Bill Beckner stories, Page 158
Derry boys rout Southmoreland to earn program’s 1st playoff victory
The long wait is over for Derry. And don’t even think about stamping an asterisk next to the Trojans’ accomplishment. Forget the circumstances surrounding a season unlike any that came before it in the WPIAL. Forget program shutdowns, daily uncertainty and a free-for-all playoff tournament that gave the Trojans the...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Ligonier Valley grad makes nationals in high jump, pentathlon
Senior Olivia Miller will again compete on a national stage for the Carlow women’s track and field team. Miller, a Ligonier Valley graduate and multi-event athlete, qualified to compete in the high jump and pentathlon at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championship held Wednesday through Friday at Dakota State...
Battle-tested Norwin ready to handle rigors of postseason play
Abnormal best describes their season. Resilient characterizes how they have handled it. Norwin’s boys basketball team has run the gamut on and off the court, from player setbacks and covid pauses to impressive wins. Buddy Valinsky never imagined his second year as coach of the Knights would be such an...
Westmoreland basketball playoff capsules: Games for Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s WPIAL basketball playoff games involving Westmoreland County teams: Boys First round Class 6A 14-Baldwin (6-12) at 3-Hempfield (11-5) 6 p.m. Tuesday Coaches: Jeff Ackermann, Baldwin; Bill Swan, Hempfield Winner plays: Winner of 11-Peters Township (6-8) at 6-Pine-Richland (11-5), 6 p.m. Friday About Baldwin: Baldwin, under...
Second-seeded GCC to play at No. 18 Serra Catholic
Size matters this year in the WPIAL basketball playoffs, but it has nothing to do with height. The WPIAL said there might be cases where lower-seeded teams would host playoff games because their gymnasiums have more room to put up a percentage of spectators than their opponents. That will be...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Norwin’s Bilinsky to get Roundball invite
The Roundball Classic is returning in full force this spring. Organizer Allen Deep said the all-star basketball event will be played May 13-15 at Geneva. Rosters are far from finished, but Deep knows one player he will invite to the event. He said Norwin senior guard Ty Bilinsky will be...
Westmoreland basketball playoff capsules: Games for Monday, March 1, 2021
Here’s a look at Monday’s WPIAL basketball playoff games involving Westmoreland County teams: Boys Preliminary round Class 4A 20-Southmoreland (2-16) at 13-Derry (5-6) 6 p.m. Monday Coaches: Frank Muccino, Southmoreland; Tom Esposito, Derry Winner plays: At 4-Quaker Valley (12-4), 6 p.m. Thursday About Southmoreland: The youthful Scotties debated going to...
Franklin Regional boys rally in 4th quarter to defeat Armstrong
Franklin Regional scored three points in the third quarter and surrendered the lead for the first time to that point against visiting Armstrong. Some teams might have withered at the lack of offense and shift in momentum, especially in a playoff atmosphere. Not Franklin Regional. “We weren’t losing this game,...
Norwin notebook: Swim teams have season to remember
Norwin will remember the 2020-21 swimming and diving season for more than a global pandemic. The girls team made history in the water this year, claiming its first section title since 2007. “The strength of this team is our depth,” coach Doug Watson said. “We are really three-strong in most...
Westmoreland County basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 27, 2021
Saturday’s games Boys Class 6A Preliminary round 17-Canon-McMillan (0-13) at 16-Greensburg Salem (0-12) Noon, Saturday Coaches: Charles Murphy, Canon-McMillan; Mark Zahorchak, Greensburg Salem Winner plays: At 1-Upper St. Clair (15-1), 6 p.m. Tuesday About Canon-McMillan: The Big Macs may be winless, but they have been in a number of games....
Senior emerges as unlikely top scorer for Franklin Regional
In a flash of a couple of seconds, Kadyn Hannah saw a microcosm of his basketball career manifest before his eyes, in the form of a turnover. A painful turnover. But he owned the moment. “It was a travel, yes,” the 6-foot-4 senior forward from Franklin Regional said. “But here’s...
