Deer Lakes uses second-half surge to top short-handed Derry

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, January 30, 2018 | 10:03 PM

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Coaches always preach the importance of the first few minutes of the second half.

Deer Lakes took control of Tuesday's Section 1-4A encounter by scoring the first 10 points of the second half and defeated Derry, 57-40.

The score was knotted 20-20 at the half.

Two steals by the Lancers in the first minute of the third period were turned into baskets, and sophomore Jack Hollibaugh, blanked in the first half, scored three quick field goals to pace the Deer Lakes surge.

The victory gave the Lancers (10-7, 6-3) a two-game lead over the Trojans (7-8, 4-5) in the battle for the fourth and final WPIAL playoff berth from the section.

Each team has three section games left.

“That run put us ahead for a short while,” Deer Lakes coach Terence Parham said. “As a coach, it was definitely good to come out and see a spark, but you would wish it would last a little longer than it did.”

Said Trojans coach Damon Rause: “They had a couple of those (runs), and that's what hurt us. We battled back and forth. We knew it was going to be a low-scoring fight out there. The beginning of the second half is always a huge part of any game. It was the unforced mistakes that we were making that we didn't make the whole first half. That was frustrating.”

Derry, playing without starters John Kerr, Chuck Webb and sixth man Ryan Bushey — all out with the flu — cut the Deer Lakes lead to 32-30 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. But the Lancers regrouped and built their lead toward the 17-point final.

Derry played well in the first half, committing only one turnover in the second quarter and two team fouls over the first half.

“We were playing efficient, and we were playing smart,” Rause said. “We had a limited bench tonight, but I was proud of the kids that came in there.”

Without the 6-foot-6 Kerr in the Derry lineup, the Lancers were able to feed the ball inside for key baskets.

In one fourth-quarter sequence, Kelly made the first free throw, missed the second but quickly corralled the rebound and scored on a put-back to give the Lancers an unusual three-point play and make it 50-36 Deer Lakes with 2 minutes, 12 seconds left in the game.

It was the only foul shot missed in six attempts in the fourth period for the Lancers guard.

“I thought (Jared) Colton and Kelly were playing a little lackadaisical and at halftime. I challenged them,” Parham said. “Those two are good at anticipating, so we did a good job on the weak-side guard and got two or three layups from those two guys.”

Hollibaugh finished with 10 points, and Justin Huss had 12 for Derry. Anthony Oshie added 11.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Deer Lakes