Chris Harlan stories, Page 124
Multi-sport McKeesport standout Diggs draws 1st football offer
Deamontae Diggs averaged a double-double for McKeesport’s basketball team this winter, but now college football coaches are starting to take an interest in him. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Diggs announced his first Division 1 football offer this week from Youngstown State. He played wide receiver for the Tigers last fall and...
Chartiers Valley slows WPIAL’s top scorer in quarterfinal win over Woodland HillsVideo
Chartiers Valley threw an ever-changing zone defense at Woodland Hills star Keandre Bowles, hoping to hold the WPIAL’s leading scorer well below his 29-point average. After three quarters, the senior had four points. “He’s a great player, hats off to him, but we had to take care of business,” said...
West Allegheny hires WPIAL champion to replace Bob Palko as track coach
West Allegheny lost one WPIAL champion coach but quickly added another. Laura Montecalvo, who led Chartiers-Houston to a WPIAL girls basketball title in 2017, was hired to coach West Allegheny’s track team, athletic director Dave McBain said. Montecalvo replaces Bob Palko, who was West A’s football coach for 24 seasons...
No. 1 Lincoln Park scores first 14 points in victory over Beaver Falls
Lincoln Park’s Keeno Holmes made a 3-pointer on the opening possession and Isaiah Smith added another seconds later as the Leopards scored the first 14 points in Thursday night’s 82-54 victory over Beaver Falls in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at New Castle. Holmes scored a game-high 30 points for...
No. 2 Aliquippa erases 14-point second-half deficit to defeat Neshannock
M.J. Devonshire was taking his official recruiting visit to Kentucky when Aliquippa lost to Neshannock in January, a loss that bothered him hundreds of miles away. “I started calling people on Facetime to watch the game while I’m out to eat,” he said. “My coach from Kentucky was like, ‘Are...
NFL, NBA and MLB represented in 2019 WPIAL Hall of Fame classVideo
As an NFL quarterback, when Charlie Batch studied scouting reports, he would take note whether there were any Western Pennsylvania natives on the other sideline. “I always made an effort to go out and say hello at some point, whether that was before or after the game,” said Batch, who...
WPIAL Hall of Fame to announce 13th induction class
For some all-time WPIAL greats, 13 will be their lucky number. The 13th WPIAL Hall of Fame induction class will be revealed at 10:30 a.m. Thursday during a press conference at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum inside the Heinz History Center. The WPIAL Hall formed in 2007 to honor athletes,...
WPIAL adds 2 boys basketball teams for 2019-20 season
One WPIAL boys basketball section will have a new look next season. Aquinas Academy and Propel Montour are joining Section 3-A where they’ll compete with Clairton, Greensburg Central Catholic, Imani Christian, Leechburg, Propel Andrew Street and St. Joseph next winter. Trinity Christian was in that section last season but decided...
Carlynton hires former Peters Township football coach Piccinini
Carlynton has hired Rich Piccinini as football coach, the school announced Wednesday. Piccinini previously was head coach at Peters Township from 2011-15 and North Catholic from 2003-05. He replaces Scott Yoder, who led Carlyton for four and a half years after taking over midseason in 2014. Carlynton went 2-8 overall...
Fox Chapel feels it after 1st quarter, beats Seneca Valley
Fox Chapel missed 10 of its first 11 shots Tuesday night, a dismal start that could have doomed the team’s playoff hopes, but then suddenly, they almost couldn’t miss. Even a 3-pointer to take the lead banked in. Eli Yofan made a 3, Ryan Kerr followed with a 3 and...
WPIAL schedules Aliquippa/Lincoln Park doubleheader at New Castle
Lincoln Park and Aliquippa, the WPIAL’s top seeds in Class 3A boys basketball, can’t meet until the finals. But the Beaver County rivals will share a gym this week. The WPIAL posted sites and times for Thursday’s quarterfinal games, a playoff schedule that includes an Aliquippa/Lincoln Park doubleheader at New...
Shaler defeats McKeesport, celebrates 1st playoff win since ’12
It’s been awhile since this kind of celebration was heard inside Shaler’s locker room. Seven years, to be exact. “There was a lot of jumping, dancing and singing,” said junior Mekhi Reynolds, who scored a game-high 25 points Monday night as No. 8 seed Shaler defeated No. 9 McKeesport, 76-60,...
No. 6 Union tops No. 11 Clairton with barrage of third-quarter 3-pointers
Union followed a nine-point second quarter with a 29-point third, and the difference was a few well-timed 3-pointers. “When one guy hits a 3, we all feel that momentum boost — and it’s a good feeling,” said Scotties senior Seth Pinkerton, who combined with Nathan Meeks and Michael Flowers for...
North Catholic football standout Nikhai Hill-Green announces transfer out of state
North Catholic’s Nikhai Hill-Green, one of the WPIAL’s top football players, said Friday that he’s transferring out of state. Hill-Green announced on Twitter that he’s headed to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. The standout linebacker ranks third among the state’s football recruits in the 2020 graduating class, according to Rivals....
Mt. Lebanon’s Anderson named state’s top cross country runner by Gatorade
Mt. Lebanon runner Patrick Anderson, who won WPIAL and PIAA titles in the fall, was named this week as the state’s Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. The 5-foot-8, 150-pound junior also placed sixth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional in Bronx, N.Y., and finished 29th at the...
5 players to watch in the opening round of the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs
The five-day forecast calls for cold weather across Western Pennsylvania, but here are five WPIAL boys basketball players worth braving the wind chill to watch. All five are in action during the first round of the WPIAL playoffs. Keandre Bowles, Woodland Hills, senior Bowles was the WPIAL’s leading scorer in...
