Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week for March 5, 2023
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Sunday, March 5, 2023 | 9:36 PM
Deer Lakes’ Nate Buechel scores against OLSH during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Friday, March 3, 2023, at Petersen Events Center.
Deer Lakes’ Nate Litrun scores against OLSH during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Friday, March 3, 2023, at Petersen Events Center.
Deer Lakes’ Bryce Robson drives past OLSH’s Rocco Spadafora during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Friday, March 3, 2023, at Petersen Events Center.
Deer Lakes’ Bryce Robson shoots a 3-pointer against OLSH during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Friday, March 3, 2023, at Petersen Events Center.
It’s official: 2023 is the Year of the Deer.
At least when it comes to WPIAL 3A boys basketball.
No. 5 seed Deer Lakes became the streak busters for the second time this season against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
First, the Lancers ended the Chargers’ district- and state-record boys basketball winning streak at 74 on Dec. 22. Then they ended OLSH’s four-year championship run with a victory Friday in the WPIAL 3A title game.
“It’s been a great ride,” Deer Lakes first-year coach Albie Fletcher said.
This week alone was something out of a Hollywood script for the Lancers.
On Monday, playing in a WPIAL semifinals game for only the second time in school history, Deer Lakes battled top-seeded Steel Valley to the wire before pulling off a dramatic victory.
“That’s one thing I love about this time, it’s resiliency,” Fletcher said. “We know we’re a good team, and we loaded up our schedule to play the best teams we could get on there to be battle tested. I don’t think we win that game against Steel Valley or the game (Friday) if we didn’t play the schedule we did all year.”
Lancers senior Michael Butler hit a 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining, and then Deer Lakes celebrated only after Makhai Valentine missed an attempt at the buzzer in a historic win, 65-63.
“Five seconds took such a long time for when Makhai Valentine was dribbling up the court for Steel Valley,” Fletcher said with a laugh.
The ousting of the Ironmen put the Lancers where no Deer Lakes team had gone before, the WPIAL boys basketball title game, against OLSH, a team that was playing in a sixth consecutive district final and trying to win a league-tying fifth straight championship.
Logic would suggest the Chargers would have the advantage early on, but that wasn’t the case.
Deer Lakes shot 66.7% from the field in the opening quarter and led 21-19 after eight minutes.
“The kids did a great job of enjoying the moment,” Fletcher said. “I told them you have to take all of this in. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You got to soak it in and enjoy it, but at the same time, there needs to be a time when we flip the switch and it’s go time.
“We told them, ‘This isn’t a new experience for a lot of these players from OLSH. They’ve done this. They’ve been on the big floor. We haven’t, so that’s absolutely an advantage they have. That means we have to come out extremely strong early on to combat that experience they have.’ ”
Senior Bryce Robson drove the lane and scored with just under 30 seconds remaining to give Deer lakes the lead, 61-60. The Lancers then ate up some clock with a couple of fouls to give, then watched two chances to win for OLSH not fall through the cylinder as the buzzer sounded and the celebration began.
“Stand on that floor and looking up at our community and that crowd, it was a moment of a lifetime for me,” Fletcher said. “Being a kid from Deer Lakes, playing there, now coaching there, living there with my kids going to school there and my wife teaching there, I can’t even put it into words.”
Four of the five starters for Deer Lakes are seniors in Bryce Robson (18 points vs. OLSH), Nate Litrun (18 points vs. Steel Valley), Michael Butler (nine points vs. Steel Valley) and Nate Buechel (team-high 6 rebounds vs. OLSH).
The other starter is junior Billy Schaeffer (11 points vs. OLSH), while the Lancers get big-time contributions off the bench from juniors Wayne Love, Derek Burk and Albie’s son, Aiden Fletcher, along with freshman Collin Rodgers.
“Coming into this year, I knew we had more depth than we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Fletcher said as he completes his fifth season with the program and first as head coach. “We didn’t necessarily have the star if you will, basketball 25-point scorer guy, but I really like our athleticism and some of the size we have. To be the best system for that is ‘Let’s push tempo. We’re going to guard you full court,’ and hopefully by the end of the third quarter, we’re going to wear teams out.”
Fresh off district gold, Deer Lakes (17-8) will begin the PIAA playoffs with a home game on Saturday against Seneca.
“These guys have been working very hard, so we’re going to give them a little bit of time off,” Fletcher said. “We’ll ease our way back into it with a lot of film work, but we’re ready to go. I told them I don’t want this to end. I’m excited for the next part of this journey.”
2023 Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Teams of the Week
Week 8 – Penn Hills Indians
Week 7 – Monessen Greyhounds
Week 6 – Seton LaSalle Rebels
Week 5 – New Castle Red Hurricane
Week 4 – Hampton Talbots
Week 3 – Mohawk Warriors
Week 2 – Central Catholic Vikings
Week 1 – Thomas Jefferson Jaguars
Tags: Deer Lakes
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