JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley was beating North Catholic at its own game.

For a while.

The host Raiders navigated their way through the Trojans' up-tempo style, drained nine 3-pointers in the first half and scored 28 points in the second quarter to lead 39-37 at the break.

While SV shot the ball well in the second half, the Raiders cooled off just enough as the Trojans escaped with a 74-71 non-section victory.

“They press and like to speed you up,” SV coach Kevin Trost said of the Trojans. “We were able to get some guys open and we hit some shots. When we make shots, we're a good team.”

The Raiders' last lead dissolved when North's Isaiah Jackson hit a trey, giving the Trojans a 61-59 lead with 4:06 left in the game.

Connor Lyczek pulled the Raiders to within 72-71 with a bucket with just under 10 seconds left. North's Isaac DeGregorio sank two free throws with two seconds left and the Raiders were unable to get a shot off after the inbound pass.

DeGregorio paced the Trojans (5-1) with 22 points, but as a point guard, affected other facets of the game.

“His ability to penetrate and create things for his teammates was the biggest difference in the game,” Trost said. “They just made a few more shots than we did.”

The game was the Trojans' fifth this season against schools with much larger enrollments. North is a Class 3A program.

“We're trying to get better and like to challenge ourselves against as many 6A and 5A schools as we can,” said North coach Dave DeGregorio. “Seneca is a very physical and athletic team.”

The Raiders (0-4) trailed 20-11 after the first quarter, then began to rain 3s down on the Trojans.

Cole Brooks hit three of them in the second quarter, Mason Bush netted two and Gabe Lawson and Brian Hart each hit one. Over the first two periods, SV made nine of its 15 attempts from beyond the arc.

For the game, the Raiders made 12 3-pointers.

“There's always something we can do better defensively,” said Coach DeGregorio, “but a lot of it had to do with Seneca's work at that end. They had very good spacing against our pressure and our back line did not defend well.”

Bush led all scorers with 27 points. Brooks, a first-year starter who recently scored 20 in a game against Chartiers Valley, matched that total, due in large part to six treys.

“Last year, Cole was just a shooter, but he's a gym rat,” said Trost. “He worked extremely hard over the offseason and can now put the ball on the floor and get to the rim.”

Jackson Paschall came off the bench to score 17 for the Trojans, who made 10 treys. Ryan Feczko added 13 points and Jackson tallied 11.

Both teams return to section play Friday. North hosts Seton-LaSalle in Section 2-3A and the Raiders welcome Pine-Richland in Section 1-6A.

NORTH CATHOLIC 74

Jackson Paschall 7 3-4 17, Isaiah Jackson 4 0-0 11, Ryan Feczko 5 1-2 13, Hans Rottmann 1 0-0 3, Isaac DeGregorio 6 6-6 22, Andrew Ammerman 3 0-0 6, Jake Tomer 1 0-0 2, Anthony Serventi 0 0-0 0, Connor Maddalon 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 10-12 74.

SENECA VALLEY 71

Cole Brooks 7 0-0 20, Connor Lyczek 3 3-6 9, Gabe Lawson 2 0-2 5, Brian Hart 2 3-4 9, Mason Bush 8 8-10 27, Luke Lawson 0 1-2 1, Ben Hicks 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 15-24 71.

North Catholic 20 17 19 18 — 74

Seneca Valley11 28 13 19 — 71

3-point goals: North Catholic 10 (DeGregorio 4, Jackson 3, Feczko 2, Rottmann); Seneca Valley 12 (Brooks 6, Bush 3, Hart 2, Lawson)

Friday: Seton-LaSalle at North Catholic; Pine-Richland at Seneca Valley