Bill Beckner stories, Page 127
Westmoreland high school notebook: Brunson done as Mt. Pleasant AD
Chris Brunson is stepping down as athletic director at Mt. Pleasant, a position he held since 2019. He said Monday would be his last day on the job. Brunson will remain the school’s softball coach after guiding the Vikings to WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A championships last season. He has...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: UPG women win 3rd straight
The Pitt-Greensburg women’s basketball team is surging closer to first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The Bobcats made it three straight wins Saturday at Alfred State, 74-61, behind four double-digit scorers. Junior Nadege Durand had 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting, freshman Melina Maietta (Greensburg Central Catholic) had 20...
Hempfield alum Kason Harrell scores 56 in Irish pro league game
Kason Harrell felt like his play had been slumping lately and he wasn’t living up to his own expectations. So much for that. The former Hempfield standout and second-year professional put on a show Saturday for the Killestar Basketball Club’s Team Pyrobel, scoring 56 points in an Irish Super League...
Chartiers Valley rides 3-pointers to win vs. Norwin
Slam dunks can demoralize opponents. For the Chartiers Valley girls basketball team, 3-pointers can have a similar effect. Yes, it’s kind of like that when the Colts start cashing in from all around the key. It’s almost sing-songy when they get into a shooting rhythm, one 3 after another dropping...
Norwin notebook: Kranitz’s runner-up finish helps Knights finish 7th at WCCA tournament
Norwin senior Chase Kranitz finished second in the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association Wrestling Tournament earlier this month at Kiski Area. The Buffalo commit reached the finals at 152 pounds but dropped a 4-2 decision to Latrobe’s Jack Pletcher. His teammate, Conner Henning, finish fourth at 132, while Luke Passarelli took...
Opponents taking notice of Norwin’s ‘Waldo’ Fleming
When Norwin basketball player Michael Fleming went off for 27 points and made five 3-pointers in a game at Penn-Trafford last season, he was introduced to the WPIAL basketball world. Now, he is becoming a household name. The senior guard leads the Knights in scoring and is a key piece...
Franklin Regional notebook: FR grad Kadyn Hannah makes quick impact at La Roche
Kadyn Hannah did not need much adjustment time as a freshman on the La Roche men’s basketball team. The Franklin Regional alum stepped into the starting five from Day 1 and has helped push the Redhawks (5-5) to four straight wins. The statement game for the 6-foot-5 forward came Jan....
Westmoreland high school notebook: Jeannette girls hoops nears return
The Jeannette girls basketball team is hoping to return to the court soon after a week-long quarantine. The Jayhawks had to postpone three games and five practices after a few girls came down with the flu and another tested positive for covid-19. “We are being very cautious,” Jeannette athletic director...
Penn-Trafford’s win over Hempfield has football feel
Penn-Trafford figured there would come a time this season when it would need to rely on its football players to win basketball games. Its strong, aggressive, championship-level football players. That time was Friday night for juniors Tommy Kalkstein and Conlan Greene. The pair of WPIAL and PIAA 5A football champions...
Derry coach Gene Brisbane hits 400-win milestone
Derry girls basketball coach Gene Brisbane reached a career milestone Thursday night in the Trojans’ 44-41 victory at Burrell. He now has 400 career wins in 26 years of coaching female teams in basketball — 350 at the high school level. Brisbane, in his third season at Derry, coached the...
Greensburg Central Catholic wins back-and-forth tilt vs. Apollo-Ridge
Greensburg Central Catholic sat a few starters midway through the first quarter Thursday night, but the move had nothing to do with their conduct or early play. “Rest,” GCC coach Chris Skatell said. “I wanted to get them some down time because I knew we were going to need them...
Westmoreland high school boys basketball notebook: Latrobe goes young
Part necessity, part rising talent, Latrobe is playing four freshmen this season. The Wildcats (3-7, 1-3 Section 3-5A) have a deep bench that includes ninth-grade guards John Wetzel and Max Butler and freshmen forwards Jack Hamaty and Alex Tatsch. “It’s been over the last two weeks I’d say where we...
