JACKSON TWP — Three days after surviving an outside-shooting barrage at North Hills, the Seneca Valley boys basketball team came painfully close to duplicating the effort Friday night.

North Allegheny drained 14 shots from beyond the arc, just like the Indians did Tuesday in an 83-69 loss to the Raiders. This time, however, SV fell by a score of 71-69.

The Tigers (6-0, 3-0) made 10 trifectas in the first half and ended the game making 14-of-18 three-point attempts.

“That's how we play,” said NA coach Dave DeGregorio. “We like to challenge teams with five guys who can shoot the ball.”

Though North Allegheny cooled off from the outside in the second half, David Haus and Mike Carter both hit big shots in the fourth quarter.

Carter's 3-pointer put the Tigers ahead 66-65 with 3:03 left in the game. Moments later, Haus drained his shot for a 69-65 lead.

The Raiders (5-2, 2-1) had a chance to win or at least tie in the closing seconds. Trailing 71-69, senior forward Mike Smith forced a Tigers' turnover with 12.3 seconds left. Following a timeout, the ball was inbounded to Matt Darby, who brought the ball across midcourt and found T.J. Holl at the top of the key. The junior was being tightly guarded as the clocked neared zero and he got off a fade-away three-point attempt that was off the mark as time expired.

“We tried to do something there that we haven't worked on much in practice,” said Raiders' coach Victor Giannotta. “That was my fault.”

Before making the Tigers sweat out a nail-biting win, the Raiders had to first get back in the game. They trailed 55-37 with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter, then went on a 16-0 run to cut NA's lead to just 55-53.

A free throw from NA's Keegan Phillips broke his team's scoreless streak, which had lasted four minutes and 20 seconds. The Tigers entered the final period with a 57-53 lead.

Seneca Valley gained a brief edge (65-63) when Smith's two-point basket fell with 3:21 left, but the Tigers closed the game with an 8-4 run.

“When a game comes down to the last possession, you can look back at a lot of things like missed free throws and missed layups,” said Giannotta. “Give credit to NA, they made a few more plays down the stretch.”

“I don't think we ever got the momentum back down the stretch,” said DeGregorio. “But we didn't allow Seneca to keep it, either. Neither team had it late in the game.”

The Tigers were fast out of the gate, scoring 26 points in the first quarter. That output included six 3-pointers, five of them from senior guard Joe Mancini, who failed to score another point the rest of the night after the Raiders moved to a box-and-one defense.

There were several bright spots for the Raiders. While their top scorer, forward Zach Snyder, was on the bench in foul trouble much of the night, Smith (20 points), Darby (17) and Josh Bauer (14)combined for 51 points.

Carter led the Tigers with 16 points.

NORTH ALLEGHENY 71

Elijah Zeise 1 2-8 4, Mike Fischer 0 1-2 1, Luke Gwaltney 1 0-0 2, David Haus 3 3-6 11, Will Sandherr 2 1-1 6, Keegan Phillips 1 1-2 3, Mike Carter 5 3-4 16, Cole Constantino 5 0-0 13, Joe Mancini 5 0-0 15. Totals: 23 11-23 71.

SENECA VALLEY 69

Matt Darby 5 6-6 17, Mike Smith 7 6-6 20, Josh Bauer 6 2-2 14, Dakota Topf 2 2-4 6, Zach Snyder 3 0-4 6, Chad Izenas 2 1-2 6, Bryce Schnatterly 0 0-0 0, T.J. Holl 0 0-0 0, Sam Barbe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 17-24 69.

North Allegheny 26 19 12 14 — 71

Seneca Valley17 18 18 16 — 69

3-point goals: North Allegheny 14 (Mancini 5, Constantino 3, Carter 3, Haus 2, Sandherr); Seneca Valley 2 (Darby, Izenas).

Friday: Seneca Valley vs. Hempfield at Montour Tournament