WEXFORD — The effort is there and, eventually, the section wins will follow.

But for the time being, members of the Seneca Valley boys basketball team are left scratching their heads.

The Raiders led host North Allegheny 60-56 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.

But it was the Tigers who made the shots late in the game to come away with a 71-66 Section 3-AAAA win Tuesday night.

SV's loss came just four days after the team dropped a double-overtime decision to Pine-Richland.

"For us, 66 points is a good outing," said Raiders coach Vic Giannotta. "I'm proud of the kids' effort tonight."

NA's Damian Founds scored a basket with 3:46 remaining in the game to tie the score at 60.

Two free throws from Jeff Haus gave the Tigers a 62-60 lead, but SV answered with Nate Herrmann's basket that tied the game again with 2:33 left.

That's when the Tigers (5-0, 2-0) simply made plays that the Raiders were unable to match.

Field goals by Ted Connolly and Founds pushed NA's lead to 66-62.

Then, with 6 seconds remaining and SV down 69-66, junior C.J. Brown was forced to take an off-balance 3-pointer from the top of the key that did not fall.

NA grabbed the rebound and Steve Kirsh added two free throws with .6 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

"There was really nothing specific that happened to allow us to win the game in the last few minutes." said NA coach Dave DeGregorio. "We just made shots while the shots Seneca Valley took did not fall."

The defeat spoiled solid individual performances from SV (4-2, 0-2), such as that of Dan Rohm, who hit four 3-pointers, including three in the third quarter that turned SV's 36-31 deficit into a 40-39 lead.

Rohm and Herrmann each scored 12 points and senior forward John Fitzpatrick scored a team-high 13.

"We come down here to (NA's) gym against one of the top five teams in the WPIAL and have a shot to tie the game in the last 10 seconds," said Giannotta, who is not concerned about his team's mindset following two tough section losses.

"I'm not worried about the kids," he said. "Kids are resilient. It's just a matter of luck and our players being able to put it all together."

The Tigers featured five players in double figures, including Connolly with a team-high 13 points, Stephane Batton (12), Damian Founds (11), Nick Dvorsky (10) and Jeff Finke (10).

The Tigers trailed 9-8 entering the second quarter but walked to the locker room at halftime with a five-point lead, due in large part to a press defense that forced SV into 13 turnovers in the first half.

SENECA VALLEY 66John Fitzpatrick 3 7-10 13, Sean Gress 0 2-5 2, Ryan Turner 3 3-5 9, C.J. Brown 3 3-5 9, Nate Herrmann 5 2-2 12, Dan Rohm 4 0-0 12, Matt Vogt 1 2-2 4, Dustin Anewalt 1 0-0 2, Christian Durbin 1 0-0 3.

Totals: 21 19-29 66.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 71Ted Connolly 5 3-8 13, Nick Dvorsky 4 0-0 10, Damian Founds 4 3-3 11, Steve Kirsh 1 5-7 7, Jeff Haus 1 2-3 4, Jeff Finke 3 1-2 10, Stephane Batton 4 4-5 12, Dan Kusnyer 1 0-0 3, Geoff Greco 0 1-2 1.

Totals: 23 19-30 71.

Seneca Valley 9 22 21 14—66North Allegheny 8 28 18 17—713-point goals: Seneca Valley 5 (Rohm 4, Durbin); North Allegheny 6 (Finke 3, Dvorsky 2, Kusnyer).

JV: North Allegheny 86-67

Friday: New Castle at Seneca Valley