Bill Beckner stories, Page 24
Playoff-bound Norwin boys can talk the talk under first-year coach, alum Auld
At 26, Cam Auld is one of the WPIAL’s younger coaches, but he admits to having an old-school side. “I dabble in a bit of old and new,” he said. Norwin’s first-year boys basketball leader and Knights alum is all about his players talking and understanding rather than the alternative:...
Penn-Trafford girls still working to improve despite undefeated record
Penn-Trafford isn’t getting baited into undefeated talk. The Warriors girls basketball team has left a trail of blowouts on the way to a 20-0 record with two games left in the regular season. Penn-Trafford never has finished a regular season unbeaten but is just about at the threshold of perfection....
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Norwin’s Kendall Berger hits 1,000 points
Senior Kendall Berger has a number of memories as a member of the Norwin girls basketball team. She has a WPIAL championship, PIAA playoff experience and a number of high-scoring performances. Now, she has a scoring milestone. Berger scored the 1,000th point of her career last weekend when Norwin lost...
Greensburg Central Catholic boys make it a regular-season sweep of Jeannette
Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts said his Jayhawks could play Greensburg Central Catholic 10 times, and each team would win five. It remains to be seen if the county rivals will play again in the postseason — the WPIAL draw and Class 2A bracket will determine that possibility —...
Unbeaten Shady Side Academy girls complete season sweep of Greensburg Central Catholic
Unlike the first Section 2-3A matchup, Shady Side Academy didn’t have such an easy time getting to the basket in its rematch with Greensburg Central Catholic. High-percentage shots were fewer and far between. Passes were harder to come by into the post, and the Bulldogs had to look for alternative...
Nos. 1-2, Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette, prepare for boys basketball rematch
The top two boys basketball teams in WPIAL Class 2A have circled back for a rematch. No. 2 Jeannette (17-1, 10-1) will visit No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic (18-2, 12-0) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a matchup of Section 1-2A heavyweights, the latest chapter in one of Westmoreland County’s hottest...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Norwin grad Brianna Zajicek hits career-high in comeback win
A 15-point halftime deficit meant nothing to Brianna Zajicek. The Cedarville junior basketball player led a fervent comeback with a career day as the Yellow Jackets rallied past Findlay, 81-80, in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Zajicek, a Norwin alum, poured in a career-high 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting and...
Franklin Regional’s Abby Paterline named to U.S. Youth Soccer ODP National Team
Every state has an Olympic Development Program for soccer, but not every player makes it as far as Abby Paterline has. The Franklin Regional senior midfielder continued her breakout year at the club level as she was selected to play for the U.S. Youth Soccer ODP National Team, which will...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Age no worry for new Southmoreland football coach Dustin Shoaf
Youth is a state of mind. So says new Southmoreland football coach Dustin Shoaf, who might know a thing or two about the subject. Shoaf is one of the youngest head coaches in the state at age 23. The Yough graduate, who was hired earlier this month, does not want...
North Huntingdon teens chosen for U.S. Army Fight Team
Local martial arts students Gabby Viola and Xander Eddy, both of North Huntingdon, were selected to compete for the U.S. Army Fight Team. Viola, 14, and Eddy, 15, will be Army-sponsored athletes for the 2025 season and represent their country in international and combative sports competitions. Viola and Eddy signed...
Connor Crossey leads inspired Franklin Regional to OT win over Latrobe
From the time Franklin Regional’s Caden Brush, a senior stricken with leukemia, won a ceremonial opening tip while sitting in his wheelchair, the Panthers had someone to play for and a reason to win. And that’s before you factor in the playoff implications that made this a must-win Section 1-5A...
Norwin boys let their play do the talking in important victory over Hempfield
Norwin is talking the talk. Knights first-year boys basketball coach Cam Auld has a computer spinner wheel with his players’ names on it. When he gives it a flick and the arrow lands on a name, that player has to give the next pregame speech. It was Alex Graney’s turn...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Ligonier Valley sharpshooter joins 1,000-point club
Ligonier Valley has a hoop-a-Hollick. “I have loved basketball since middle school,” said senior guard Parker Hollick, who this week became the boys basketball program’s latest 1,000-point scorer. Hollick needed 29 to reach the milestone and netted 33 on Wednesday in a win over Brownsville. Twenty-seven boys have now scored...
