Early-season tests provided foundation for Deer Lakes’ run to WPIAL title

By: Bill Hartlep
Sunday, March 5, 2023 | 5:56 PM

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When Deer Lakes’ boys basketball team took the floor against the top teams in the WPIAL during the district playoffs, the Lancers felt right at home.

Mostly because they already had played some of the best teams Western Pennsylvania has to offer.

Those early-season tests helped shape the Lancers and built a foundation of success that culminated in the program’s first WPIAL championship Friday night at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

“When I first got the job, we put together one of the toughest schedules around,” first-year coach Albie Fletcher said. “The guys all kinda looked at me (funny), but we played up in class. We played just six teams that didn’t make the playoffs. We played multiple 4A teams. … We played a bunch of really good schools.

“We wanted to be battle-tested by January. It’s hard to come in if you haven’t played the speed and size that some of the teams in the playoffs bring. You need to have experience against that throughout the year. Wins and losses weren’t as important to us as going out and getting as battle-tested as we could be and then taking care of business in our section to get the best seed we could.”

Fletcher rattled off some of the team’s toughest foes, starting the season against Shaler, Highlands, Freeport, Yough, Hampton — all playoff contenders and nearly all in higher classifications than the Class 3A champion Lancers.

They started 2-3 but were confident that experience would help in the long run.

“Going through that stretch and being just under .500, we knew we what we had played. We knew we did a lot of good things,” Fletcher said. “We kept talking about our goal: to put ourselves in position to win the section, make a run to get to The Pete and make another run in states. Their resiliency all year has been incredible.”

Those matchups helped prepare Deer Lakes for a grueling stretch run of the regular season in Section 3 — where it tied for the section title with Shady Side Academy at 10-2 — as well as playoff wins over No. 12 Ellwood City (the 2021 Class 3A champs), No. 4 Mohawk and No. 1 Steel Valley.

The fifth-seeded Lancers topped four-time reigning champion Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 61-60, in the finals, beating the Chargers for the second time this season.

“Being battle-tested, these guys have been in this position before. They didn’t waver,” Fletcher said.

Deer Lakes’ first win over OLSH was a confidence-building 70-55 triumph Dec. 22 in Coraopolis that snapped the Chargers’ state-record 74-game winning streak.

The Lancers also benefited from a matchup with Steel Valley in the Deer Lakes holiday tournament in December. Though they lost to the Ironmen, 62-61, the Lancers got a look at the No. 1-seeded team and avenged that loss in the WPIAL semifinals.

“(Beating OLSH) was a huge confidence boost,” Fletcher said. “It was a great moment, but then we lost three in a row. We lost to Steel Valley at the buzzer, we lost to Avonworth in overtime and lost in overtime in a buzzer-beater to Burrell. We got together as a group, and we talked. These guys all were accountable.”

Fletcher said the players — notably, seniors Bryce Robson, Nate Litrun, Nate Buechel and Michael Butler — talked about wanting to refocus and getting back to work because a win over OLSH in December wasn’t the same as winning a WPIAL championship.

“Great life lesson for these guys, I think, and certainly helped us throughout the year to have such a high and then, boom, three gut-wrenching losses,” Fletcher said. “They were brutal. We just kept working, and it worked out.”

Deer Lakes hopes to continue reaping the benefits of a challenging schedule as the PIAA playoffs begin this week. The Lancers will host District 10 third-place finisher Seneca (12-13) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the opening round.

Seneca, which fell to Oil City in the semifinals, defeated Fairview, 58-44, in the District 10 consolation game Friday.

“We had three goals. Two are down, one to go,” Fletcher said. “It’s been a challenge for these guys. To go this far and to be able to enjoy the moment but then get back to work. … There’s no way I’m done coaching these guys. We’re going to keep going and make a nice run.”

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Deer Lakes