WEXFORD — In Seneca Valley's previous meeting with North Allegheny, the Raiders lost on a last-second shot.

This time around, the Raiders made sure they couldn't lose with one late basket.

SV held the Tigers to 11 points in the first half and pulled out a 54-50 boys basketball victory Tuesday at North Allegheny.

With the win, the Raiders clinch at least a share of the Section 3-AAAA title. They can win it outright with a home victory Friday against Butler.

Leading 39-28 as the final quarter began, SV saw its advantage cut to single digits several times, but the Raiders always came back with a big basket of their own.

NA pulled to within 51-45 with 41.6 seconds left in the game when Nick Dvorsky hit a basket in the paint.

SV senior Matt Vogt made a pair of free throws soon after to push his team's lead back to eight points.

The Tigers simply ran out of time, scoring a cosmetic basket as the clock ran out.

Though NA (13-6, 6-4) rallied in the second half to make the game close, its 5-of-31 shooting performance in the first half planted the seed for defeat as Seneca Valley led 17-8 after the first period and 27-11 at intermission.

The Tigers missed 13 consecutive shots from the field to start the second quarter.

"I thought we challenged shots well, and we did a nice job on the defensive glass," said SV coach Victor Giannotta.

The Raiders (13-6, 8-3) had a 23-18 rebounding edge in the first half.

A key stretch for SV began 55 seconds into the third period when C.J. Brown picked up his third personal foul and came out of the game.

At that point, SV's lead was 27-15. When Brown returned at the start of the final quarter, the margin was 11 points.

With one of their best players on the bench for nearly an entire quarter, the Raiders stayed sharp.

Accounting for all 12 of the Raiders' points in the third quarter were Christian Durbin (seven) and Joe Belechak (five).

Brown led the Raiders with 15 points, Vogt scored 14 and Durbin added 13.

Vogt has become a consistent double-digit scorer in the second half of the season. His improvement has a lot to do with better post moves and shot selection.

"He is a post presence and he's started to play like it," Giannotta said of Vogt. "He knows that when the ball comes into the post, it can come back out, too."

SENECA VALLEY 54C.J. Brown 5 5-10 15, Matt Vogt 5 4-4 14, Dustin Anewalt 1 0-0 2, Joe Belechak 2 1-1 5, Evan Mitro 2 0-0 5, Christian Durbin 5 2-2 13, Nate Herrmann 0 0-1 0. Totals: 20

12-18

54.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 50Ian Thomas 3 0-0 7, Nick Dvorsky 5 3-7 14, Jeff Haus 7 0-0 14, Stephane Batton 5 1-2 12, Andy Blumer 1 0-0 3, Jeff Dassner 0 0-0 0, Jordan Baierl 0 0-0 0, Anton Constantino 0 0-0 0, Ben Calabrese 0 0-0 0, Damian Founds 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 4-9 50.

Seneca Valley 17 10 12 15—54North Allegheny 8 3 17 22—503-point goals: Seneca Valley 2 (Mitro, Durbin); North Allegheny 4 (Thomas, Dvorsky, Blumer, Batton).

JV: North Allegheny 52-38 (SV-Alan Heery, 12 points).

Friday: Butler at Seneca Valley