” said NA coach Dave DeGregorio.

Senior guard Cole Constantino scored the Tigers’ first 10 points as the team shot 11-of-20 from the field in the first eight minutes. In contrast, the Raiders attempted just 11 field goals in that span.

“Seneca Valley is a good team, but we started out hot tonight,” DeGregorio said. “It’s tough to bounce back from that kind of deficit.”

Constantino led all scorers with 26 points.

Senior Zach Snyder scored 16 points to lead the Raiders (10-3, 3-2). Several players who rarely see time in varsity games played a lot of minutes, including sophomore guard Payton Skalos, who contributed 12 points.

Girls Basketball NA 64, Seneca Valley 49

If only Rob Lombardo could bottle his team’s play from a 10-minute stretch of Friday’s game.

In that span, he watched his team outscore the Tigers 24-10. SV’s charge hit its peak when Melissa Carter’s two-point basket gave the Raiders a 33-31 lead early in the second half.

A suffocating defense spurred the effort.

“That’s the way we are going to play the rest of the season,” Lombardo said. “We are going to make teams run all over the gym.”

Unfortunately, the Raiders’ momentum was bookended by dominating play by the Tigers (9-2, 3-1).

NA led 14-2 midway through the first quarter and entered the second period with an edge of 21-9.

Following Carter’s basket in the third, which earned SV (6-5, 2-3) its only lead of the game, the Tigers answered with a 22-9 run that put them up 53-42 two minutes into the final period.

Turnovers were Seneca Valley’s undoing. They committed 32 of them.

“You have that many turnovers and you’re not beating a Class A team, let alone North Allegheny. We got away from what we wanted to do against their half-court trap. Meg Morningstar (NA’s 6-foot-4 senior forward) funnels you toward the middle of the court. I don’t mind turnovers if we are being aggressive, but you can’t lose the ball stepping through a trap. We have to be smarter and know where we are on the court.”

Carter scored 12 points for the Raiders and Meghan Hess added 10. Devvin LaBarge had 16 points to lift the Tigers, including eight in the first quarter.

North Allegheny coach Sherri McConnell could not be reached for comment.

Girls

SENECA VALLEY 49

Michaela Lamont 2 2-3 7, Shaley Bream 0 1-2 1, Christina Dunning 1 0-0 2, Brooke Lyczek 2 3-4 8, Meghan Hess 2 5-7 10, Sarah Jones 2 0-0 5, Lexus Lambert 1 0-0 2, Melissa Carter 5 2-4 12, Erin Danik 1 0-0 2, Paige Montrose 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 13-20 49.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 64

Devvin LaBarge 6 3-5 16, Taylor Lake 4 2-4 10, Grace Weiers 1 0-0 2, Piper Morningstar 1 6-8 8, Abby Gonzales 4 1-2 10, Meg Morningstar 2 4-7 8, Hailey Zeise 3 4-7 10. Totals: 21 20-33 64.

Seneca Valley 9 18 13 9 — 49

North Allegheny21 10 16 17 — 64

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 4 (Lamont, Lyczek, Hess, Jones); North Allegheny 2 (LaBarge, Gonzales).

Monday: Butler at Seneca Valley

Boys

SENECA VALLEY 58

Zach Snyder 6 4-7 16, Jack Cook 2 3-6 8, T.J. Holl 1 0-0 3, Cody Boozel 1 0-2 2, Chad Izenas 1 2-2 4, Dakota Topf 3 0-0 7, Andrew Smathers 1 0-0 2, Pat Uher 1 2-2 4, Payton Skalos 4 2-2 12, Josh Balog 0 0-0 0, Justin Koken 0 0-0 0, Chris Hart 0 0-0 0, Nate Trzeciak 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 13-21 58.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 84

Keegan Phillips 2 1-2 5, Jordan Lake 2 2-2 6, Cole Constantino 10 2-2 26, Mike Fischer 3 2-2 8, Will Sandherr 6 0-0 14, Curtis Aiken 2 0-0 5, Griffin Sestili 4 1-1 9, Blake Constantakis 1 0-0 2, Devin Bluemling 2 0-0 5, Luke Carter 1 0-0 2, Jake Beuth 1 0-0 2. Totals: 34 8-9 84.

Seneca Valley 12 12 13 21 — 58

North Allegheny27 18 21 18 — 84

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 5 (Skalos 2, Cook, Holl, Topf); North Allegheny 8 (Constantino 4, Sandherr 2, Aiken, Bluemling).

Tuesday: Butler at Seneca Valley