Latrobe celebrates ‘section’ title with win against Woodland HillsVideo
The section standings were uneven, but the ladder underneath the basket was sturdy as Latrobe girls basketball players climbed the rungs and each snipped a piece of the net. Latrobe isn’t worried about the WPIAL not recognizing section champions because of unbalanced records this season, and the Wildcats celebrated their...
WPIAL open tournament in 1984 helped pave way for Latrobe’s future success
Neal Fenton was a junior at Latrobe in 1984, the year the WPIAL opened its playoff doors to everybody. The first open tournament, more of a trial run idea than one reflecting the damage done by a global pandemic like this year, welcomed any team far and wide within the...
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Deep bond for Mt. Pleasant senior, freshman
Nate Kubasky is a senior and Dante Giallonardo, a freshman, but the Mt. Pleasant boys basketball teammates share a common bond as they prepare to play in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. They each lost a loved one to cancer. They not only support each other but also get a...
Derry boys basketball shooting for 1st playoff win in program history
Motivation can come in many forms in basketball. For Derry, the WPIAL playoffs, while open this year to every team because of disproportionate records and games played — a reflection of the pandemic — did not come with a free pass. Coach Tom Esposito still wanted his team to earn...
May tipoff confirmed for Roundball Classic all-star games
The Roundball Classic was canceled last spring due to the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. But the high school basketball all-star event is returning — and in full force. Organizer Allen Deep green-lighted the 2021 Roundball, which will be played May 13, 14 and 15 at Geneva College. “We couldn’t...
Penn-Trafford boys pass test against Franklin Regional
Penn-Trafford is known for playing close basketball games and competing with some of the best in the WPIAL. Franklin Regional has a similar reputation for playing anybody, anytime. So, when the teams met Wednesday night, the last thing they wanted to hear was that they weren’t playing for anything. That...
Stay-at-home directive suits Southmoreland girls just fine
Home-court advantage could play a much larger role than in past years when the WPIAL basketball playoffs get started Saturday. Most years, all games are played at neutral sites. The Southmoreland girls could be a beneficiary of a new rule that will allow higher-seeded teams to host tournament games through...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Mt. Pleasant’s Tiffany Zelmore quietly emerges
As far as scorers go, Mt. Pleasant might have the best-kept secret in WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball. Sophomore Tiffany Zelmore has been on a scoring tear of late, with 35- and 30-point efforts in back-to-back wins. The 5-foot-10 forward had 35 in a 57-52 victory over South Allegheny, and...
GCC boys will travel; BV gets top seed in WPIAL postseason
While many higher-seeded teams in the WPIAL basketball playoffs will be playing at home, a rare luxury afforded to participants this season in response to the pandemic, Greensburg Central Catholic will have to take its show on the road. The Centurions’ boys team was awarded the No. 2 seed in...
Yough pulls out of WPIAL girls basketball playoffs
Yough’s first trip to the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs since 2009-10 is over before it started. Covid-19 contact tracing showed the Cougars played a team last week that had a player test positive for the virus, so Yough, out of an abundance of caution, has withdrawn from the Class 4A...
North Allegheny holds off Norwin to boost credentials as top seed in Class 6A
Fifth-ranked Norwin was looking to score an upset in its Section 1-6A finale Monday night — the eve of the release of the WPIAL girls basketball playoff pairings — but not because it had a chance to share the section title with No. 1 North Allegheny. No, that ship had...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Ligonier Valley girls basketball opts out of WPIAL open playoffs
Ligonier Valley still is getting its feet wet in the WPIAL sports scene, including girls basketball. A challenging first year showed the Rams what is necessary to compete in a new district. It also showed they are not quite ready for playoff competition. At least that’s the sentiment of coach...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Carlow’s Millers gets comfortable atop medals stand
Olivia Miller found her comfort zone competing for the Carlow women’s indoor track and field team this season. She also looked pretty cozy atop the medals stand. Miller, a senior who graduated from Ligonier Valley, was named River States Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Year for the second straight...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Power-5 offer could be 1st of many for Jeannette’s Birch
Oregon assistant football coach Joe Moorhead called Team 412 Elite coach Will Reynolds on Wednesday, and Reynolds turned it into a conference call. He called Jeannette freshman quarterback Brad Birch on another cellphone and let him hear the good news from Moorhead, a Central Catholic grad and former Penn State...
