Deer Lakes celebrates 1st section championship since ’92

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | 11:09 PM

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Deer Lakes needed a cleanup crew on its gymnasium floor Tuesday night. An accomplishment more than 25 years in the making provided cause for celebration.

The Class 3A No. 5 Lancers clinched their first outright section championship since 1992, rallying from an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to down visiting Valley, 71-64, in a Section 3-3A contest.

The team didn’t want to leave the court afterward, instead cutting down the nets on one hoop and then dousing unsuspecting coach Terence Parham with a Gatorade bucket full of ice water.

“Ever since I got here, we wanted to put a banner up there, and we did,” said senior Brad Perrotte, who scored 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to help Deer Lakes rally from a 34-28 halftime deficit. “It’s awesome to be a part of history at Deer Lakes.”

Deer Lakes didn’t face much adversity in section play for much of the season, but the Lancers (14-5, 10-1) got their first taste of it Monday night, getting dealt their first section loss in a game at Steel Valley.

A day later, the Lancers needed a second-half comeback to avoid a second defeat. Deer Lakes outscored Valley, 43-30, after halftime to get the job done.

“You never want to lose. Obviously, we want to win everything,” Parham said. “But I also told the guys you can get better in a loss. I thought we showed some marked improvement in certain areas (Monday) night, and I wanted to build off that.

“I didn’t want to have any negative thoughts. I just said no matter what, it’s a game of runs. We’ve just got to weather the storm, and if we make the last run, we’ll have a chance to win in that second half.”

Several runs keyed Deer Lakes’ comeback. The Lancers scored the first six points out of halftime to tie the score at 34, only to see Valley answer with an 8-0 spurt to retake control. Then came a 12-2 Deer Lakes run, capped by a Jared Colton layup, to give the Lancers their first lead since the first quarter, but Valley’s Nyjewel Carter drained a 3-pointer to give the Vikings the edge again.

Undeterred, Deer Lakes gave it a final try — and this one held. A 14-2 run that spanned the final minute of the third quarter and the first four-plus minutes of the fourth gave the Lancers the lead for good.

“Valley’s a good team, and we knew it was going to be a battle,” Perrotte said. “We knew all day it was going to be a battle. We didn’t have much time to prepare for them because we had that game (Monday) night, but we were ready to respond to their punch in the mouth.”

Deer Lakes held Valley without a field goal in the fourth quarter until David Primus’ layup with 3 minutes, 35 seconds remaining. The Vikings (6-10, 6-4) rushed shots and committed 16 turnovers, eight in each half.

“The truth of the matter is we’re not mentally tough enough to play the end of a game right now,” Valley coach Mark Faulx said. “If we don’t look that in the eye, then we’re ignoring the truth. I think the pressure of the game caused people to boil over a little bit, and then that caused people to play outside of their roles.

“When the momentum swung against us, we didn’t stay together . We fell apart. That’s where we are right now, and that’s where we’ll stay until we fix it.”

Valley trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, but the Vikings cut their deficit to six on Deonte Ross’ three-point play in the final minute. It proved too little, too late.

Primus scored 23 points to lead Valley, which still clinched a playoff berth after Burrell lost to Steel Valley. Carter added 14 but fouled out on a technical with just over five minutes remaining, and Ross had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

“I’ve always felt like the adversity is going to make us better,” Faulx said. “We need to pay attention to what’s happening to us and see if we can make adjustments that will pay off. We’ll quietly ride the bus home and let this settle in with the way everybody’s feeling. Tomorrow, we’ll get together and see what we can do to get together and be better for Thursday.”

Perrotte led a balanced scoring effort for Deer Lakes with 17 points, and Aris Hasley added 14 off the bench. Zac Herbinko scored 13, sinking 9 of 10 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, and Colton finished with nine.

“The emotion, the hard work that they put in — really, I don’t think anybody had us as a section contender to start this season,” said a soaking-wet Parham after getting his ice water bath. “So that’s why I always tell them, ‘Don’t judge a book (by its cover) — just keep going to work.’ They did that week-in, week-out. We’re not done yet … but we’re going to enjoy tonight and come back tomorrow and get back to work.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Valley