Deer Lakes boys steamroll Ligonier Valley

By: Dave Mackall
Saturday, January 20, 2024 | 5:43 PM

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After a few wrong turns, top-ranked Deer Lakes managed to make it up the mountain in time to face Ligonier Valley on Saturday afternoon in a rescheduled boys basketball game that had been postponed a day earlier by the elements.

Turns out the extra time off benefited the hobbled Lancers, who were coming off a 15-point victory in a physical battle Wednesday at Shady Side Academy.

“Guys were really banged up,” Deer Lakes coach Albie Fletcher said after an 81-29 WPIAL Section 3-3A rout of Ligonier Valley. “The extra day helped us.”

But it also meant being alert and fresh for a rare daytime road game in the far eastern reaches of the WPIAL.

“It’s definitely a long ride, and we made it longer with a few wrong turns along the way,” Fletcher said, with a laugh. “But we came out and played hard, and I was happy with that.”

Billy Schaeffer scored 17 points — all in the first half before sitting out the second with an ankle injury — and Deer Lakes (12-2, 7-0) punished Ligonier Valley (2-12, 1-5) for its fifth consecutive win.

The Lancers set the tone early with a 36-point first quarter and were in total control over the Rams at halftime 55-21.

“Their defense is aggressive, and they go to get you,” Ligonier Valley coach Tim Gustin said. “They’ll trap you a bunch of different ways — full court, half court, three-quarter court. And they’ve got the culture. They won the WPIAL last year, made the state finals and they want to do it again. That culture, that winning attitude, it’s contagious and it can carry over. They’ve got the talent to back it up.”

Nathaniel Moore added 14 points and 14 rebounds, and Wayne Love Jr. also scored 14 points for Deer Lakes, which returns home to entertain Derry in a section game Tuesday.

Since losing to Class 4A Knoch at home Dec. 29, Deer Lakes has rebounded, outscoring opponents by an average of 35.2 points in five games.

Moore, 6-foot-4, added size to the lineup when he returned for the Lancers’ 62-47 victory over Shady Side Academy. He recovered from an injury suffered during football season.

But, for a second game in a row, Deer Lakes was without guard Aiden Fletcher, the coach’s son, who was sidelined with an eye injury Saturday.

Add in sophomore guard Breydan McCoy, a key reserve, who also went to the bench Saturday with an ankle injury, and Deer Lakes’ depth took a temporary hit.

“He gets the stitches out on Monday,” Albie Fletcher said. “And those other guys (Schaeffer and McCoy), it looks like it’s just a little bit of swelling. Neither appear to be too bad.

“Other than trying to stay healthy, we accomplished a lot of our goals today.”

Among them, he said, “We wanted to be very unselfish with the basketball, especially in transition, which I thought we did. And we wanted to have at least 20 turnovers, which we did. We wanted to turn as many of those into points (as we could).”

It marked Deer Lakes’ second victory this season over Ligonier Valley. The Lancers prevailed 63-34 on Dec. 15 at home without Moore and McCoy.

“It’s hard to contain that team when they’ve got a full complement of players,” Gustin said. “They’ve got size inside, and they can shoot it from the 3-point line. They’re a good all-around team.”

After winning a WPIAL title in 2023 and racing all the way to the PIAA Class 3A championship game before losing to District 12 runner-up Philadelphia West Catholic, Deer Lakes is hoping for another miracle season.

Following Saturday’s lopsided outcome, Fletcher said he’s encouraged by his team’s progress.

“Last year, we had a lot of depth. Our biggest goal this year is to build that depth back up,” he said. “With our guys becoming healthy, we’re getting close. It’s been a gradual process.

“We’re nine deep right now, barring injury. We’d like to get to that 10 mark. We’re trying to get those guys some more work. By the end of January, I think we’ll be good.”

Tags: Deer Lakes, Ligonier Valley