SHALER TWP — “That was about as good as we can play,” said Seneca Valley boys basketball coach Victor Giannotta.

A simple yet fitting quote regarding the first half of the Raiders' section game at Shaler Friday night when almost everything went SV's way.

The Raiders shot 77 percent (17-of-22) from the field while holding Shaler to a dismal 5-of-29 over the first two quarters. The result was a 42-10 halftime lead that the Raiders turned into a 73-46 victory.

Shaler's program has been down for several years, but the Titans (5-6, 1-3) had split their first 10 games of this season and demanded respect, according to Giannotta.

“This was a big game for Shaler,” he said. “They're much improved, are well-coached and are fighting for a playoff spot like everyone else. To come in here on a Friday night and get a win, we're fortunate.”

The Raiders (7-2, 2-1) wasted no time letting the Titans know what they were in for. Shaler missed its first 13 shot attempts from the field and SV senior Chris Hart scored 10 points in the first 2:46 of the game. His conventional 3-point play put the Raiders up 13-0.

The lead was 19-4 by the end of the first quarter.

“Seneca Valley came out and punched us in the mouth and we didn't respond,” said third-year Shaler coach Rob Niederberger.

Hart scored all 18 of his points in the first half.

“We rebounded well. We got the ball out and were running,” said Hart. “We converted on a lot of fast breaks.”

Junior Marcus Might helped start many of those with his game-high 14 rebounds. He added 13 points.

“I don't care how many points Marcus scored tonight,” Giannotta said. “He had a great game on the boards. The way he worked the glass for us, that's the best I've seen him play.”

The competitive aspect of the game completely dissolved in the second quarter and the Raiders led 42-10 at halftime.

David Ritchie scored 17 of his team-high 20 points in the second half for SV.

Some coaches would want their players to forget about such a lopsided loss. Niederberger is taking a different approach.

“I'm hoping our guys take this and store it in the vault,” he said. “They should remember this. We play these guys again (Jan. 30).”

SENECA VALLEY 73

Jake Bunofsky 3 1-1 8, Josh Rupert 0 1-2 1, Chris Hart 7 1-1 18, Trey Berringer 2 0-0 4, Brendan Koken 1 0-0 2, Marcus Might 6 0-0 13, David Ritchie 5 7-7 20, Dalton Peffer 2 3-4 7, Gabe Lawson 0 0-0 0, Angelo Giannotta 0 0-0 0, Tre Rosell 0 0-0 0, Zac Zajacs 0 0-0 0, Mason Bush 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 13-15 73.

SHALER 46

Kiki Agbale 1 0-0 2, Luke Bebout 0 1-2 1, Justin Desabato 0 2-4 2, Kevin McHale 1 0-0 3, Mekhi Reynolds 7 2-2 16, Jesse Tavella 3 0-0 8, Matt Tavella 5 2-2 14. Totals: 17 7-10 46.

Seneca Valley 19 23 21 10 — 73

Shaler4 6 15 21 — 46

3-point goals: Seneca Valley 8 (Hart 3, Ritchie 3, Might, Bunofsky); Shaler 5 (M. Tavella 2, J. Tavella 2, McHale)

Saturday: Seneca Valley vs. Altoona at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, 1:30 p.m.