JACKSON TWP — It goes into the books as yet another close loss for the Seneca Valley boys basketball team.

But coach Vic Giannotta saw a lot more than that in his squad's season finale.

The Raiders' 71-67 home loss to North Allegheny Monday night was their sixth section defeat by five points or fewer.

"North Allegheny is a good team and they're going to end up with a pretty good seed in the (WPIAL) playoffs," said Giannotta. "I liked our kids' effort tonight. We won the battle for rebounds (48-32) and we ended with four kids scoring in double digits."

Christian Durbin led SV with 16 points, while Alex Maxfield (15), Joe Belechak (12), and Nate Herrmann (11) each played well.

NA's win assures the Tigers (17-4, 10-2) of at least a share of the Section 3-AAAA title. If Butler defeats Central Catholic tonight, NA will win the title outright.

"Winning the section was a goal of our's before the season, no doubt," said Tigers coach Dave DeGregorio. "Our last one came in 2008."

The Raiders were done in by NA's 13 3-pointers, though SV kept things interesting until late.

Trailing 65-60 with 50 seconds left to play, the teams scrambled for a loose ball. When the dust settled, SV senior guard Eric Davis was whistled for a technical foul.

NA's Anthony Dallier made one of two free throws after the call, and the Raiders never pulled closer than six points until Maxfield's 3-pointer from halfcourt as time expired.

"I don't know why a (personal) foul wasn't called before the technical," said Giannotta. "I didn't understand the call."

The Tigers' dominance from beyond the arc began early as they drained four 3-pointers in the first quarter and nine in the first half.

Anton Constantino, who led the Tigers with 26 points, hit five of his team's 3-pointers while Jack Counahan drained six and finished with 19 points.

"I believe that is a season high in 3-pointers for us," said DeGregorio. "We shot the ball well tonight, but we didn't play well other than that.

"Playing three games in four days, our guys weren't as mentally sharp, but they toughed it out and found a way to win," he added. "I give credit to Seneca. They played a tough game and beat us up on the boards."

Durbin was a perfect 12-of-12 from the free throw line for SV.

The Raiders finished the season with a 7-13 record, 2-10 in section play.

"Hopefully, there were some lessons learned in the face of some very tough losses," said Giannotta.

Playing their final game for the Raiders were seniors Nate Herrmann, Joe Belechak, Eric Davis, Marco Corona, Alan Heery, Pete Vicente and Ryan Thomas.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 71Anthony Dallier 4 5-9 14, Anton Constantino 8 5-7 26, Steve Ferringer 0 2-2 2, Ben Colabrese 1 1-2 3, Ryan Besonson 0 3-4 3, Jake Wrigley 0 1-2 1, Jack Counahan 6 1-3 19, Kevin Cope 1 0-0 3, J.C. Howard 0 0-0 0, Byrum Luoco 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 20 18-29 71.

SENECA VALLEY 67Nate Herrmann 4 1-2 11, Joe Belechak 6 0-1 12, Marco Corona 1 4-8 6, Pete Vicente 1 0-0 2, Christian Durbin 2 12-12 16, Alex Maxfield 5 3-4 15, Matt Smith 1 3-5 5, Pat Kulp 0 0-0 0, Beau Barclay 0 0-0 0, Ryan Thomas 0 0-0 0, Alan Heery 0 0-0 0, Eric Davis 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 20 23-32 67.

North Allegheny 15 20 13 23—71Seneca Valley 9 19 15 24—673-point goals: North Allegheny 13 (Counahan 6, Constantino 5, Dallier, Cope); Seneca Valley 4 (Herrmann 2, Maxfield 2).