WEXFORD — Two quick layups in transition midway through the second quarter primed Gateway for the kill.

But not so fast.

The Gators (21-6) opened up their first 10-point lead of Saturday night's PIAA Class AAAA first-round boys basketball game against Seneca Valley at North Allegheny High School at 25-15 with 4:16 left in the half.

The Raiders (15-11) closed the half with a 9-3 run as Easton Bazzoli sank a layup off an assist from Alex Maxfield, Austin Bream buried a trey, Chad Albert stole the ball at midcourt and jammed it the other way, and R.J. McCauley nailed a baseline jumper.

“I'm proud of my guys. I'm proud of the way they competed,” SV coach Victor Giannotta said, his team trailing only 28-24 at the half.

Gateway dominated the final two quarters, however, outscoring the Raiders 40-20 to run away with a 68-44 victory.

The loss ended the prep hoop careers of Seneca Valley seniors Matt Smith, Albert, Maxfield and Bream.

“That's the best group of seniors to come through this program in a while,” Giannotta said. “This is the farthest a Seneca Valley team has gone. We got to this point three years ago and these guys wanted to take it farther.

“Gateway came out in the second half, hunkered down and played defense. They stopped us. That's a great team and they're going to be a tough out for anybody.”

The Gators won their seventh straight game by sinking 15 of their 21 field goal attempts in the second half while limiting SV to six buckets on 29 shots.

“That first half ... give all the credit to Coach Giannotta,” Gateway coach Mitch Adams said. “He had those kids doing everything they wanted, making hustle play after hustle play. They gave us all sorts of problems.

“Sometimes my team thinks it's the Harlem Globetrotters. We had to straighten up and play.”

One problem Gateway had in the first half was the absence of point guard D.J. Boyce. He picked up two fouls in the game's first minute and a half and went to the bench for the duration of the half.

And his absence was felt.

“If you're sitting in a car and I take away the driver, you're not going anywhere,” Adams said. “That's what that kid means to us.”

Luke Kochka was the Gators' leading scorer with 24 points, 15 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Barnett Harris, Gateway's 6-foot-10 center, had 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Harris blocked a Maxfield shot late in the first quarter and crashed hard to the floor as the players collided. Harris writhed in pain, clutching his lower right leg.

“I didn't know if it was a knee, an ankle, what it was. But it looked scary,” Adams admitted.

Harris had his lower leg heavily taped and returned to action before the half was over.

Tyler Scott had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Gators with Boyce contributing seven points, five boards and three assists.

Scott did not play against Seneca Valley during the Raiders' 60-57 overtime loss to Gateway in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

“He is one tremendous athlete,” Giannotta said. “It doesn't hurt quite as much when you get blown out. Lose at the buzzer ... that one was a lot more painful.”

Maxfield scored 20 points, including three treys, for the Raiders. Albert and Alex Snyder had five rebounds each.

Gateway had a 31-24 edge on the boards and all of its second-half points came via layups or free throws.

“What team can stop them inside?” Giannotta repeated a question. “The Philadelphia 76ers, maybe.”

“We're at our best when we run, run, run,” Adams said. “These guys like to be thoroughbreds. They do incredible things when they play that way.”

SENECA VALLEY 44Matt Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Easton Bazzoli 2-9 0-0 4, Zach Spangler 1q-2 1-1 3, Dan Cashdollar 0-0 0-0 0, T.J. Holl 0-1 2-2 2, Chad Albert 3-8 0-0 6, Eric Woods 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Maxfield 5-13 7-8 20, R.J. McCauley 2-6 0-0 4, Austin Bream 2-3 0-0 5, Alex Snyder 0-5 0-0 0.

Totals: 15-48 10-11 44.

GATEWAY 68Barnett Harris 6-10 0-2 12, Tyler scott 2-5 5-6 11, D.J. Boyce 3-5 1-2 7, Luke Kochka 9-12 6-8 24, Tom Kromka 1-3 3-4 5, Tyler Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Paulino 1-4 0-0 3, Matt Schorr 1-1 0-0 2, Tim Bell 1-2 0-0 2, Henry York 1-1 0-0 2.

Totals: 25-43 15-22 68.

Seneca Valley 13 11 6 14—44Gateway 17 11 14 26—683-point goals: Seneca Valley 4 (Maxfield 3, Bream); Gateway 3 (Scott 2, Paulino).

Wednesday: PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal-Gateway vs. Shaler