Carrying on a family tradition in Latrobe boys basketball? The Butlers did it
The Latrobe basketball roster is like a map of Western Pennsylvania. There is always a Butler. But we’re not talking about a city or county, here. Instead, it’s a last name that seems to be branded into the scorebook — one that has become synonymous with the Wildcats’ program. This...
Westmoreland high school girls basketball notebook: Greensburg Salem’s Mankins is ‘irreplaceable’
The Franklin Regional gymnasium fell silent for about 40 minutes Tuesday night when Greensburg Salem sophomore center Kaitlyn Mankins went down with a grim injury. “The girls were sobbing,” Golden Lions girls basketball coach Rick Klimchock said. “There were tears everywhere.” Mankins was coming off a pick-and-roll late in the...
Belle Vernon junior Kreis leans on WNBA exposure
When she was a freshman, Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis sat courtside at various stops and watched all 12 WNBA teams play, interviewed several players and met her favorite player, Diana Taurasi. The summer tour was part of a project about women’s pro basketball becoming more prominent. Over the passage of...
Pitt-Greensburg announces 1st Athletics Hall of Fame class
A work in progress for some time, the Pitt-Greensburg Athletics Hall of Fame has arrived and has its inaugural class. Five individuals and two teams that helped put the Bobcats on the college map will be enshrined Feb. 18 during a ceremony at the school’s Wagner Dining Hall. The inductees...
2nd-half surge carries No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic over rival Jeannette
A Greensburg Central Catholic student brought a bass drum into the student section, but an official told him it was not permitted, so it was removed from the raucous gymnasium. Instead of a drum, GCC beat Jeannette. With a revved-up second half after a surprisingly slow start, the No. 2...
Patience pays off as Woodland Hills outlasts Greensburg Salem
With offense relegated to half-court sets and fouls piling up, the more patient team was going to have the advantage down the stretch. Woodland Hills played like it had that trait in its back pocket and methodically pulled away from upstart Greensburg Salem, which played its first Section 4-5A girls...
Longtime Washington & Jefferson, Cal coach makes College Football Hall of Fame
John Luckhardt once said, “I’ve never been talented, never been good looking, never been smart.” The former Cal (Pa.) and Washington & Jefferson football coach can say he is a hall of famer. And a member of a pretty good class, at that. Luckhardt will be inducted into the College...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Franklin Regional’s Hannah hits ground running
Kadyn Hannah did not need much adjustment time as a freshman on the La Roche men’s basketball team. The Franklin Regional alum stepped into the starting five from Day 1 and has helped push the Redhawks (5-5) to four straight wins. The statement game for the 6-foot-5 forward came Saturday...
High school notebook: Belle Vernon football won’t play up to 4A
Belle Vernon has been one of the top football teams in WPIAL Class 4A for nearly half a decade. The Leopards have reached the semifinals four straight years and made the finals at Heinz Field in 2019 and ‘21. Class 3A, brace yourself because here come the Leopards. Belle Vernon...
Former Pitt assistant Marion joins Texas staff, immediately offers WPIAL stars Gallagher and Martin
Brennan Marion has been on the Texas football staff for less than two weeks and he already has tossed a lasso at WPIAL recruiting territory. Marion, a Greensburg Salem alum who coached wide receivers at Pitt this season before taking the same job with the Longhorns, extended scholarship offers to...
Latrobe steels nerves for section victory vs. Franklin Regional
Landon Butler said he practiced free throws a few hours before game time Friday night. “I made like 25 of 35,” the Latrobe junior guard said. He said he and his teammates sometimes attempt 50 free throws a day in practice. It’s a good thing. The Wildcats needed accuracy from...
Guard Snyder leads way in Latrobe girls basketball team’s win over Franklin Regional
Sophomore guard Elle Snyder knows her role on the Latrobe girls basketball team. “I am a shooter,” Snyder said with stern confidence. She was a pace-setter Thursday night, showing her shooting touch in the Wildcats’ 57-29 victory over visiting Franklin Regional in a Section 4-5A game. Snyder did her damage...
Jeannette rallies around newcomer Thompson
Basketball has been the center of Nasheed “Nas” Thompson’s universe for a long time. From his youth days in his birthplace of Philadelphia, to his time on the high school team at Clearfield in Pennsylvania District 9, to now being a senior at Jeannette, he has grown to love the...
