Deer Lakes routs Freeport at home in section opener

By: Andrew John
Friday, December 13, 2024 | 10:07 PM

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The last time Deer Lakes took the court, the Lancers barely defeated Mohawk in a double-overtime win Tuesday. You might expect the Lancers to come out in their matchup against Freeport a little sluggish as they regained their legs.

However, the Lancers didn’t use the extra time on the court Tuesday night as an excuse as Deer Lakes (5-1, 1-0) came out fast and dictated the pace as they defeated Freeport, 71-36, in Section 1-4A play at Deer Lakes on Friday night.

Deer Lakes had four players reach double-figures on the night, led by senior forward Nathaniel Moore who finished with 17 points. Moore reached the line a lot and made the Yellowjackets pay as he went 11 for 12 on free throws.

“He had 35 the other night so he’s going to have a target on his back with always getting double teamed. When he’s trying to rebound, he always has someone hammering him. He knows that, he’s aware of that and he’s doing a very nice job distributing the ball to other people,” Deer Lakes coach Albie Fletcher said.

“It really starts opening things in our offense when he starts off hot. It requires attention. It forces him to kick out and find other guys and they become much more dangerous when that happens.”

Sophomore Evan Moore finished with 16 points, and senior JT McCue and junior Collin Rodgers each had 14 points.

Evan Moore hit a 3 in the third quarter to extend the Lancers lead to 64-31 late in the quarter.

McCue hit two 3-pointers in the first half and converted on all three free throws when he was fouled in the second quarter behind the arc.

Rodgers made three 3-pointers.

The Lancers wanted to start section play strong and work on getting off to fast starts even after the long game earlier this week. Freeport (1-5, 0-1) was down 11-10 in the first quarter, however Deer Lakes went on a 13-5 run to finish the opening quarter. Rodgers hit a 3-pointer, and Nathaniel Moore went 4 for 4 from the line during the run.

“We were excited to start section play. One of the things we were struggling with was not coming out with enough focus, intensity and execution. I think they really did that in the first quarter,” Fletcher said.

“In the last couple of games, it was one thing we were struggling with. It was very important we got out to a quick lead. We were able to rotate guys and maintain defensive pressure. We took care of the glass in the first half.”

It didn’t stop as the Lancers scored the first 10 points of the second quarter headlined by another 3 from Rodgers and buckets by Nathaniel Moore and Evan Moore to extend their lead to 34-15.

Nathaniel Moore had nine of his 17 points in the second quarter as the Lancers took a 51-26 lead into halftime.

Deer Lakes, the two-time defending WPIAL Class 3A champion, went 23 for 26 from the free-throw line.

“The starting five did a really nice job of sharing the basketball early. When that happens, we have multiple guys you have to pay attention to and make things a lot easier offensively, ” Fletcher said.

Sophomore Michael Graczyk led Freeport with 15 points.

“We knew it was going to be tough to go against a two-time WPIAL champion. They have a good big and a good guard. Their action is very good. We don’t rebound, miss foul shots and don’t get back on defense. It’s hard to stay in a game,” Freeport coach Rich Macura said.

“We talk about the next play. We can’t sit around and sulk about it. We have to move on to North Catholic on Monday.”

Tags: Deer Lakes, Freeport