Freeport-Deer Lakes matchup intense as playoff chase heats up

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 | 7:32 PM

Freeport boys basketball coach Mike Beale said he expected intensity between his Yellowjackets and Deer Lakes on Tuesday — with physical defense, players diving everywhere for loose balls and a plethora of athletic offensive efforts — simply because of how important the game was in the fight for positioning within a competitive Section 1-4A.

Yes, the Yellowjackets and Lancers, by their close proximity to each other and close games in the past have that sense of rivalry. But, Beale said, just the quality of players and the desire to fulfill playoff goals is enough to help breed the intensity each time.

Freeport rallied from a double-digit deficit to Deer Lakes in the second half Tuesday to win 83-71.

“(Deer Lakes) coach (Terence) Parham is a very good coach, and he always has his team well prepared,” Beale said. “When we go there, we know it will be a game because they will be ready. Who knows? A playoff spot could be on the line. We're all jockeying for position within the section.”

The Yellowjackets and Lancers will meet at Deer Lakes in the section finale Feb. 9.

Freeport won its fifth straight overall and third in a row in section since a 53-51 heartbreaker to section leader Indiana on Dec. 22. The Yellowjackets improved to 3-2 overall, one game behind Valley (4-1) for second place and play at section foe Derry on Wednesday.

The Indians, undefeated in section at 5-0 and 9-1 overall, scored their other four section victories by an average of 27.5 points.

Deer Lakes, which returned to section action Tuesday for the first time since Dec. 22, fell into a fourth-place tie with Derry at 2-2. The Lancers will face Indiana on Friday.

“I told the guys (after Tuesday's game) to stay focused on our goals,” Parham said. “We had a slip on this rung of the ladder, but we have a chance to still make noise within the section and make a run at the playoffs.”

Coming into Tuesday's game, Deer Lakes was 4-0 when scoring 70 or more points.

Parham said he was impressed with the play of Freeport sophomore Aiden Skradski, who scored a career-best 16 points — all in the second half — in his first-ever varsity start.

“We didn't expect that from him simply because we hadn't seen it before,” Parham said. “He got the opportunity to play more, and he made it count against us.”

When the dust settled Tuesday, nine total players — five from Freeport and four from Deer Lakes — scored more than 10 points.

Jalen Brown tallied a team- and game-best 20 points for the Yellowjackets. He had nine of his team's 29 points in the fourth quarter which included a 16-0 run over the first four minutes of the stanza.

Isiah Bauman scored eight of his 19 in the fourth, while Ben Beale tallied 13 of his 18 points in the second quarter.

Damon Shiring contributed 10 points for Freeport.

Deer Lakes' Jake Kelly had only four points by halftime, but he scored 12 in the second half to finish with a team-best 16. Trevor Sutch responded off the bench and tallied 14, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Colin Kadlick and Brad Perrotte had 11 and 10, respectively, for the Lancers.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Freeport