Bill Beckner stories, Page 190
Southmoreland finds a way past McKeesport, improves to 16-0
Clutching a precarious lead, Southmoreland did not take care of the basketball particularly well in the fourth quarter and McKeesport pressed the Scotties into turnovers. It didn’t matter. Southmoreland ran into foul trouble and also missed its share of free throws. It didn’t matter. McKeesport kept coming back. Yep, it...
Pitt-Johnstown coach Bob Rukavina, Lower Burrell native, reaches 500 wins
Longtime Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball coach Bob Rukavina joined the 500-win club Saturday as the Mountain Cats defeated visiting Slippery Rock, 72-69. Rukavina, a Lower Burrell native who has traveled to and from his hometown to work for over three decades to coach UPJ, is now 500-347 since taking over the...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Penn-Trafford’s Allen gets another scholarship offer
Penn-Trafford senior football player Noah Allen is drawing Division I attention as national signing day (Feb. 5) approaches. Allen received his second Division I FCS scholarship offer, from Butler. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Allen also has an offer from Valparaiso. He had 15 receptions for 228 yards and two touchdowns this...
Ligonier Valley, Derry weigh effects of WPIAL football realignment
With realignment, WPIAL football will change again like it does every two years. The latest tweaks won’t reach the drastic degree some thought, but a number of teams undoubtedly will be competing in new territory come the fall — and not everyone will he happy. The new-look landscape will not...
Luke Kimmich, defense spark Franklin Regional to win over Hampton
Luke Kimmich was starting for Franklin Regional earlier in the basketball season. But the junior guard has changed roles of late, taking over the sixth-man duties for the Panthers. It’s a role he accepted because he understood why the change was made. “We have been bringing him off the bench...
‘Mr. Seton Hill’ Nate Davis takes lessons from Griffins’ trying season
Nate Davis thinks worldly and reacts positively as he navigates through his final basketball season at Seton Hill. He takes the bad with the good and remains magnanimous no matter the outcome of games. This has been a trying year for the Griffins (2-13, 1-9) but Davis, the third-leading scorer...
Penn-Trafford AD Kerry Hetrick wins award
Kerry Hetrick started wearing glasses lately. While he isn’t quite comfortable with the change, his vision for Penn-Trafford athletics remains clear. And his work in the program does not go unseen. Hetrick, the athletic director at Penn-Trafford, received the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association Distinguished Coaching Educator (DICE) Award. The...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Latrobe shakes off losses
Latrobe is experiencing a down season. Those are words you don’t hear very often coming from the Wildcats’ program. But the coaches and players are taking it all in stride. They knew losing 20-points-a-game scorers Reed Fenton and Bryce Butler would not be easy. “I have been through it before,”...
Westmoreland County rosters loaded with basketball brother combos
Things got a little heated, Norwin junior basketball player Ty Bilinsky said while recalling a run-in with his younger brother. “He pushed me into a glass door on the side of our house,” he said. “The glass broke. I was OK but we had to call that game off because...
‘Transformed’ Monica Burns has happy homecoming with Cal women’s basketballVideo
The transformation began last summer. Monica Burns, all but finished with college basketball after two eye-catching years at Wheeling Jesuit, came to Cal (Pa.) to get a master’s degree in cybersecurity. She had a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. It seemed almost criminal a player of her caliber was wasting...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: GCC’s Scala making impact
Gia Scala sat out with an injury and waited to get cleared to return to basketball at Greensburg Central Catholic. She missed the first three games but quickly made her presence known when she returned. Scala, who is from North Huntingdon and attended Norwin before transferring to GCC, has scored...
Zach Rocco shares spotlight as Penn-Trafford rolls over Norwin
Teams know what they are getting when they play Penn-Trafford: a steady dose of Zach Rocco. But as the Warriors go through the season, something is happening. A supporting cast is taking shape and Rocco, the team’s lone senior, does not have to do it all. Make no mistake, Rocco...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Norwin grad Cole hits milestone, again
Jenna Cole is one of those rare cases: a basketball player who gets to celebrate the 1,000-point mark twice in her college career. Cole, a Norwin graduate and a senior forward at La Roche, accomplished the feat over the weekend as she scored her 1,000th point as a player at...
