JACKSON TWP — Shaler's zone defense and a brick wall proved to be one and the same as far as the Seneca Valley boys basketball team was concerned.

In the first half of Tuesday's Section 3-AAAA game, the Titans played man-to-man and the Raiders put 33 points on the board.

In the final two quarters, SV managed just 12 points against the Titans' zone, including three points in the final period, leading to a 46-45 loss for the Raiders.

Christian Durbin's desperation 3-point attempt for SV as time expired smacked off the backboard and caromed off the rim.

The Raiders' only points of the final period came on Alex Maxfield's 3-pointer, giving the team a 45-44 lead with 1:38 left.

The teams traded turnovers and Shaler took a one-point lead on Brandon Bauer's layup with 35 seconds remaining.

A 3-point attempt by SV's Joe Belechak was off target and Shaler rebounded with 4.2 seconds left before the Titans' Jesse Della Valle missed the front end of a 1-and-1, leading to Durbin's last-second chance at a dramatic win.

"Twelve points in the second half — that's not going to cut it," said Raiders coach Victor Giannotta.

Shaler's change in defensive strategy was the turning point in the game.

Durbin breezed through the man defense for 10 points in the first half. He scored six points in the second half, making a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter.

"We kept Durbin from getting into the middle," said Shaler coach Paul Holzshu of his team's defense in the third and fourth quarters. "Every time he got there in the first half, he made things happen. We ran a couple of different zones at them in the second half."

"Shaler took us out of our aggressive style of play with the zone," said Giannotta. "It was a great coaching move."

The Raiders (7-9, 2-7) led 33-24 at halftime, but Shaler slowly chipped away at the deficit, cutting it to four points when J.T. Schwartz laid in a basket just before the third period ended.

"With three seconds left in the quarter, we let a guy go coast to coast for two points," said Giannotta. "That was a big play in the game. This game was a microcosm of our season."

Durbin led all scorers with 16 points and Belechak had 10 for Seneca Valley.

Bauer scored 12 points and Schwartz had 11 for the Titans (8-10, 3-7).

SHALER 46Jesse Della Valle 2 4-7 8, J.T. Schwartz 4 2-3 11, Brandon Bauer 6 0-0 12, Dan Taylor 2 3-4 8, Zach Kreke 2 2-2 7, Jake Sieber 0 0-0 0, Sean Bittner 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16 11-16 46.

SENECA VALLEY 45Nate Herrmann 1 2-2 5, Joe Belechak 4 0-0 10, Marco Corona 0 1-2 1, Pete Vicente 2 0-0 4, Christian Durbin 7 0-0 16, Ryan Thomas 1 0-0 2, Pat Kulp 1 0-0 2, Alex Maxfield 2 0-0 5, Eric Davis 0 0-0 0, Alan Heery 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 18 3-4 45.

Shaler 11 13 14 8—46Seneca Valley 17 16 9 3—453-point goals: Shaler 3 (Schwartz, Taylor, Kreke); Seneca Valley 8 (Belechak 2, Durbin 2, Maxfield, Herrmann).

Thursday: Seneca Valley at Oliver