ROSS TWP — In the end, it wasn't a flip of the coin, but the glow of an arrow.

After a running layup by Luke Kochka gave Gateway a two-point lead with 35 seconds left in overtime, Seneca Valley played for one final shot.

A pass underneath led to a tie-up under the basket, but the Raiders maintained possession.

Easton Bazzoli's inbounds pass went to Matt Smith just before midcourt, but 6-foot-10 senior Barnett Harris tied the ball up and possession reverted back to the Gators with 3.2 seconds left.

D.J. Boyce was fouled on the inbounds pass with 0.9 seconds left. He sank the first attempt, but missed the second.

Chad Albert got the rebound but his full-court desperation shot never made it as Gateway captured a 60-57 victory in WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals action Saturday at North Hills High School.

The Raiders (14-10) fought back from a 15-point deficit midway through the third quarter to tie the game twice, the final time with a pair of free throws by Albert with 12.8 seconds left in regulation.

“The kids fought back and I'm proud of them,” Raiders coach Victor Giannotta said. “They were resilient. Unfortunately, the outcome was not in our favor.”

“Once we got the lead in overtime, we wanted to force (Seneca Valley) to put the ball on the ground,” Gators coach Mitch Adams said.

The Raiders looked to be fading when Gateway opened the second half with eight consecutive points — with a basket by Harris, a score and two free throws by Matt Storr and a jumper by Luke Kochka — for a 39-24 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter.

The Raiders began to chip away at the deficit, going on an 11-4 run — highlighted by four points from Alex Maxfield and a 3-pointer by Bazzoli — to make it 43-35 with 49 seconds left in the frame.

After a Harris layup 17 seconds later pushed the lead back to double figures, the Raiders' Matt Smith was fouled at the buzzer attempting a 3-pointer and sank all three attempts.

Seneca Valley continued the momentum when it opened the fourth quarter with three 3-pointers — Maxwell, Ryan McCauley and Smith — over a four-possession span — to trail 49-47 with 4:49 in regulation.

“We started to play a half-court trap instead of man,” Giannotta said. “We tried to go uptempo, made some baskets and fought back.

“We knocked down our shots versus their zone and we rebounded better,” Giannotta added.

“They came back. They shot the (heck) out of the ball,” Adams said. “I didn't see that from them before.”

Harris' second consecutive slam dunk made it 51-47 before the Raiders used a Bazzoli basket and two free throws by McCauley, the latter with 3:46 to play, to tie the game at 51.

McCauley missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:16 to play and Boyce added a running jumper with 1:22 to go.

The Raiders turned the ball over, but the Gators did likewise before Albert's efforts at the line knotted the game.

The Gators had one last shot in regulation, but a 3-point attempt by Shorr was off the mark.

In overtime, a putback by Tyler Wright gave Gateway the lead before McCauley took a Maxfield pass underneath the basket to tie the game at 55 with 2:23 left.

Harris scored in transition to give the Gators the lead, but again, the Raiders tied the game with 1:18 left on two free throws by McCauley.

The Raiders, though, would not get off another shot until Albert's last-second heave.

“Any of the eight teams remaining (in Quad A before Saturday's games) have a good chance at winning,” Giannotta said. “Gateway had a nice game plan for us and they deserved to move on.”

Adams concurred.

“It's next man up,” Adams said. “There are many good teams this year. You had Shaler, Plum, Peters Township and Central Catholic on one side of the bracket and us, Seneca Valley, Butler and NA on this side.

“We lived to fight another day. We're in the state playoffs for the fourth year in a row. It's special for these kids,” he added.

For the Raiders, they need the Gators to win the WPIAL championship so they can get the fifth and final state playoff berth.

Notes: Maxfield led the Raiders with 15 points, followed by 14 for McCauley, 10 for Bazzoli and eight apiece for Smith and Albert. The Gators were led by Harris (16) and Kochka (16).

GATEWAY 60Barnett Harris 9 1-3 19, Nick Paolino 0 0-0 0, Matthew Shorr 2 2-3 6, Tyler Wright 1 0-0 2, D.J. Boyce 4 1-2 9, Luke Kochka 7 0-0 16, Tom Kromka 3 2-3 8.

Totals: 26 6-11 60.

SENECA VALLEY 57Matt Smith 2 3-3 8, Easton Bazzoli 4 1-2 10, T.J. Holl 0 0-0 0, Chad Albert 3 2-2 8, Alex Maxfield 4 6-6 15, Ryan McCauley 4 4-5 14, Austin Bream 1 0-0 2, Alex Snyder 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 18 16-18 57.

Gateway 15 16 14 8 7—60Seneca Valley 9 15 14 15 4—573-point goals: Gateway 2 (Kochka 2); Seneca Valley 5 (McCauley 2, Smith, Bazzoli, Maxfield).