Deer Lakes loses but legacy is intact
Sharon shoots 60 percent from field, makes eight 3-pointers to advance
A team with green trim on their uniforms played in a gym with green seats on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
But as far as luck of the Irish goes, Deer Lakes didn’t have any Saturday. The Lancers saw their historic season end with a 68-42 loss to District 10 champion Sharon in a PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal at Slippery Rock University.
Deer Lakes, which one month earlier won its first WPIAL playoff game in 34 years, finished the season 18-8. After losing in the WPIAL quarterfinals, the Lancers recorded the first two PIAA playoff wins in program history.
“I told them don’t think that their legacy will be lost on this game. We needed this season in order to put ourselves in position to be perennial players, not only in Western Pa., but in the state,” said fourth-year coach Terence Parham.
Sharon (24-4), the PIAA runner-up in Class 4A a season ago, will play WPIAL champion Lincoln Park in Tuesday’s semifinals. All three of Sharon’s PIAA wins have come against WPIAL teams: Washington, Beaver Falls and Deer Lakes.
Against a Deer Lakes team whose tallest player was 6foot-3, Sharon got a big game from its big man. Ethan Porterfield, a 6-foot-8 senior who will play at IUP, had 28 points and 14 rebounds. Porterfield, Sharon’s all-time leading scorer, was 9 of 13 from the field, 7 of 9 from the freethrow line, and knocked down three 3-pointers.
“He was tough. We knew he was going to be a tough matchup coming in,” said Deer Lakes senior guard Brad Perrotte. “We did our best to try to slow him down, but his outside shot was falling, so that kind of made it difficult.”
It seemed like almost every shot, inside and outside, was falling for Sharon, which shot 60 percent (24 of 40) from the field. The Tigers made eight 3-pointers, including seven in the second half. Camren Atallah had two of them and finished with 18 points.
“In open areas against the zone, we took shots that are to our strengths,” said Sharon coach Zach Sarver.
The 42 points were the second-fewest of the season for Deer Lakes, which shot just 29 percent (12 of 41). Deer Lakes did a good job of getting to the free-throw line, where it was 16 of 22. Perrotte led the Lancers with 17 points. No other player scored more than six.
“I think partly, they play aggressive defense, but we just didn’t hit shots today. We picked the worst day possible to have an off-night shooting,” Parham said.
Deer Lakes hung around until late in the third quarter. Colin Kadlick scored to pull Deer Lakes within 36-28, but Sharon followed with a 20-2 run to increase its lead to 26 points with just over three minutes left in the game.
More Class 3A
Lincoln Park 66, Richland 57: Andre Wilder’s 26 points vaulted Lincoln Park (25-4) over District 6 champion Richland (22-7) at Hempfield. Isaiah Smith added 12 points, all on 3-pointers, and Keeno Holmes chipped in 10. For Richland, Caleb Burke had 21 points and Colin Instone 20. Wilder scored 11 points in the first quarter when the Leopards took a 21-12 lead. They will play in the PIAA semifinals for the third time in four years.
Class 2A
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 68, Ridgway 54: Daren DiMichele scored 28 points to lead WPIAL champion OLSH (25-2) into the semifinals for the second year in a row after beating District 9 champion Ridgway (24-4) at Oil City. The Chargers, last season’s runner-up, will next play District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle (26-2). The game was tied at the half, but OLSH outscored Ridgway, 227, in the third quarter. Austin Wigley added seven points for OLSH, including the 1,000th of his career.