Deer Lakes boys eke out OT win over Valley
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Saturday, February 3, 2018 | 11:39 PM
When Deer Lakes reserve Brad Perrotte woke up Saturday morning, he had no idea he would score the winning points in a victory.
But the junior guard canned a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds left in overtime as Deer Lakes outlasted Valley, 43-41, in a Section 1-4A struggle originally scheduled for Jan. 12.
Perrotte was on the floor because four Lancers starters had fouled out during the lengthy afternoon.
“It was a great team win,” Perrotte said. “We really came together when our starters fouled out and found a way.”
The victory puts Deer Lakes (11-7, 7-3) and Freeport one-half game behind second-place Valley (11-4, 8-3) in the section race.
The teams meet again Tuesday in New Kensington in Valley's final section game. Both already qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.
A dramatic 3-point basket by Nyjewel Carter with 1:44 left in overtime tied the score at 41-41. Valley got the ball back, and Roman Flenory missed a shot with 41 seconds to go. Colin Kadlick, the only Lancers starter remaining, gathered the rebound with 41 seconds to go.
“This is my third year in the A-K Valley,” Deer Lakes coach Terence Parham said. “These rival games with Valley, Freeport, you just throw the records out and these teams will go at it for four quarters and, today, even more.”
Parham inadvertently got to see how deep his bench went with Jake Kelly, Jared Colton, Josh Solomon and Jack Hollibaugh fouling out.
“This is actually like a playoff atmosphere for me,” Parham said. “To throw some of those young guys in, hopefully that bodes well for us.”
Valley senior Dru Stokes, one of the area's leading scorers, picked up two fouls in the game's opening minutes and left the lineup.
When he returned, Stokes never could get into a shooting rhythm and finished the day with just three points.
“It's always difficult to think about how to handle that second foul,” Valley coach Mark Faulx said. “You don't want to lose him by sitting him too long. It definitely disrupts rhythm if you don't get him back in the game. At one point with about four minutes left in the game, I just decided that he and Deonte Ross needed to be in there.”
Deer Lakes took its biggest lead, 25-14, on a turnaround jumper by Colton with 1:52 to go in the half.
Ross almost singlehandedly kept Valley in the game, scoring 13 of his team's 16 points in the first half.
The Vikings looked like they might win it in regulation.
Alex Ward stole a pass and drove three-fourths of the length of the court for a basket and made a foul shot to put Valley in front 37-36 with 1:48 to go.
Hollibaugh's free throw, however, tied the score 37-37 to conclude the regulation scoring.
“This was our second game within 24 hours,” Faulx said, referring to Friday's narrow win at Derry. “We really believe this made our team better. We're disappointed, but we're ready to move on.”
Ross finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Jake Kelly led Deer Lakes with 12 points, and Colton added 10. Kadlick and Hollibaugh collected eight rebounds each.
There were 47 fouls in the game.
George Guido is a freelance writer.
Tags: Deer Lakes, Valley
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