Dave Mackall stories, Page 18
Deer Lakes boys insist celebration of streak-busting win over OLSH will be short
Happy Holidays, Deer Lakes. The Lancers received an early present leading to the Christmas weekend when, on Thursday, they ended the nation’s longest winning streak in high school boys basketball by defeating two-time PIAA champion Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The celebration of their decisive 70-55 victory, said their...
Robert Morris men defeat rival St. Francis (Pa.)
Robert Morris met its longest-running rival in men’s basketball Wednesday at UPMC Events Center, and the Colonials for most of the night had their hands full with St. Francis (Pa.). But, after sleep-walking through the first half and falling behind early in the second, Robert Morris finally came together and...
Duquesne hits double-digit wins, rolls past Winthrop
Excitement is building on The Bluff, and with good reason. Duquesne notched its 10th men’s basketball victory of the season Wednesday in its final nonconference game to carry a double-digit win total into Atlantic 10 play for just the fourth time in program history. Dae Dae Grant scored 21 points,...
Duquesne’s offensive struggles continue in loss to New Mexico State
Duquesne’s sudden case of cold shooting continued Sunday, contributing to another underwhelming loss after an encouraging 7-1 start to the men’s basketball season. The Dukes came up empty for a second time in four days at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, losing 73-60 to New Mexico State. Duquesne’s leading scorer, Dae Dae...
Greensburg Salem girls celebrate Mankins’ return with win over Mt. Pleasant
Greensburg Salem ushered in the start of another girls basketball season Friday night on its home court by racing past Mt. Pleasant on the first day of the Greensburg Salem Tip-Off Tournament. Kaitlyn Mankins, playing in her first high school game in nearly 11 months, scored 17 points, and Ashlan...
Valley girls basketball team will measure success by progress
Aelan Wyley has plans to be an architect someday. For now, she’d like to win more basketball games. With the start of the girls regular season approaching, the Valley senior guard good-naturedly laughed off the Vikings’ inability to score points and post victories, acknowledging it’s been much longer since the...
Valley boys have clean slate as rebuilding process continues
After a 1-21 season in his first year as a high school head basketball coach in 2021-22, Valley’s John Stone was undeterred, even as he bid farewell to four senior starters. Incidentally, the Vikings’ fifth starter since has transferred out, leaving them with an overhauled lineup this season. “I love...
Graduations, injury to PG Cernuto leave Southmoreland girls basketball with voids to fill
If Southmoreland’s current run of WPIAL playoff appearances in girls basketball is to continue, the Scotties likely will need to reach deep down for a little something extra this season. It’s one thing to lose to graduation three starters from a 19-5 team that reached the second round of the...
Southmoreland boys to rely on toughness to get back into playoffs
After missing out on the WPIAL playoffs last season, Southmoreland boys basketball coach Frank Muccino is predicting the Scotties will be better this year. Good enough for a return to the postseason, where Southmoreland recently was a staple before last season? Muccino thinks so, if … “The big issue will...
Duquesne improves to 5-1 with bruising win over Alabama State
When coach Keith Dambrot predicted that Duquesne’s basketball game Wednesday night against winless Alabama State would be “a hard game,” he wasn’t kidding. “They beat us up on the boards,” Dambrot said following the injury-riddled Dukes’ 75-57 victory at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. “We haven’t really gotten crushed up like that....
Inaugural WCCA girls volleyball all-star match earns rave reviews
Brett Marabito gazed into the stands and grinned at the site of the assembled crowd inside the Ligonier Valley High School gymnasium for the first Westmoreland County Coaches Association All-Star Volleyball Match. The event Tuesday night showcased some of Westmoreland County’s top high school girls volleyball players and was the...
Hempfield grad Justin Sliwoski helps St. Francis earn trip to FCS football playoffs
LORETTO — He just might have received the most rousing ovation of anyone on the team when Justin Sliwoski heard his name announced over the public address system as among the seniors on the St. Francis (Pa.) football team being honored. A host of players smiled broadly and held out...
