Dave Mackall stories, Page 27
Franklin Regional volleyball impresses with straight-sets win in PIAA quarterfinals
There is a thing or two about his girls volleyball team coach Mike Feorene might wish he could change. It’s just Feorene doesn’t feel the need to tinker much amid another season of thrills at Franklin Regional. When you’re shooting for a state championship, you must be doing things right....
Peters Township avenges loss to Gateway, returns to WPIAL Class 5A title game
That bad taste Peters Township had had since a one-point loss to Gateway in a WPIAL championship football game a year ago finally is gone. For real, it isn’t there anymore. There’s nothing sweeter for the Indians, now that they’re headed to their second Class 5A championship game following a...
Gateway defense stands strong, defeats Penn Hills in Class 5A opening round
Gateway couldn’t score many points Friday night on its home turf, but the Gators didn’t need to. Their defense took matters personally and stonewalled a determined Penn Hills bunch in a physical WPIAL football playoff victory at Antimarino Stadium. Carsen Engleka passed for 147 yards, and the Gateway defense backed...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer follows script, advances to WPIAL semifinals
For a high school soccer program not used to early playoff exits, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls team continues to follow the script to a tee. Sara Felder, Tatum Gretz and Jessica Nemeth scored two goals apiece, and top-seeded GCC stayed unbeaten while advancing to the WPIAL Class A semifinals...
Ligonier Valley caps 1st season back in WPIAL with wild win over Shady Side Academy
Consider Ligonier Valley’s return to WPIAL football a success, because the Rams won their season finale Friday night to post a winning record in their first year in District 7 since 1969. Hayden Sierocky’s interception at midfield in the final minute secured Ligonier Valley’s wild 53-48 victory over visiting Shady...
Penn-Trafford pulls away in second half, dusts Connellsville
No. 4 Penn-Trafford, idled by coronavirus-related issues for a week, found itself in a battle Friday with winless Connellsville through one half of a WPIAL Class 5A Big East football game before shaking off the rust and pulling away for a 64-28 thumping of the visiting Falcons. Ethan Carr passed...
Top-ranked North Allegheny rolls past Norwin
A late arrival by North Allegheny to Westmoreland County didn’t manage to derail the WPIAL’s No. 1-ranked Class 6A football team on Friday night at Norwin. Chalk it up to experience in matters like these: When the lights go on for North Allegheny, they generally go out for the Tigers’...
Mt. Pleasant holds off dogged challenge by Yough
Mt. Pleasant kept trying to put away the outcome. Yough wouldn’t allow it to happen. Until time ran out on the Cougars. Pete Billey rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns, and Asher O’Connor threw two scoring passes to Donavin Bair and scored on an 8-yard run late in the...
Jeannette brings coach birthday rout
For the 10th time in Roy Hall’s 12 seasons as Jeannette’s football coach, the Jayhawks managed to provide their leader with a victory during his birthday week. And what a rousing display it was. A day after celebrating his big day, Hall came away with another victory Friday as No....
Seneca Valley makes waves in debut, routs Hempfield
The wait was a bit longer than expected, but when Seneca Valley finally was able to take the field for its football opener Friday night, the Raiders did not disappoint. Dustin Horn, making his first varsity start, threw four touchdown passes and rushed for another for Seneca Valley in a...
Plum keeps Greensburg Salem from reaching 700-win plateau
For Greensburg Salem, football victory No. 700 will have to wait for at least another week. The Golden Lions were bidding to become just the fifth WPIAL school to reach that lofty plateau Friday night, but Plum had another idea. “We talked about it all week,” Plum coach Matt Morgan...
Ligonier Valley softball team eyes longer postseason run
Another successful softball season at Ligonier Valley in 2019 abruptly ended with an early exit from the postseason. For the Rams, who last qualified for the PIAA playoffs in 2017, it is time to get back to the business of trying to win a few more of those games. But...
Ligonier Valley baseball has holes to fill in lineup if it wants to chase Heritage title
In its final tuneup before joining the WPIAL next season, the Ligonier Valley baseball team will attempt to exit District 6 this spring with a second consecutive Heritage Conference championship and fifth overall. Coach Brett Marabito remembers well the first time the Rams earned the conference title. “It was my...
