It will be mom vs. son as Petruskas face off in Cager Classic All-Star game

By: William Whalen
Thursday, March 21, 2019 | 9:09 PM

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No one ever picked up an easy win around the Petruska household, and those who were lucky enough to do so know they earned it.

It didn’t matter what type of game Mars girls basketball coach Dana Petruska was playing with her sons, she never let them win and nothing has changed.

“Speaking as a mom, I’m not going to intentionally lose to any of my children,” said Petruska, who started coaching in 1986. “I tell them straight up, I don’t care if I was playing my kids in checkers, I wasn’t going to let them win.

“They were going to learn to be competitive even when we played basketball in the driveway. I just want to see them be successful.”

Petruska once again will get to see how she nurtured success when she leads the West girls team against an East girls squad coached by her son — Deer Lakes girls coach Dave Petruska — at the Cager Classic All-Star Basketball game Saturday night. Jump ball is set for 5:45 p.m. at Highlands, with the boys all-star game to follow.

“I go up to my a parents house and we talk about (coaching in the Cager Classic) every day,” Dave Petruska said. “I’m excited that I’m coaching against her. I know how much of a competitor she is and that she won’t be holding anything back. She knows how much of a competitor I am, and I won’t be holding anything back.”

Dave used to look up to his mother as a child and now he will be looking down the sideline at her Saturday. Mom has by far the edge in experience, wins and championships. Dana Petruska eclipsed the 400-career wins milestone in 2017, has a career record of 458-292 and finally earned the elusive championship to her resume when she coached Mars to the 2018 PIAA Class 5A title. Her family was there every step of the way.

“Passion,” said Dave about his mother. “She encompasses the game and just the overall spirit of it.”

Compared to his mother, Dave is new to the coaching scene. He took over for Dana four years ago when she left her high school alma mater, Deer Lakes, after eight seasons and returned to Mars to coach. Dave has had success coaching the Lancers.

Dave did however do something his mother couldn’t accomplish during her tenure at Deer Lakes. This season, Dave led the Lancers to the program’s first playoff win when Deer Lakes knocked off Seton LaSalle, 47-32, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. The win also marked his 50th career victory. Dana admires the way her son coaches his players and has taken notes.

“He’s so compassionate,” Dana said. “I tell him that and that’s where we really differ. I tell him ‘You got to get fired up,’ and that’s just not his personality. It’s taught me something, and he’s still been able to motivate his kids and not be too emotional.”

This isn’t the first time the two have coached against one another. Before Mars moved up in classification, there was a time when Mars and Deer Lakes played in the same section. In Dave’s first year at Deer Lakes and Dana’s first year back at Mars, the two teams squared off, with the Planets winning both regular-season games.

“She’s been a coach longer than I’ve been alive,” Dave said. “I grew up around her teams. My passion for the game and coaching grew from her.”

However, there is that one game back in the summer of 2017. Dave took his Lancers down to Cal (Pa.) to play in a summer league. Mars just happened to also be there too. As luck would have it, the two teams ended up playing and Deer Lakes picked up a convincing win over a Mars squad that turned out to be the eventual 2018 PIAA Class 5A champs.

Dana was livid, not so much at Dave. His Lancers probably played the best game they would play all year and earned the win fair and square. Dana was upset at her team because they didn’t show up.

“It was a game that I don’t really think my team wanted to play,” Dave said. “They knew just how good Mars was and I think that’s why they went into that game so loose. I just told them it was a summer-league game it doesn’t count towards the season.”

Saturday will be a family affair. Dana has three sons. Dave’s the youngest and was the one who got away with everything growing up. Dana’s oldest son, Jimmy, middle son Greg and husband Jim will also be on hand. Greg wasn’t bit by the coaching bug but Jimmy was.

Jimmy just finished his ninth season as the head coach of the Saint Vincent women’s basketball team. This season, he led the Bearcats to a Presidents’ Athletic Conference title and a spot in the Division III playoffs.

There are no friendly wagers between mother and son, but Dana has a sneaky suspicion that Jimmy and Greg are rooting for Dave to get the win over her.

“I think behind my back they are (rooting for Dave),” Dana said. “The guys got to stick together, I get it.”

In the end, both coaches just want Saturday’s girls all-star game to be a good one.

“In all honesty, the two of us just want it to be competitive,” Dana said. “We want the kids to have fun with this. We’re going to make it so that our matchups through the majority of the game are equal.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Mars