New Kiski Area girls coach foresees ‘formidable team’
There have been some lean years during the past decade in girls basketball at Kiski Area, but a 9-13 record a year ago represents the most victories since the team went 16-7 during the 2011-12 season, the most recent time the Cavaliers reached the WPIAL playoffs. Armed with four starters...
Kiski Area boys coach Smith confident entering 2nd season
Every time he’s in the gym at Kiski Area High School, Corey Smith looks up at banners representing the Cavaliers’ WPIAL section championships in boys basketball and feels the pride of being a member of those title teams in 2000 and ’02. For Smith, there’s just something about being a...
Duquesne beats Colgate in Keith Dambrot’s hometown, Akron
AKRON, Ohio — Duquesne remains unbeaten in the Keith Dambrot coaching era in games played in Dambrot’s hometown of Akron. But just barely. In gut-wrenching fashion, the Dukes made it 4-for-4 on Friday night at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, where Dambrot once coached LeBron James, by holding off Colgate,...
In coach’s 2nd season, Deer Lakes girls ready to make climb over .500 mark
Deer Lakes has only one thing in mind as another girls basketball season approaches — to come away with a winning record for the first time in three years. Perhaps the time is ripe? “We have the potential to be as good as anyone in the section,” said coach Sam...
New coach keeps bar high for Deer Lakes boys basketball
There have been great expectations in recent years for the Deer Lakes boys basketball team, which enters a new season with a new coach in a new classification. Don’t count on those expectations changing. Albie Fletcher, a Deer Lakes graduate and former basketball assistant at the school, certainly doesn’t see...
Duquesne bounces back from Kentucky loss with rout of S.C. State
Keith Dambrot was looking for a bounce-back game from Duquesne on Monday, three days removed from a humbling trip to legendary Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., and a decisive loss to No. 4 Kentucky. The Dukes responded to their coach in resounding fashion, scoring from seemingly everywhere, and ran past...
Ryan Palmieri, Pine-Richland top Woodland Hills to get back to WPIAL championship game
For a team used to playing for WPIAL football championships, Pine-Richland came away from Friday night’s Class 5A semifinal battle with Woodland Hills like it had never before been to the finals. The second-seeded Rams broke their postseason huddle with a burst of enthusiasm — and relief — knowing they’d...
Robert Morris basketball team routs Pitt-Greensburg
The Robert Morris men’s basketball program gladly accepted a nice-sized paycheck from Ohio State for traveling to Columbus, Ohio, earlier in the week for an anticipated spanking by the Buckeyes, who entered the season receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Ohio State won that game Monday night...
Pine-Richland dethrones North Allegheny in Class 4A volleyball
Wake up, Pine-Richland. It’s as real as it gets. You’re a WPIAL champion. “You know, I’ve been having this dream for about four months, where I can vividly see us winning the WPIAL finals and listening to ‘We Are The Champions,’” Pine-Richland girls volleyball coach Angela Seman said. It’s not...
Rochester dominates Greensburg Central Catholic in WPIAL 1st round
A No. 14 seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs apparently didn’t sit well with the Rochester football team. Don’t believe the Rams coaches and players if they tell you otherwise. “We don’t look at the seedings,” Rochester coach Gene Matsook said with a straight face. Oh, really? Judging from...
Greensburg Salem hockey has high expectations after strong start
In his four seasons as hockey coach at Greensburg Salem, Corey Mentch hasn’t seen a Golden Lions team offer this much potential. Whether they can deliver is another matter. Despite getting 12 victories last season, the most under Mentch, Greensburg Salem was left out of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League...
Latrobe grad Emma Fenton shines in more prominent role for St. Francis (Pa.) volleyball
A freshman season of learning for former Latrobe girls volleyball standout Emma Fenton has evolved into a sophomore year of applying at St. Francis (Pa.). Fenton was learning the life of a college athlete last season as a wide-eyed first-year player before a year later applying all that in a...
Penn-Trafford tops Latrobe to claim 7th straight WPIAL field hockey title
It never gets old. So say members of the Penn-Trafford field hockey team on the age-old concept of winning, something the Warriors are accustomed to doing. They continued their winning ways Saturday at the WPIAL championship, earning their seventh consecutive Class 2A title with a 4-1 victory over Latrobe at...
