Bill Hartlep stories, Page 11
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 22, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A Quarterfinals 1-Moon (20-3) vs. 8-Fox Chapel (13-10) 8 p.m. Thursday at North Hills Winner plays: Winner of 4-Thomas Jefferson (20-3)/12-Kiski Area (16-7) Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Coaches: Gino Palmosina, Moon; Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel Players to watch: Elijah Guillory, Moon; Jefferson Moorefield-Brown,...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsule for Feb. 21, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 1-Lincoln Park (20-3) vs. 8-Knoch (15-8) 8 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny Winner plays: Winner of 4-Uniontown (20-3)/5-North Catholic (14-8) Saturday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Coaches: Mike Bariski, Lincoln Park; Alan Bauman, Knoch Section finish: Lincoln Park 1st, Section 2; Knoch 2nd,...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 19, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A First round 9-North Hills (12-9) at 8-Fox Chapel (12-10) 8 p.m. Monday Winner plays: 1-Moon (19-3)/17-Woodland Hills (9-13) on Thursday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Section finish: North Hills 3rd, Section 4; Fox Chapel 2nd, Section 2 Players to watch: Eric James, North Hills;...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Knoch’s Jackson Bauman, St. Joseph’s Isabella Thomas
Isabella Thomas Class: Freshman School: St. Joseph Sport: Gymnastics Report card: St. Joseph freshman Isabella Thomas finished fourth out of 37 competitors in the all-around with a score of 34.850 in the Intermediate I division at the WPIAL gymnastics championships Feb. 10. Thomas placed eighth in bars (8.600), fourth in...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 16, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A First round 16-Freeport (7-14) at 1-Lincoln Park (19-3), 7 p.m. 7 p.m. Friday Winner plays: Winner of 8-Knoch (14-8)/9-Beaver (12-10) Wednesday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Section finish: Freeport 4th, Section 1; Lincoln Park 1st, Section 2 Players to watch: Brady Sullivan, Freeport; Meleek...
After upsetting another top ACC foe, Pitt shoots back into NCAA Tournament conversation
Jeff Capel expressed complete confidence in his team’s ability to shoot the basketball after Tuesday’s 74-63 upset win at No. 21 Virginia. In the process, Pitt has shot back into the NCAA Tournament discussion. Winners of four straight conference games, the Panthers (16-8, 7-6 ACC) have climbed into a tie...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Knoch’s Derek Lang, Plum’s Alaina Claassen
Alaina Claassen Class: Sophomore School: Plum Sport: Wrestling Report card: Plum sophomore Alaina Claassen won the North Allegheny girls invitational title Feb. 3, scoring a 4-0 decision over Cumberland Valley’s Aja’nai Jumper, the top seed, in the finals. The WPIAL’s top-ranked girls wrestler at 235 pounds, Claassen is 14-2 this...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller, Highlands’ Cameron Reigard
Eliza Miller Class: Senior School: Kiski Area Sport: Swimming Report card: Kiski Area senior Eliza Miller won a pair of gold medals for the third straight season at the WCCA swimming championships Jan. 27. The two-time Valley News Dispatch athlete of the year won the 500-yard freestyle (5:04.80) and 100...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Kiski Area’s Abbie Johns, Freeport’s Brady Sullivan
Abbie Johns Class: Senior School: Kiski Area Sport: Basketball Report card: Abbie Johns surpassed 1,000 career points in Friday’s 48-17 win over Gateway as the Kiski Area senior combo guard drained all 5 of the 3-point attempts and finished with 20 points. Johns also had 18 points in a 49-37...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: St. Joseph’s Julie Spinelli, Cheswick Christian’s Grant Rochkind
Julie Spinelli Class: Senior School: St. Joseph Sport: Basketball Report card: Reigning Valley News Dispatch girls basketball player of the year Julie Spinelli had 22 points Monday in a 70-40 win over Riverview in Section 3-A and then tallied 19 points in Thursday’s 56-39 victory over Eden Christian. The 5-foot-11...
What you need to know for Steelers vs. Bills AFC wild-card gameVideo
It’s cold. It’s snowing. It’s windy. Get ready for playoff football on a Monday afternoon in Buffalo. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills will kick off their AFC wild-card game at 4:30 p.m. Workers armed with shovels, plows and dump trucks continued to clear snow from inside and outside Highmark...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Riverview’s Nate Sprajcar, Burrell’s Ella Campbell
Ella Campbell Class: Freshman School: Burrell Sport: Wrestling Report card: On Tuesday, Campbell pinned Latrobe’s Addysen Young at 118 pounds to help the Bucs to a 39-24 victory, earning the first dual meet win in program history. Now 7-4 this season with five pins, Campbell also won the Southmoreland tournament...