Belle Vernon boys basketball finds stride in middle of tumultuous season
A five-game suspension of three starting players could have sent a talented Belle Vernon boys basketball team into an irreversible tailspin. But the Christmas-time disruption may have had the opposite effect on the Leopards, who have not lost since. This could be a WPIAL championship contender that came to realize...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: 5 teams already punched playoff tickets
Five teams from Westmoreland County have secured spots in the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs with just more than a week to play in the regular season. The qualifiers include defending WPIAL 6A champion Norwin (10-6), Section 1-5A leader Franklin Regional (12-5) and undefeated Penn-Trafford (18-0), which should be in line...
Belle Vernon’s Zion Moore zeroes in on big scoring milestone
Belle Vernon senior basketball star Zion Moore has crept to the doorstep of another milestone. And this is a big one. Moore, one of the WPIAL’s top volume scorers, needs 36 points to reach 2,000 for his career. The Leopards (16-4), the No. 2-ranked team in WPIAL Class 4A, host...
Norwin, Greensburg Central Catholic girls ready to take run at repeat
Norwin and Greensburg Central Catholic won WPIAL girls basketball championships last year and are gearing up for a repeat with the WPIAL playoffs set to begin in about two weeks. Plenty of work remains before the teams can think about another trip to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, but at least...
With backs to the wall, Penn-Trafford boys snag a win at Latrobe
Brayden Stone was struggling, having an “off night” as he put it. The Penn-Trafford guard had missed five straight shots, mostly on rim-outs, but kept his head up as a tight Section 1-5A game grew even tighter as it reached the final stretch. With his team’s playoff hopes on the...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Seton Hill women’s basketball moves up to No. 5 ranking
Seton Hill vaulted four spots in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division II Coaches Poll, taking the No. 5 spot in the top 25. The Griffins (17-2, 11-1 PSAC) continue to look impressive in what has been one of their best regular seasons. The team also ranks fifth in the...
Latrobe’s Andy Tatsch gets 3rd Division I football offer
Latrobe junior Andy Tatsch is looking to follow in his brother Alex’s footsteps to Division I football. The wide receiver and defensive back pulled in a scholarship offer this weekend from Buffalo, giving him three FBS offers. The others are from Akron and West Virginia. Alex Tatsch, a linebacker, is...
Comeback bid comes up short as Norwin falls to Bishop Guilfoyle at Seton Hill
While their comeback was exciting, the end result left the Norwin girls basketball team wanting more. Norwin surged from 16 points down with a madcap third quarter, but couldn’t complete the rally in a 53-50 loss to Bishop Guilfoyle in the opening game of the Shootout at Seton Hill on...
Syracuse offers Southmoreland freshman Anthony Smith
Freshman Anthony Smith’s first NCAA Division I scholarship offer has come in. Some might say it is a surprise it took this long. The Southmoreland quarterback grabbed an offer from Syracuse on Saturday while visiting the university. “It feels great,” Smith said. “It has been something I have been dreaming...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Three Norwin players get college offers on same day
St. Francis (Pa.) came to Norwin looking for football talent and left with three potential prospects. The Red Flash extended preferred walk-on offers to three senior Knights players and all-around good buds in Michael Crnkovic, Mike Strutt and Colin Bruno. The offers rolled in on the same day. If they...
Southmoreland freshman Mickens gets Division I football offer
Jackson Mickens, a freshman defensive end and receiver at Southmoreland, already has a Division I football offer. Akron extended a full scholarship to Mickens (6-foot-1, 215 pounds), who had 11 sacks in his first season of high school football. He also caused three fumbles. On offense, Mickens had 35 receptions...
Norwin girls pop right back up after rare losing streak
A losing streak can teach a team a lot about itself, especially a team that isn’t used to losing. Take Norwin, the defending WPIAL 6A champion. The Knights recently dropped three straight — to North Catholic, Shaler and No. 1 Upper St. Clair. They had not endured such a streak...
