SLIPPERY ROCK — A.J. Motta wishes he had more time.

The first-year Slippery Rock High boys basketball coach got the job late in the spring and had to install his system and his mentality on the fly.

What resulted were some early growing pains and a 3-19 record heading into the first round of the District 10 Class 4A playoffs.

Time also ran out on Motta and the Rockets Friday night at home against General McLane in the postseason opener as the Lancers pulled away late for a 63-49 win.

“I love the way our guys played all year,” Motta said. “We play hard no matter what, no matter the score. We got it close tonight, which was fantastic, but we lost the physical battle on the boards.”

Slippery Rock fell behind 23-6 at one point early in the second quarter, but cut that deficit to 12 at the half.

By the end of a hot third quarter, the Rockets had the McLane lead down to 41-38 and momentum.

But as has been its bugaboo all season, Slippery Rock couldn't take advantage of a long General McLane scoring drought on its own offensive end and sputtered in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we gave it everything we had as long as we could,” Motta said. “It was kind of a unique situation. I got the job in late May so it's basically been nine months. To see where we've come in nine months, I'm really proud. Where we've come from is light years ahead of where we were as a team.”

Zack Thompson, one of 10 seniors on the Slippery Rock roster, made the biggest impact during the Rockets' run that cut the Lancers lead to one possession.

Thompson scored 16 points and hit three of his four 3-pointers in the third quarter as Slippery Rock was thinking upset in the first home playoff game in school history.

“He's been really hot lately and it's been fun to watch him,” Motta said. “He's really developed over the course of the year. Another senior guy showing leadership, making big-time shots in big-time moments.”

If Motta has one lament, it's the fact he's losing that large senior class after seeing the team develop over the course of the year.

“Those guys brought a lot of character and a lot of grit to our program,” Motta said. “I was really excited to have 10 seniors come out. Listen, if I could hold them back, I would. I'd love to have these guys back for another year.”

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

For General McLane (16-7), its coach, Brian Schulz, had a feeling this game was going to be a challenging one.

“We talked all week about how a playoff atmosphere is a different atmosphere, especially coming to someone else's gym,” Schulz said. “We withstood their run in the third quarter and I was proud how we bounced back and stuck to our game plan.”

That game plan included a lot of Bruces.

Three to be exact.

Eli Bruce scored 21 points to lead the way for the Lancers. Daniel Bruce added 10 and Alex Bruce eight.

Eric Mathews also chipped in 12 for General McLane.

It was Eli Bruce, though, that drove the most daggers into Slippery Rock's upset hopes.

Bruce hit six 3-points and just about all of them were big.

“He's done that all year,” Schulz said. “He's a good shooter. He's become a good player. He takes pride in making the big shots and we needed them tonight to be sure.”

GENERAL McLANE 63

Eric Mathews 3-9 4-8 12, Nate Jones 5-10 0-1 10, Alex Bruce 3-7 1-3 8, Eli Bruce 7-19 1-2 21, Daniel Bruce 4-9 1-3 10, Carson Seneta 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Conn 1-2 0-0 2, Zach Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Avery Ah Wong 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Hahn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-56 7-17 63.

SLIPPERY ROCK 49

Tyler Christy 1-1 0-0 2, Judah Roth 2-4 2-3 6, Ethan Plesakov 1-10 0-0 2, Jack Allen 5-14 2-3 13, Zack Thompson 6-11 0-0 16, Shane Thompson 1-4 0-0 2, Brady Prementine 2-3 1-2 5, Zach Caldwell 1-1 0-0 3, Duncan McCoy 0-0 0-0 0, Nathaniel Willison 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Barr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-48 5-8 49.

General McLane 21 11 9 22 — 63

Slippery Rock6 14 18 11 — 49

3-point goals:General McLane 10 (Mathews 2, A. Bruce, E. Bruce 6, D. Bruce); Slippery Rock (Allen, Z. Thompson 4, Caldwell)