Deer Lakes takes down Summit Academy to open up 2019-2020 season

By: Greg Macafee
Friday, December 6, 2019 | 7:00 PM

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It’s always nice to start the season off with a win and for the first time of Terence Parham’s tenure at Deer Lakes the Lancers gifted their coach with one in the first game of the season.

Led by a 22-point performance from freshman guard Bryce Robson and a 11-point contribution from senior Zac Herbinko, the Lancers cruised to a 23-point victory over Summit Academy at the St. Joseph Tip-Off tournament.

“It was cool to come in, first varsity game and do that well,” Robson said. “Good feeling to start the season off.”

Just like a win to start the season, it’s always good for a team to start a game hot. The Lancers did just thatFriday afternoon at the Walter Dlubak Athletic Center in Natrona Heights. Behind a 10-point first quarter effort from Robson, six of which came from behind the three-point line, the Lancers jumped out to a 16-2 lead midway through the first quarter. But, the Knights started to work their way back into the game.

A 14-point lead quickly became an eight-point lead after a Deer Lakes substitution and a Summit Academy run. By the time the halftime buzzer rang, the Lancers only held a seven-point lead.

“I was disappointed in our second group early,” Parham said. “We were up 16-2, we made that sub and they scored eight straight and you just can’t have that. We subbed them in because we thought they were capable and they didn’t come focused. I can’t tell you what I told them at halftime.”

Whatever it was, it worked. The Lancers picked up their defensive effort in the third quarter and Robson got hot from deep.

The freshman guard hit three more 3-pointers in the third quarter and propelled the Lancers to a 19-6 third quarter effort. Heading into the game Robson said he was feeling good.

“I mean I kind of felt good in warmups, so I was happy that it carried over into the game,” Robson said.

Although it was just his first varsity game, Parham said he wasn’t surprised by Robson’s performance because of what he saw in their South Park scrimmage to start the season.

“He had a big guy that fouled him hard and then walked up and tried to bully him a little and Bryce went right back at him,” Parham said. “The official got on Bryce a little bit but I told him I was fine with that because I now know what my point guard is made of and that carried over into today.”

Deer Lakes got their season off on the right note, but there’s always room for improvement. They got beat on the boards for a majority of the night and Parham was disappointed by the number of turnovers that they had throughout the game.

“Hopefully we can build off of this,” Parham said. “Find our weaknesses, build off of our strengths and get better each time we take the court.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Deer Lakes, Summit Academy