NA Falls To Seneca Valley, Raiders Secure Final Playoff Spot
With the final playoff berth in Section 1-6A at stake on Tuesday night, Seneca Valley dealt the North Allegheny boys’ basketball team a 70-49 defeat at UPMC Court. The loss breaks a streak of four consecutive playoff appearances for the Tigers, while the Raiders punch their ticket to the playoffs for the second time in the last four seasons.
North Allegheny took an early 7-4 lead on a 3-pointer by sophomore Carter Melzer, but Seneca Valley answered with an 11-0 run to take a 15-7 lead by the late stages of the opening stanza. From that point on, the Raiders held the lead for the remainder of the night.
While the Tigers trailed, they kept things close in thanks to a 15-point first half by junior forward Joey Dopirak. Finishing the night with a game-high 19 points, Dopirak was tabbed the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
Seneca Valley led 29-25 coming out of halftime before North Allegheny cut the deficit to one point on a 3-pointer by junior Joe Marquis, bringing the score to 29-28, Raiders. That’s as close as NA would come, however, as the visiting Raiders pulled away in the second half for a 70-49 win. Seneca Valley was paced by junior Kai West with a team-best 18 points. Senior Luke Lawson netted 14 points, while Connor Oros and Tyler Pepin totaled 13 and 12 points, respectively.
North Allegheny falls to 8-11 overall and 3-6 in Section 1-6A. Seneca Valley locks up the final playoff position with a 9-10 record and 4-5 mark in the section. The Tigers will visit Central Catholic in the section finale on Friday night.
Boys Basketball vs. Seneca Valley, 2-7-23
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| Seneca Valley | 17 | 12 | 16 | 25 | 70 |
| North Allegheny | 13 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 49 |