Deer Lakes clamps down on Yough in battle of top teams in Class 3A
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Friday, December 8, 2023 | 9:49 PM
Yough’s Austin Matthews drives past Deer Lakes defender Wayne Love Jr. on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Deer Lakes’ Wayne Love Jr. positions himself for a free throw against Yough on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough’s Terek Crosby flies past the Deer Lakes defense for a layup Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough’s Austin Matthews reacts after scoring against Deer Lakes on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough’s Austin Matthews lines up for a free throw against Deer Lakes on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough’s Charlie Quinn collides with Deer Lakes’ Collin Rodgers while going for a loose ball Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough’s Austin Matthews drives toward the basket against Deer Lakes defender J. T. McCue on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough’s Zander Aird drives against Deer Lakes on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Deer Lakes’ Collin Rodgers tries to dribble past Yough defender Charlie Quinn on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Deer Lakes’ Wayne Love Jr. has his shot blocked by Yough’s Austin Matthews on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, at Yough Senior High School.
Yough expects to see zone defenses this season. Deer Lakes sure knows how to run them.
Using its trademark 1-3-1 zone, the defending WPIAL champion and fourth-ranked Lancers silenced No. 3 Yough, 53-32, in a matchup of Class 3A top-five boys basketball teams Friday night at Yough.
“We have been running that defense for six years now,” Lancers coach Albie Fletcher said. “I worked with some of our kids when they were in fourth grade. They know how to run it. Tonight was probably the best execution I have seen from them running it. When we needed to help, our guys helped.”
The Lancers and Cougars are both 3-1 on the season.
Yough only had two players score: guard and WPIAL scoring leader Terek Crosby (20 points) and forward Austin Matthews (12).
“It’s hard to win when no one else is scoring,” Yough coach Jim Nesser said. “You can’t win with two guys. Yes, Deer Lakes played well on defense and they’re a good, well-coached team. But right now, we’re not good enough.”
Billy Schaeffer had 19 points, JT McCue added 13 and Wayne Love chipped in 10 for the Lancers, who limited Yough to single digits in three quarters.
Deer Lakes, the returning PIAA runner-up, made seven 3-pointers, three each from McCue and Schaeffer.
Behind Crosby, Yough won its tip-off tournament and then held off South Park to move to 3-0. Crosby came in scoring 35 a game, an average that includes a 43-point effort against Derry.
With the lane jammed, Crosby had to rely on the Lancers to slip up on offense to trigger fast breaks or settle on jump shots.
Deer Lakes executed on offense and closed out on Crosby, all the while collapsing on Matthews, the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-5, when he caught the ball with his back to the rim.
Yough’s other players tried to move the ball but passed up shots as they looked to Crosby and Matthews.
Matthews finished with nine rebounds.
“Crosby is a great player, and we wanted to keep him in front of us,” Fletcher said. “We did a good job of that. I think we took three or four charges.”
Deer Lakes, which bounced back from a 69-41 loss to Kiski Area with a 71-60 victory against Freeport, took a 28-15 lead into halftime, forcing Yough to take tough shots.
After Matthews put back a miss to cut the Lancers’ lead to 18-12, Deer Lakes scored 10 of the next 13 points.
McCue and Schaeffer both made a pair of 3-pointers in the first half.
Schaeffer scored 10 in the first quarter when the Lancers built an 18-6 advantage.
Schaeffer scored off a steal to open the second half, the hit a 3.
Collin Rodgers also converted off a turnover as the Lancers maintained a double-digit lead in the second half.
Crosby was fouled as he made a layup, but his three-point play could only close the gap to 47-30 with about three minutes to play in the fourth.
That came after McCue’s 3 made it a 20-point game.
Yough has a quick turnaround with an early tip Saturday against Monessen in the eight-game Westmoreland County Coaches Association Showcase at Jeannette and Hempfield.
Yough and Monessen play at noon at Hempfield.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Deer Lakes, Yough
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