Deer Lakes

A-K Valley notebook: Freeport captures summer league title

High school basketball season is still months away, but excitement levels ramped up a little early for the Freeport boys basketball team. The Yellowjackets captured the St. Joseph summer league championship with a buzzer-beating victory over Kiski Area on Thursday. Rising junior Brady Sullivan hit the game-winning shot. Fellow rising...
Bolstered by 5 WPIAL championship teams, Quaker Valley captures Class 4A Trib Cup

Mike Mastroianni was in a no lose situation in this year’s race for the Trib HSSN Cup in Class 4A. He is the athletic director and boys basketball coach at Quaker Valley while he lives in the Montour school district. Those two schools finished first and second, with Mastroianni’s Quakers...
Deer Lakes track champion Carson McCoy selected Valley News Dispatch Boys Athlete of the Year

Carson McCoy worked his way into becoming a Division I runner. Thanks to countless hours of running and training, he has earned a spot on Eastern Michigan’s track and field team. He spent his four years of high school building that resume at Deer Lakes, where he recently graduated after...
A-K Valley teams adjust to changes in basketball alignment

Basketball in the A-K Valley will have a bit of a different look next winter. The WPIAL board of directors approved section alignments for the next two-year cycle in boys and girls basketball on June 13. Several A-K Valley teams were impacted. Here’s a look at some of the changes:...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Deer Lakes’ Kyle Blackwell

Kyle Blackwell spent his past four seasons playing volleyball at Deer Lakes. The right-side hitter always had a passion for the sport and was motivated to play after watching his older sister, Allison Blackwell, play for the Lancers. Blackwell was the team’s only senior this season. On Senior Night, he...
Deer Lakes’ Justin Brannagan named 2022 Valley News Dispatch Baseball Player of the Year

2022 Valley News Dispatch Baseball All-Stars Player of the Year Justin Brannagan Deer Lakes, Sr., P/INF Justin Brannagan had a propensity this year for coming up big in clutch playoff scenarios. In February, Deer Lakes trailed Blackhawk by one point in the final seconds of a WPIAL Class 4A first-round...
Burrell’s Katie Armstrong earns 2022 Valley News Dispatch Softball Player of the Year honors

2022 Valley News Dispatch Softball All-Stars Player of the Year Katie Armstrong Burrell, Jr., P If the regular season didn’t already show it, then a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game against Belle Vernon proved just how dominant Burrell junior pitcher Katie Armstrong was throughout the spring. Armstrong held a potent...
Coach who built Deer Lakes boys basketball into perennial playoff team steps down

Terence Parham called it one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make. Citing changing work requirements, the veteran Deer Lakes boys basketball coach has resigned after seven years at the helm of the program. The Deer Lakes School Board voted to accept his resignation at Tuesday’s meeting. “My...
Deer Lakes softball reflects on impressive season

Deer Lakes softball coach Rick Cerra saw the pieces for a strong season and postseason run come together back in September, six months before preseason practices began. “Things were really falling into place, and we were really looking forward to having this team on the field,” Cerra said. His expectations...
Moon’s Mia Cochran earns state’s top honor from track and field coaches

Moon senior Mia Cochran turned in quite a performance at the PIAA track and field championships the weekend of May 27-28. She won three distance races — 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters — in Class 3A, and for that effort she was named the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association’s...
Deer Lakes softball team bows out of state playoffs

Deer Lakes entered Thursday’s PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal matchup with Bald Eagle hoping to punch its ticket to the state semifinals for the first time since 2015. But the Eagles and freshman pitcher Sierra Albright had other ideas. Albright limited Deer Lakes to five hits and struck out nine over...
Deer Lakes wants to continue PIAA postseason journey

A quartet from the Deer Lakes softball team — Jenna Bisegna, Reese Hasley, Keeghan Cook and Lydia Guthrie — took one of the biggest walks of their lives and graduated Wednesday evening. As one journey comes to a close, the graduates hope another keeps rolling along. They will join their...
A-K Valley PIAA softball playoff capsules for June 9, 2022

Today’s games Class 4A Quarterfinals Burrell (14-2) vs. Beaver (20-0) 3 p.m. at Mars Winner plays: Winner of Hamburg (20-3) vs. Clearfield (19-3) in semifinals Monday (site and time TBD) Players to watch: Caroline Dynka, Burrell; Payton List, Beaver Extra bases: Burrell won its first state playoff game since 2011...
12 WPIAL softball teams advance to PIAA quarterfinals

While opening day of the PIAA baseball playoffs was a mixed bag for district teams, the WPIAL softball qualifiers got a chance to strut their stuff in the first round. The WPIAL was a strong 12-7 in opening round games Monday, with all six new district champions winning and moving...
Deer Lakes softball team rallies in 6th for PIAA win

CORRY — After hitting eight pop-up outs over the first five innings, Deer Lakes resorted to a series of line drives. The Lancers exploded for five runs in the top of sixth and posted a 5-1 victory over Corry in a PIAA Class 3A opening-round game at Lou Hanna Memorial...
Deer Lakes softball faces tough road in PIAA tournament

District champions, when they enter the PIAA playoffs, always are afforded the opportunity to play their first game in their home district. Sometimes, the benefit extends to a home game in the opening round. Deer Lakes, the WPIAL runner-up, must deal with that scenario when it travels to District 10...