JACKSON TWP — The win came. The help did not.

Senior point guard Christian Durbin scored 22 points in leading Seneca Valley to a tense 63-59 boys basketball victory over Butler Friday night.

That victory ended the regular season for the Raiders and put them in position to tie for the fourth and final WPIAL playoff spot out of Section 3-AAAA.

But SV (10-11, 5-7) was eliminated from postseason consideration moments later when Pine-Richland upset previously unbeaten Shaler, 56-52, on the road in overtime. That win gave the Rams a third-place tie with Butler at 6-6.

“We were hoping to get in, but if this is how it ends, winning a close game at home against a close rival ... we have to take it,” Raiders coach Vic Giannotta said.

Neither Butler (11-9, 6-6) nor Seneca Valley ever had a double-digit lead Friday. The game featured eight ties and six lead changes.

The Golden Tornado's biggest lead was 32-23 with 2:07 left in the first half. The Raiders scored the final seven points of the half, however, topped by a buzzer-beating jumper by Durbin, and tied the contest on a steal and layup by Alex Maxfield less than a minute into the third quarter.

Maxfield contributed 13 points and six rebounds for SV.

A fast-break layup by Durbin with 4:08 remaining gave the Raiders a lead they never lost.

“Durbin was probably responsible for three-fourths of their scoring, between his assists and points,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “We didn't control him tonight.”

The Tornado still didn't go away. A Nate Snodgrass 3-pointer cut the gap to 56-55 with 1:05 left. The Raiders' Chad Albert answered with a three-point play at the other end.

A layup by Butler's Bobby Swartwout was countered by two Durbin free throws with 21.2 seconds to play. Swartwout then stuck back an offensive rebound while being fouled with six seconds to go.

With his team trailing by two points, Swartwout intentionally missed the free throw, but Butler couldn't get the rebound. SV's Austin Bream did and calmly sank two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to ice the win.

“This was a hard, cleanly played basketball game. This is how a Butler-Seneca Valley game should be played,” Giannotta said.

The Raiders held a 30-22 edge in rebounding, but had 12 turnovers to Butler's eight.

“We rebounded tonight. We didn't rebound up there (in a 72-59 loss at Butler),” Giannotta said. “Rebounding was the difference.”

Clement agreed.

“The boards always make the difference,” he said. “They wanted the rebounds more. They wanted the ball more. They wanted the win more.”

“This is an awesome way to go out, winning a home game on a Friday night with tremendous student support,” Durbin said. “We fed off those guys. They were a big factor tonight.”

Two fouls committed on Durbin near midcourt in the fourth period were factors as well.

“You can't foul that kid if he's not going to the basket,” Clement said. “We handed them free points there. In a four-point game, we couldn't afford to do that.”

Swartwout had 28 points and nine rebounds for Butler. He was the only Tornado player in double figures.

“He's tough to stop when he gets the ball down low,” Giannotta said. “The kid is a great player.”

So, too, is Durbin.

“You don't see many players like Christian come through a program, ever,” Giannotta said. “He's a tremendous player. We'll miss him.”

BUTLER 59Nate Snodgrass 3-8 0-1 7, Trevor Wideman 1-3 0-0 2, Cody Herald 2-6 2-2 7, Zach Slater 2-6 1-2 7, Jake Hilliard 0-0 0-0 0, Bill Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Vinnie Schmidt 2-6 0-0 4, David Tompkins 1-1 2-2 4, Bobby Swartwout 12-16 4-8 28.

Totals: 23-47 9-15 59.

SENECA VALLEY 63Matt Smith 3-6 0-0 7, Beau Barclay 0-2 0-0 0, Christian Durbin 7-16 88-9 22, Chad Albert 4-6 1-1 9, R.J. McCauley 1-1 0-0 2, Pat Kulp 1-1 0-0 2, Alex Maxfield 3-9 7-7 13, Austin Bream 3-5 2-4 8.

Totals: 22-46 18-21 63.

Butler 15 17 9 18—59Seneca Valley 15 15 15 18—633-point goals: Butler 4 (Snodgrass, Herald, Slater 2); Seneca Valley 1 (Smith).

Junior varsity: Seneca Valley, 48-41 (SV: R.J. McCauley 15, Ryan Conn 10; B: Luke Hartung 16)

Saturday: Franklin Regional at Butler