WEST VIEW — Seneca Valley's first offensive slump put the Raiders down.

The second one put them out.

After making just four field goals in the first half, Seneca Valley used a 9-of-17 performance from the field in the third quarter to inch back into its road game at North Hills.

But the Raiders missed their first seven attempts in the fourth quarter, and the Indians prevailed, 71-61 in a Section 3-AAAA high school boys basketball clash Thursday night.

Preceding the boys contest, Seneca Valley defeated North Hills in the girls meeting, 54-39.

"We were pleased with the overall effort of the kids in the second half," SV boys coach Victor Giannotta said following the loss.

When SV junior forward Kevin Mayberry turned a steal at one end of the floor into a two-point basket at the opposite end as time expired in the third quarter, the Raiders were looking at a manageable 51-41 deficit.

But after just three minutes and 15 seconds of the final period, the Raiders had missed all seven of their attempts from the field and North Hills had increased its lead to 63-45.

Dave Monteleone led the Raiders (4-4, 0-3) with 18 points, including seven points in the first minute and a half of the third quarter to key his team's second half surge.

The Raiders, however, received just five field goals combined from the four backcourt players who saw action in the game.

"I don't know why any team wouldn't play zone against us right now," said Giannotta. "Our backcourt players are working hard and they're playing well on the defensive end. They just need some confidence in their shots."

North Hills opened the game with an offense on fire.

The Indians (2-8, 1-2) connected on eight of their first nine attempts from the field in the first five minutes of play, leading 16-7 at that point.

"We've been getting off to slow starts," said North Hills coach Joe Falletta. "We wanted to come out tonight and start fast because Seneca is an explosive team. And they did a great job to get back into the game in the second half."

The Raiders used a balanced scoring effort — Chelsey Pavlick (13 points), Tina Mangola (12) and Ashley Turici (11) all reached double figures — to defeat the Indians on their home floor.When North Hills junior forward Erika Slagel hit a two-point basket with 2:14 left in the third period, the Indians (1-8, 0-3) held a slim 31-29 advantage.But the Raiders scored the final nine points of the quarter and their lead was never threatened again.SV coach Todd Schoeffel was pleased with his team's free-throw shooting, which included a 10-of-11 performance in the second half and 14-of-17 for the game."That's definitely the best we've been from the line in any game this year," he said. "Coming into the game, we were shooting 61 or 62 percent as a team. Tonight's performance is very encouraging."The Raiders (6-2, 3-0) focused their defensive effort on containing North Hills junior guard Beth Alabek, who ended the night with nine points."We prepared pretty well for this game," said Schoeffel. "We knew where (Alabek) was on the floor. She got loose a few times, but we did well against her most of the night."Boys BoxscoreNORTH HILLS 71Cody Patton 1 0-0 2, Joe O'Malley 0 2-2 2, Josh Trocchio 6 14-16 26, Andy Monahan 4 1-4 9, Ryan Monahan 2 0-0 4, Dante Anglin 1 1-2 3, Drew Falletta 5 2-5 12, C.J. Wink 6 1-1 13, Matt Timko 0 0-0 0, Kyle Henny 0 0-0 0, Ryan Welsh 0 0-0 0, R.J. Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 21-30 71.SENECA VALLEY 61Gabe Grinder 2 3-5 8, Dan Stanley 2 0-0 4, Kevin Mayberry 2 1-2 5, Sean Gress 0 2-2 2, Kevin Rohm 1 3-4 5, Pat Heery 2 3-4 7, John Bryant 1 2-2 4, Shawn Eagle 4 0-0 8, Dave Monteleone 6 6-9 18, Ryan Turner 0 0-0 0, John Fitzpatrick 0 0-0 0, C.J. Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 20-28 61.3-point goals:Grinder.Wednesday:Seneca Valley vs. Aliquippa @ C.J. Betters TournamentGirls BoxscoreSENECA VALLEY 54Ryan Ingrassia 1 0-0 2, Tina Mangola 4 0-0 12, Chelsey Pavlick 4 5-6 13, Ashley Turici 3 5-7 11, Laura Wray 0 2-2 2, Amanda Johnson 3 0-0 6, Kelsey Spencer 3 2-2 8, Jackie Mangola 0 0-0 0, Michelle Ulizio 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 14-17 54.NORTH HILLS 39Alison Wahl 3 0-0 9, Jordan Zangaro 2 0-0 4, Erika Slagel 2 1-2 5, Beth Alabek 3 1-4 9, Katie Manjerovic 4 4-6 12, Kelly Brennan 0 0-0 0, Julie Havrilla 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 6-12 39.3-point goals:T. Mangola 4; Wahl 3, Alabek 2.Today:Montour @ Seneca Valley