JACKSON TWP — An 0-3 start in section play could have been too much for the Seneca Valley boys basketball team to overcome.

Thanks to C.J. Brown, the Raiders will never know.

The junior guard scored a game-high 18 points and recorded 11 rebounds to lead SV to a 55-33 home win over New Castle Friday night.

Brown scored nine of his points in the first quarter and had 13 points at intermission.

In the two previous games, losses to Pine-Richland and North Allegheny, Brown scored a combined 19 points.

"Maybe I was forcing things too much the last couple of games," he said. "But tonight helped my confidence a lot."

"He was tremendous tonight," SV coach Vic Giannotta said of Brown, the team's leading scorer through seven games. "I think he's getting his basketball legs under him after football. He made very good decisions on the court tonight."

With New Castle's offense proving anemic most of the night, Brown's output, along with that of his supporting cast, was too much for the Red Hurricanes (3-4, 1-2) to overcome.

Seneca Valley led 15-7 after one quarter and 33-18 at halftime.

New Castle's hopes took a hit when guard Tyrone Steals was called for a technical foul after confronting SV's Sean Gress following a personal foul with just over five minutes left in the first half.

Hurricanes coach Mark Stanley pulled Steals from the game and the junior remained on the bench.

"There's a certain way you're supposed to act," said Stanley. "You're out there representing yourself, your team and your school. He just made a mistake."

Also turning in solid outings for the Raiders (5-2, 1-2) were Matt Vogt with seven points and seven rebounds, and John Fitzpatrick with 10 points.

"And Ryan Turner had a good game tonight," said Giannotta. "We put him on (Mike Andrews, who scored two points). Ryan did well defensively."

The Red Hurricanes had dominated the Seneca Valley-New Castle for years, but the Raiders have taken four of the last five games.

"A lot of people think that the intimidation factor with New Castle basketball is gone," said Giannotta. "Personally, I never was intimidated to play them. I looked forward to it because of all the tradition that surrounds their program."

Note: Longtime New Castle coach John Sarandrea left the position in May to become the superintendent for the Sharon School District.

NEW CASTLE 33Tonio Fulena 4 2-3 11, Chris Richards 1 0-2 2, Nick Colella 2 2-4 7, Tyrone Steals 4 1-2 9, Jajuan Jay 1 0-0 2, Mike Andrews 0 2-2 2, Jordan Gentsy 0 0-0 0, Nick Klein 0 0-0 0, Marquale May 0 0-0 0, Rodney Parchman 0 0-0 0, Tashon Jones 0 0-0 0, Stephen Richardson 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 12 7-13 33.

SENECA VALLEY 55John Fitzpatrick 3 4-4 10, Sean Gress 0 3-6 3, Ryan Turner 0 4-6 4, C.J. Brown 7 4-8 18, Nate Herrmann 2 3-4 8, Dan Rohm 1 1-2 4, Matt Vogt 3 1-2 7, Dustin Anewalt 0 1-2 1, Evan Mitro 0 0-0 0, Christian Durbin 0 0-0 0, Joe Belechak 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16 21-34 55.

New Castle 7 11 8 7—33Seneca Valley 15 18 9 13—553-point goals: New Castle 2 (Fulena, Colella); Seneca Valley 2 (Herrmann, Rohm).

JV: Seneca Valley 51-46

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Butler