What you need to know about the Steelers’ Wild-Card opponent, the Buffalo Bills
The No. 7-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers will visit Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., for a 1 p.m. kickoff Sunday, facing the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild-Card round. The Bills beat the Miami Dolphins, 21-14, on Sunday night to clinch their fourth straight AFC East title and earn the No....
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Valley’s Keyziyah Clay, Knoch’s Adah Fuller
Adah Fuller Class: Senior School: Knoch Sport: Basketball Report card: Knoch sharpshooter Adah Fuller hit five 3-pointers and had a career-high 25 points Tuesday in a 46-30 win over Freeport. Then, on Thursday, she knocked down four 3-pointers and had 19 points as Knoch picked up a 51-16 win over...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Plum’s Will Beckner, Apollo-Ridge’s Sophie Yard
Sophie Yard Class: Senior School: Apollo-Ridge Sport: Basketball Report card: Apollo-Ridge’s Sophie Yard was named to the all-tournament team at the Apollo Trust Company Tournament this week after she scored 33 points in a 59-8 win over East Allegheny on Thursday and had 11 points in a 57-22 loss to...
North Allegheny trio, 4 from Central Catholic picked to Class 6A all-state team; Art Walker named coach of year
Coach Art Walker and a group of decorated upperclassmen led North Allegheny to a second straight WPIAL Class 6A championship and a PIAA runner-up finish this fall. The veteran coach of three of those Tigers were honored for their accomplishments Friday by the Pa. Football Writers. Walker, the Trib HSSN...
3 quarterbacks among 10 WPIAL players selected to 2023 Class 5A all-state team
Nolan DiLucia’s first season as a starting quarterback was quite productive … and rewarding. The sophomore signal caller helped Peters Township win the WPIAL Class 5A title and finish as PIAA runner-up. He threw for a WPIAL-leading 3,036 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 392 yards and eight scores,...
PIAA champion Aliquippa well-represented on Class 4A all-state list, including player, coach of the year
Aliquippa completed its first undefeated season with a 60-14 victory over Dallas in the PIAA Class 4A championship game earlier this month. On Friday, the Quips added a cherry to the top of the best season in program history. Four players were honored by the Pa. Football Writers with selection...
Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin, Matt Humbert earn state’s Class 3A player, coach of the year honors
Belle Vernon’s deja vu football season continued Thursday as the Leopards, who successfully defended their WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles, were again heavily recognized for postseason awards by the Pa. Football Writers. Coach Matt Humbert was named the state’s Class 3A coach of the year for a second straight...
Donta Green again named state’s Class 2A coach of the year after guiding Westinghouse back to PIAA final
Donta Green has helped turn Westinghouse football into a dominant force in Pittsburgh’s City League and beyond. For the second straight season, Green guided the Bulldogs to the PIAA championship game, and for the second consecutive season, he has been selected as the Pa. Football Writers’ Class 2A coach of...
Fort Cherry pair among 4 WPIAL players picked to Class A all-state football team
Matt Sieg accounted for more than 4,000 yards of offense this season in leading the Fort Cherry football to its first WPIAL championship and a runner-up finish in the PIAA Class A playoffs. The sophomore quarterback was rewarded for his efforts Thursday with selection to the Pa. Football Writers’ Class...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Burrell’s Anna Clark, Springdale’s John Hughes
Anna Clark Class: Junior School: Burrell Sport: Basketball Report card: Burrell’s girls basketball team is off to a 6-0 start and won its Section 3-3A opener Wednesday. Clark had 18 points in the 37-35 victory over Mt. Pleasant. The junior guard also scored 13 points in Monday’s nonsection win over...
West Virginia lands 4-star WR to highlight 2024 recruiting class
Ric’Darious Farmer committed to three schools during the past year. West Virginia was the final, and official, one. The four-star wide receiver from Melbourne Central Catholic in Florida signed a letter of intent with West Virginia on Wednesday, part of a 22-player class for the Mountaineers. “Day Day” Farmer (5-foot-11,...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Leechburg’s Adalyn Zanotto, Deer Lakes’ Billy Schaeffer
Adalyn Zanotto Class: Sophomore School: Leechburg Sport: Basketball Report card: Zanotto, who also plays volleyball and softball, helped lead Leechburg’s girls basketball team to a pair of one-point victories last week. The sophomore shooting guard had 19 points as the Blue Devils (4-1) edged Geibel, 37-36, in overtime Monday. She...
West Virginia to play North Carolina in Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Members of the West Virginia football team will spend some of the holiday season in Charlotte. The Mountaineers on Sunday night were selected to play North Carolina in the 22nd annual Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The game will be 5:30 p.m. Dec. 27 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.,...
