JACKSON TWP — Mifflin County's boys basketball team traveled almost four hours to reach Seneca Valley High School on Tuesday.

The Huskies' trip home must have seemed twice as long.

Led by a smothering defense, Seneca Valley cruised to a 53-33 PIAA Class AAAA preliminary round playoff win at William F. Paul Gymnasium.

The victory sets up a rematch of Seneca Valley's 60-57 loss to Gateway in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

The Gators and Raiders will face each other in a PIAA first-round affair at North Allegheny Saturday.

The Raiders (15-10) had nine days off in between the WPIAL playoffs and Tuesday's state tournament opener.

“We were a little rusty at the start tonight,” said SV senior forward Chad Albert, “but once we got over the jitters and nerves, we began to play well and as a team.”

With 6:17 left in the second quarter, Mifflin County's Mitch Welham managed a conventional 3-point play, giving his team a 15-12 lead.

Over the course of the next 14:17 of play, which included a scoreless third quarter, Seneca Valley outscored the Huskies 30-4.

“Their zone defense gave us trouble early and they hung around,” said SV coach Victor Giannotta. “But we felt we could get to them and create turnovers.”

And the Raiders did just that.

In the second and third periods combined, Mifflin County had 13 turnovers and just seven points.

SV's defenders seemed able to anticipate Mifflin County passes, snaring the ball in mid-flight and scoring a number of easy layups.

“The latter half of the second quarter and then the third, that was our demise,” said Huskies coach Aaron Gingrich. “We went on a streak where we did not take care of the ball in the backcourt and couldn't buy a bucket.

“Some of it was due to Seneca Valley's defensive intensity, but we've played a lot better this season in pressure situations.”

Even when the Huskies got shots off, the result was usually a miss. The team made just one of its 16 field-goal attempts in the second and third quarters.

“Coach (Giannotta) told us before the game to leave everything on the court,” said Albert. “We were going all-out to create turnovers.”

The Raiders were led by Matt Smith's 12 points and Easton Bazzoli added 11.

The Huskies (17-8) received 10 points from Seth Wagner.

SV's win was its first state playoff victory since 2009 when it defeated McDowell in a preliminary round contest.

Now, WPIAL champ Gateway (20-6) stands in the Raiders' way of a trip to the state's Sweet 16.

“We're looking forward to another chance at them,” said Giannotta.Note: This is the first year of existence for Mifflin County High School, which is a consolidation of Lewistown and Indian Valley High School.

MIFFLIN COUNTY 33Cy Treaster 1 2-2 4, Curtis Jerzerick 0 1-2 1, Mitch Welham 2 1-1 6, Jeremy Koller 1 2-4 4, Louis Jerzerick 1 0-0 2, Hunter Wright 1 0-0 2, John Maclay 0 2-2 2, Ted Wilson 1 0-0 2, Seth Wagner 2 6-6 10, Steven Gingerich 0 0-0 0, Nate Elsesser 0 0-0 0, Chris Wilson 0 0-0 0, Heath Hidlay 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 9 14-17 33.

SENECA VALLEY 53Matt Smith 4 4-6 12, Easton Bazzoli 4 2-2 11, Zach Spangler 3 0-0 6, Dan Cashdollar 1 0-0 2, T.J. Holl 2 0-0 4, Chad Albert 3 2-4 8, Alex Maxfield 0 4-6 4, Ryan McCauley 1 0-0 2, Austin Bream 1 2-2 4, Alex Snyder 0 0-0 0, Eric Woods 0 0-0 0, Matt Darby 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19 14-20 53.

Mifflin County 12 7 0 14—33Seneca Valley 12 18 12 11—533-point goals: Mifflin County 1 (Welham); Seneca Valley 1 (Bazzoli).

Saturday: Seneca Valley vs. Gateway at North Allegheny High School, 6 p.m. (PIAA Class AAAA First-Round Playoff)