Deer Lakes boys get 1st WPIAL playoff victory since 1985

By: George Guido
Saturday, February 16, 2019 | 9:21 PM

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The drought is finally over.

Deer Lakes won a WPIAL boys basketball playoff game for the first time since March 2, 1985, with a 57-47 victory over Charleroi on Saturday afternoon at Keystone Oaks.

Senior Brad Perrotte scored 17 points, and Colin Kadlick added 11 for the Class 3A opening-round victory.

The Lancers took the lead for good less than three minutes into the contest and led by as much as 16 before the Cougars narrowed the gap to nine midway through the fourth quarter.

“The funny thing is, when they hired me four years ago, they didn’t tell me about the drought since ’85 until I accepted the job,” Deer Lakes coach Terence Parham said with a laugh. “But as a coach, we challenge them to get better every day. For too long, they were too comfortable with just being close. As long as they’re keeping score, we’re playing to win.”

The win was so long ago that the gym the previous victory over Southmoreland took place in — the original Penn Hills gym — no longer exists. It was replaced by the new high school several years ago.

Sixth-seeded Deer Lakes (16-6) will face No. 3 North Catholic on Thursday at a time and site to be determined.

Meanwhile, Charleroi (11-11) will have to navigate through a playoff drought of its own. The last Cougars playoff win was over Steel Valley in 1997. Since then, Charleroi has lost 13 straight first-round games.

“We switched our offense a little bit,” Cougars coach Bill Wiltz said. “We went to a dribble-drive to hurry up our 3-point shooters, and we were hitting our shots earlier. But in the fourth quarter, the shots weren’t falling, and that was the difference.”

Deer Lakes led 16-12 at the end of the first period and expanded its advantage to 33-22 on a 3-pointer by Aris Hasley with 5 seconds left in the half.

Perrotte scored seven points in the third period. Two came off an inbounds pass to put the Lancers ahead 40-24 with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

The Cougars cut it 54-45 on a 3-pointer by Zack Usher with 3:38 to go. Usher then tied up Perrotte, and Charleroi was awarded the alternate possession. A rushed shot by Martin Foster missed and was rebounded by Hasley. Kadlick’s shot the put the Lancers ahead by double-digits to ice the game.

“We prepped really well for their zone defense today,” Perrotte said. “Our message was they’re going to make runs, and we had to match their runs. When I came here as a freshman, the one goal I’d love to have was winning a playoff game and put some history behind it.”

Perrotte attended grade school at St. Mary’s of Glenshaw before coming to Deer Lakes.

“I had great kids who bought in the change when I came here,” Parham said. “Hopefully, now, they can see why I was so tough on them. I wanted them to play meaningful games at this time of year.”

Wiltz thought his team overcame a number of challenges.

Said Wiltz: “We’re rebuilding. We have a sophomore point guard, two juniors on the wings and we had a football player hurt just before the season. But we wrapped up a playoff spot shortly after Christmas. With the character the kids showed, I can’t ask for anything more.”

Deer Lakes had dropped 10 consecutive opening-round games before Saturday.

Tags: Charleroi, Deer Lakes