CRANBERRY TWP — The Seneca Valley and North Catholic matchup is one of the newest boys basketball rivalries in Butler County, but you wouldn’t have known it Wednesday night.

With spirited play on both sides throughout the game, the host Trojans outlasted the Raiders, 54-53, inside a raucous gym.

“This is a neighborhood game and a lot of the kids know each other,” said North coach Jim Rocco.

When Nick Larson drained a 3-pointer with six minutes left in the game, the Trojans led 49-40.

The Raiders began to chip away at North’s edge, beginning with a basket from Aiden Lyczek with 4:47 left.

Connor Oros, who led SV with 17 points, made a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to 52-48 with 2:35 left.

Lyczek pulled the Raiders to within 52-51 with his putback of a missed free throw with 44 seconds on the clock.

What proved to be the winning points came on two free throws from the Trojans’ Max Hurray at 21 seconds.

SV’s Kai West missed a 3-pointer late. Lyczek put in the rebound, but the Raiders still trailed by one point with just four-tenths of a second left.

All North (2-1) had to do was successfully inbound the ball, which it did to seal the win.

“The biggest positive I’m taking from this game is how hard our guys played,” said SV coach Kevin Trost. “We tell them to keep swinging, no matter what happens, and they stuck together.”

While pleased to defeat a very talented opponent, Rocco saw much to be desired from his team’s play late in the game.

“I didn’t like our level of poise in the fourth quarter,” he said. “Our shot selection wasn’t good and we just did some things you can’t do against a good team. Seneca is so big and strong.

“One player who stepped up for us was Nick Larson. He hit some big shots.”

Larson scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers. His second trey of the second half gave the Trojans a 38-31 lead with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

Turnovers hampered SV’s offense for much of the night. The Raiders committed 22 of them in the game, but just three in the final quarter when they rallied.

“We had some issues getting the ball into the post and there was a cluster of turnovers in the third quarter,” said Trost. “North is really good with their pressure and turnovers are to be expected, but we still have to try and limit them as much as we can.”

Lyczek and Luke Lawson both had 11 points for the Raiders (1-2).

Hurray paced the Trojans with 20 points.

SENECA VALLEY 53

Aiden Lyczek 5 1-3 11, Andrew Roy 2 0-0 4, Connor Oros 6 3-4 17, Jackson Wetzel 1 0-0 2, Luke Lawson 4 3-5 11, Tyler Pepin 2 3-4 8, Esheza Okponobi 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 10-16 53.

NORTH CATHOLIC 54

Andrew Maddalon 3 1-2 7, Matt Ellery 3 0-0 9, Nick Larson 4 0-0 12, Owen Maddalon 0 2-2 2, Max Hurray 7 5-6 20, Max Rottmann 1 0-0 2, Jason Siket 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 8-10 54.

Seneca Valley 13 12 15 13 — 53

North Catholic 16 14 16 8 —54

3-point goals: SV 3 (Oros 2, Pepin); North Catholic 8 (Larson 4, Ellery 3, Hurray).

Friday: Seneca Valley at Fox Chapel

Dec. 15: Ambridge at North Catholic