A-K Valley PIAA basketball playoff capsule: Games for Saturday, March 18, 2023

By: Bill Hartlep
Friday, March 17, 2023 | 3:33 PM

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PIAA basketball playoffs

Boys

Class 3A

Deer Lakes (19-8) vs. Neshannock (20-7)

Noon Saturday, North Allegheny Senior High School, McCandless

District-place: Deer Lakes 7-1; Neshannock 7-4

Winner plays: Winner of 6-1 Penn Cambria (23-5)/10-1 Franklin (23-4) Tuesday in PIAA semifinals (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Bryce Robson, Deer Lakes; Jack Glies, Neshannock

Layup lines: WPIAL champion Deer Lakes is coming off a 67-59 win over Loyalsock Township in the second round. Robson scored 18 points, and Nate Litrun and Collin Rodgers each had 10. The Lancers have outscored opponents 403-318 in the postseason. If Deer Lakes wins, it will be the first time boys teams from the A-K Valley have made the PIAA semifinals in back-to-back seasons. Fox Chapel made it last year after beating Northampton in the quarterfinals. The only time, overall, that A-K Valley teams made back-to-back state semifinals appearances was the Deer Lakes girls in 1985 (beat Bishop Guilfoyle) and the Kiski Area boys in 1986 (beat Meadville). … Giles had a team-high 12 points as Neshannock beat Brookville, 44-40, in the PIAA second round. David Dwiat added nine points. Neshannock tied for the Section 1 title with Mohawk at 10-2. The Lancers lost to OLSH in the WPIAL semifinals and Steel Valley in the third-place game. They beat Oil City, 61-59, in the PIAA first round.

Bill Hartlep is the sports editor of the Tribune-Review. You can contact Bill at bhartlep@triblive.com or via Twitter @BHartlep_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Neshannock