New coach Bates hopes to steer young Greensburg Salem softball team in right direction
Former Hempfield softball standout Alyssa Bates steps in this season as coach at Greensburg Salem after a two-year stint as an assistant with the Golden Lions. Bates, a freshman on Hempfield’s 2009 WPIAL Class AAAA championship team, said she is relying on what she learned from various mentors to develop...
Opportunity knocks for Greensburg Salem’s new-look baseball roster
Greensburg Salem faces a major overhaul of its baseball roster after a season that sent the Golden Lions into the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs as a No. 1 seed. It doesn’t mean coach Bill Wisniewski hasn’t been looking forward to the challenge. “It’ll be fun to see them progress,” he...
Carlynton boys outlast Ligonier Valley in PIAA Class 3A first round
JOHNSTOWN — Carlynton and Ligonier Valley found another gear during a wild fourth quarter Saturday that saw the Cougars outlast the Rams, 85-81, in a first-round PIAA Class 3A boys basketball game at Johnstown High School. Carlynton outscored Ligonier Valley, 32-27, during the fourth-quarter slugfest that saw the Rams rally...
Ligonier Valley, Carlynton hit reset buttons for PIAA playoffs matchup
Mike Kozy inferred District 6 Class 3A runner-up Ligonier Valley, which next season becomes a member of the WPIAL, is perceived to be out in the hinterlands though the Carlynton boys basketball coach is a bit familiar with the area. Kozy played at nearby Saint Vincent and is a member...
Robert Morris men want to maximize special opportunity in NEC tourney
Sure, there’ve been a number of key contributors to the Robert Morris’ surge into the Northeast Conference Tournament semifinals in men’s basketball, where Saturday the Colonials welcome Long Island University to UPMC Events Center. At any moment for Robert Morris, the stars have turned out to be better known players...
Robert Morris defeats St. Francis Brooklyn in NEC quarterfinals
It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. Robert Morris, welcome to March Madness again. AJ Bramah scored 22 points, and top-seeded Robert Morris rallied to beat No. 8 St. Francis Brooklyn, 59-58, in a Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinal Wednesday night at UPMC Events Center, surviving the Terriers’ last-second comeback attempt....
Four-goal 1st period paves way for Latrobe hockey victory over Armstrong
Latrobe passed its first test with ease Monday night in the PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs. Alex Schall notched two goals during a first-period scoring flurry that carried Latrobe to a 6-2 victory over Armstrong in a Class AA quarterfinal at Greensburg’s Nevin Arena. The Wildcats (17-1-1) advance to the semifinals...
Duquesne knows VCU’s Siegel Center is ‘tough environment’ to play
When Duquesne visits VCU on Tuesday night in its next-to-last regular-season game, the Dukes likely will be playing in front of a packed house at Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. That’s not such a big deal in college basketball, except in this case, it would mark the 151st consecutive sellout...
Dambrot: Time is now for Dukes to play better if they want to talk about March Madness
A strange idea was floating around Duquesne on Monday. Some people on campus were talking about March Madness. Madness on the Bluff? Who would have thought the Dukes, picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic 10, would be challenging for first- and second-round byes next week in the A-10 Tournament?...
Robert Morris tops St. Francis (Pa.), secures No. 1 seed for NEC Tournament
Robert Morris is No. 1. The Colonials, having already extended the Northeast Conference’s longest active streak for consecutive NEC Tournament appearances, went a step further, securing the No. 1 seed by holding off St. Francis (Pa.), 78-68, on Saturday at UPMC Events Center and sending the Red Flash into the...
Ligonier Valley’s 20-game win streak snapped by Richland in D6 title game
CRESSON — For a second season in a row, the Richland Rams proved too strong for the Ligonier Valley Rams and came away with a victory in the District 6 Class 3A boys basketball championship game. Only this time, Richland did it in convincing fashion. “I’m shocked,” Ligonier Valley coach...
Robert Morris assistant Mike Iuzzolino is more than ex-NBA video game star
After a lull, Robert Morris is back in the hunt for another Northeast Conference men’s basketball championship. The Colonials haven’t won an NEC title — and an accompanying NCAA Tournament bid — since 2015, a year before Mike Iuzzolino joined coach Andy Toole’s staff. Toole’s right-hand man on the Colonials...