Shippensburg men’s hoops tabbed NABC DII team of week
The WPIAL-infused Shippensburg men’s basketball team is riding a five-game winning streak, which includes an upset over No. 8 West Chester. The Raiders (12-3, 8-1 PSAC) were lauded for their recent success by being named the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Team of the Week. Coached by Latrobe...
UPJ’s Bob Rukavina is 1 win away from No. 500
It took Bob Rukavina a much shorter time to reach 500 miles than 500 wins, but the latter is well within his grasp. A Lower Burrell native who has traveled 65 miles to work almost every day for 30 years to coach the Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball team, Rukavina needs one...
GCC’s Nate Ward beats Clairton with bomb at the buzzer
Nate Ward simply has a knack for creating bedlam. A tie-busting forward in soccer — one of the top recruits in the country in the Class of 2020 — Ward has a penchant for game-winning goals. The Greensburg Central Catholic senior took that tendency onto the basketball court Monday night...
Soccer standout Sam Nemeth nets a different kind of game winner for GCC girls
As a standout soccer player, Sam Nemeth has scored winning goals before for Greensburg Central Catholic. She’s been known to show out in the clutch. On Monday night, she got her kicks for the girls basketball team — with some more flair for the dramatic. Nemeth, a senior forward, ran...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Saint Vincent men’s bowling returns
Men’s bowling is back at Saint Vincent. The college announced the addition of the sport, which was part of Bearcats athletics until 1982 but has been absent for 38 years. The club team will begin play in the fall and will be coached by Jeff Zidek, who also coaches the...
Westmoreland notebook: Local talent will be on display in PIHL all-star games
The Robert Morris Island Sports Center will be the site for the annual PIHL All-Star games on Jan. 26. The schedule starts with the Class B game at noon, followed by Class A at 2 p.m., Class AA at 4 and Class AAA at 6. In Class AA, selections include...
Norwin big man Jayden Walker feasts on Latrobe
Playing the first home game of his junior basketball season, Norwin’s Jayden Walker was expected to show up to work on an empty stomach. Explanation? “I told him, ‘You’re going to eat tonight,’” Norwin coach Buddy Valinsky said. “Be ready to get the ball. We’re going to feed you.” Walker...
Pitt-Greensburg hoops building to historic season
A smile crawled across Matt Johnson’s face as he talked about his basketball team and its inner workings. “It’s been a lot of fun,” the junior point guard at Pitt-Greensburg said. “What we’re doing hasn’t happened by accident. It’s nice to see the whole team commit to the same thing...
Saint Vincent adds men’s bowling
Men’s bowling is back at Saint Vincent. The college announced the addition of the sport, which was part of the Bearcats’ athletic program until 1982 but has been absent for 38 years. The club team will begin play in the fall and will be coached by Jeff Zidek, who also...
Surging Derry girls drop Deer Lakes, move into sole possession of first in sectionVideo
Even with a rowdy student section that was all decked out in USA-themed red, white and blue cheering and jeering, and a pep band thumping and blowing horns during timeouts, the Derry girls basketball team somehow continued to make all the noise. The upstart Lady Trojans, led by first-year coach...
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Home welcome for Greensburg CC
Playing at home has its advantages. Not playing at home for an extended period can be a real pain. Greensburg Central Catholic would know. The Centurions were 10 games into the regular season — nearly at the halfway point — before they finally played at home. GCC (7-3, 4-0 Section...
Mt. Pleasant senior Johnson proves to be more than scorer
As Derry attempted to inbound, Jake Johnson patrolled the baseline slyly with his arms up and his eyes locked in. The basketball belonged to him. In that moment, he was the only player on the floor. The Mt. Pleasant senior guard snatched the ball out of the air, put it...
