JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley press was getting to North Allegheny.

As the turnovers piled up for the Tigers, so did the points for the Raiders.

Suddenly, a comfortable lead for NA was shrinking.

And fast.

Ultimately, though, the push by Seneca Valley was far too little and came far too late to affect the outcome in a 61-45 home loss Friday night.

In a game that was ostensibly for third place in Section 1-6A, the Raiders (9-9, 4-5) were unable to keep up with the Tigers (10-8, 4-5).

“Honestly, that's kind of been our downfall all year,” said Seneca Valley coach Kevin Trost. “We've played really well in stretches, but we somehow can't avoid the big run and when we play good teams, there's always a stretch in the game — a four-minute stretch, or a quarter — when we don't play well and dig a hole.”

This time, it was a seven-minute span that covered the last half of the second quarter and the opening minutes of the third.

North Allegheny went on a 21-2 run during that span to turn a tie game into a 35-16 lead.

Seneca Valley never fully recovered.

The Raiders were able to scratch and claw back into the game in the fourth quarter.

Gabe Lawson drove hard to the rim and was fouled to complete a 3-point play that cut the NA advantage to 48-37 midway through the fourth, but that was as close as Seneca Valley got.

“I thought our kids played super hard and never gave up,” Trost said. “We have a really great group and they grinded and grinded, but we just dug ourselves a little too big of a hole.”

Coming back against North Allegheny isn't easy. The Tigers are long and athletic and aggressive on defense.

They gave Seneca Valley fits in the first meeting, a 65-47 loss for the Raiders three weeks ago, and the fits continued Friday.

In that first meeting, NA shut out Zac Zajacs. In the second meeting, Zajacs did manage 12 to lead the Raiders, who also got 11 from Mason Bush and 10 from Marcus Might.

But the points for Seneca Valley were hard to come by.

“NA, I think, is probably the best half-court defensive team in the league,” Trost said. “They really sit down and guard you and they don't give you any room. It's really hard to score against them.”

North Allegheny got a big boost from his bench, which was more important than even after leading scorer and sharpshooting guard Mike Iuzzolino went down with a leg injury late in the first quarter.

Iuzzolino had already buried three 3-pointers before he left the game.

He tried to return in the second half, but didn't last a minute before the injury sent him limping to the bench again.

In his stead, Anthony Hattrup scored 14 points and Justin Altmeyer nine more off the bench to key the NA win. Hattrup also had eight rebounds and five blocked shots.

“We lost our best offensive player in the first half and he was off to a good start,” said North Allegheny coach Keith Noftz. “I thought Anthony Hattrup played a great game. Justin Altmeyer — we're happy with the way he's been playing all season.”

North Allegheny came in on a four-game skid, including an overtime loss to Central Catholic Tuesday.

“We had to have this one,” Noftz said.

Seneca Valley could still get the third seed should it beat Butler and should NA fall to North Hills.

Either way, Trost said he is confident about his team's chances in the playoffs.

“We're happy to be in the tournament at the end,” Trost said. “We believe whoever is in it has a chance to win it.”

NORTH ALLEGHENY 61

Mike Egnaczyk 5-8 2-4 14, Mike Iuzzolino 3-4 0-0 9, Walker Davidson 3-8 1-2 8, Nico Erimias 2-5 3-4 7, Stephen Humphries 0-2 0-0 0, Anthony Hattrup 5-6 4-4 14, Khalil Dinkins 0-1 0-0 0, Justin Althmeyer 3-7 2-2 9, Greg Habib 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-42 12-16 61.

SENECA VALLEY 45

Gabe Lawson 2-10 1-1 5, Trey Berringer 1-3 2-4 4, Marcus Might 5-6 0-0 10, Mason Bush 4-14 2-7 11, Zac Zajacs 4-8 2-3 12, Brendan Koken 1-2 0-0 2, Tre Rosell 0-1 0-0 0, Connor Lyczek 0-4 1-2 1, Angelo Giannotta 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-48 8-17 45.

North Allegheny 12 16 16 17 — 61

Seneca Valley11 5 8 21 — 45

3-point goals: North Allegheny 7 (Egnaczyk 2, Iuzzolino 3, Davidson, Altmeyer); Seneca Valley 3 (Bush, Zajacs 2)

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Butler