PIAA basketball preview capsule: Deer Lakes vs. Forest Hills

By: Doug Gulasy
Tuesday, March 12, 2019 | 6:44 PM

PIAA basketball playoffs

Wednesday’s game

Class 3A

Second round

Deer Lakes (17-7) vs. Forest Hills (17-9)

7:30 p.m. at Armstrong High School

Winner plays: Sharon (22-4) or Beaver Falls (11-14) on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Coaches: Terence Parham, Deer Lakes; Dom Vescovi, Forest Hills

Players to watch: Brad Perrotte, Deer Lakes (sr., G); Adam Cesere, Forest Hills (sr., F)

How they got here: Deer Lakes: Beat Brookville, 56-52, in overtime in the first round; Forest Hills: Beat North Catholic, 64-51, in the first round.

About Deer Lakes: The Lancers’ first-round win over Brookville marked the first PIAA victory in school history. Deer Lakes, which made it into the tournament as the WPIAL’s sixth seed, has appeared in the state tournament just twice: this season and 1985. A strong performance from the free-throw line in overtime gave Deer Lakes its win over Brookville: All nine of the Lancers’ points in the extra period came from the line. Perrotte scored a team-high 22 points in the win. This is the second Deer Lakes boys team to earn its first PIAA victory during this school year. The boys soccer team, which made it to the state finals, is the other.

About Forest Hills: The Rangers’ victory over North Catholic was their first in the PIAA tournament since 1995. They held the Trojans to their second-lowest point total of the season, more than 20 below their average. Cecere, a Wake Forest baseball commit, scored a team-high 21 points. The senior is a three-sport standout who passed for more than 7,000 yards in his high school football career. Forest Hills outscored North Catholic, 21-5, in the fourth quarter. The Rangers finished as the third-place team from District 6, losing to Richland in the semifinals before beating Bellwood- Antis in the third-place game.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Doug at 412-388-5830, dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Deer Lakes