Jerin Steele stories, Page 16

The Pine-Richland track teams have accomplished plenty of goals over the last few years, but one thing they’ve been chasing is a berth in the WPIAL team playoffs. With a win over Seneca Valley on March 30, the Rams girls have put themselves in position to cross the team-playoff goal...

Shannen Drennon’s first goal after moving from an assistant to varsity head coach of the Pine-Richland girls lacrosse team this season was to create a team-centric environment. She’s been thrilled with how the team has embraced the message, and the results on the field have been superb. The Rams are...

First-year Kiski Area baseball coach Michael Manning’s initial impression of his players was they were ready and willing to learn. At the same time, Manning also was learning, and he is starting to see the areas where the Cavaliers can have success. They have two top starting pitchers, Jake Smith...

Youth will be serving for the Pine-Richland boys volleyball team this spring. It’ll also be hitting, digging, setting and doing pretty much everything on the court. The Rams will have a lineup made up entirely of freshmen and sophomores who have shown potential as they are adjusting to the speed...

It took a bit for the Pine-Richland boys lacrosse team to achieve results last year, but once the Rams got going, they went on a heater before ultimately falling in the first round of the playoffs to Penn-Trafford. Second-year coach Dave Offner believes the Rams can take another step forward...

Here are the 2022-23 Valley News Dispatch boys basketball all-stars: Player the year Bryce Robson Deer Lakes, 6-0, Sr., Guard Bryce Robson had a couple of goals going into this season. He wanted to be a go-to scorer and, as the most experienced player for Deer Lakes, become an extension...

Freeport baseball coach Ed Carr sensed this could be the year the program bounced back. It wasn’t that long ago that the Yellowjackets made the WPIAL semifinals and state playoffs, but the last two seasons have been a rebuild. They only won one section game last year, so this week’s...

In 2015, Anders Bordoy served as a ball boy on the sidelines of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ US Open Cup match with DC United. Eight years later, he’s training with the Hounds’ senior team. Bordoy, a senior at Kiski Area, signed a USL Academy contract with Pittsburgh for the 2023 season...

Melaina DeZort’s favorite spot on the basketball court to shoot is the corners. In the second half of the Cager Classic, she found her happy place and started hitting to help Team West overcome a double-digit deficit. DeZort, a senior at Freeport, had 11 of her game-high 14 points in...

Pine-Richland softball coach Sam Hartzberg was looking out at the field during Monday’s season opener against Chartiers Valley and it hit him how different the team looks this season. The Rams return four starters, but they are a youthful group that will look to build off a 12-5 season where...

When Pine-Richland baseball coach Kurt Wolfe reminisced about the 2022 season and earning a share of the Section 1-6A title, what stood out to him most was how the team did it. It was a young roster coming together, believing in one another, that surprised many across the WPIAL by...

Fans were treated to a postgame light show for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ home opener at Highmark Stadium Friday night, but before everything went dark for the festivities, Burke Fahling produced a laser beam with his right foot. And it helped the Riverhounds earn a point. Fahling’s goal, a rocket into...

Butler girls basketball coach Mark Maier got a taste of the Cager Classic when his oldest daughter, Makenna, played in the event last year. Now Maier is getting his first opportunity to participate in the long-standing All-Star game. Maier will coach the East girls team at the 26th Cager Classic...

Kassie Potts is listed at 5-foot-4 on the Blackhawk roster, but Cougars coach Steve Lodovico said she plays with the heart of a 7-footer. At times, Potts’ performance Tuesday night seemed larger than life. Potts scored a game-high 19 points and combined with a superb defensive effort, Blackhawk avenged its...

Following Saturday’s quarterfinal win over Neshannock, Deer Lakes boys basketball coach Albie Fletcher got in his car and drove to Armstrong to scout the two potential opponents in the semifinals. What he saw was a tough, sharpshooting Penn Cambria team — which the Lancers met in the first round of...

When Fred Soilis first was approached about becoming the Freeport girls basketball coach, he wasn’t sure if he would apply for the job. Eight years later, he is glad he did. But now he said it’s time for him to hand off the program to the next coach. After a...

All season, the Deer Lakes boys basketball team has prided itself on how deep its bench is. That depth was needed maybe more than at any time this year Saturday to keep the team’s historic run alive. Deer Lakes had nine players score, wore down Neshannock and turned a six-point...

There were times in the regular season where it seemed like Ringgold forward Kenneth Cadwallader was scoring goals for fun. He ended up being the PIHL Division 2 goals leader with 36, and he’s still having a blast putting the puck in the net in the postseason. Cadwallader scored a...

For three quarters Knoch scrapped, clawed and hounded Blackhawk on defense while making enough shots to keep a lead. That defensive effort carried over into the fourth, but a long dry spell on the offensive end doomed the Knights’ chances of pulling an upset. The Cougars held the Knights to...

Sarah Anne Shaffer realized a dream at the WPIAL swim meet when she crossed the finish line first at Pitt’s Trees Pool to win her first individual title. Shaffer, a sophomore at Pine-Richland, had the fastest seed time in 100 breaststroke going into the district meet and backed it up...

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has had a major impact on many youth hockey players in Western Pennsylvania and a couple of good examples are Pine-Richland seniors Ryan and Shawn Peacock. The Peacocks, who are twins, got their start on the ice at age 6 through Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn...

Pittsburgh Riverhounds coach Bob Lilley felt there were times when his team needed an extra gear last season, but they couldn’t find it. The consequence was some inconsistent stretches in a season that ended in the USL Championship Eastern Conference quarterfinals with a loss in penalties to Louisville City. So,...

There were a few major upsets during the first night of the PIHL Penguins Cup quarterfinals Monday, but Armstrong made sure early on it wouldn’t be the next victim. The top-seeded River Hawks scored four times in the first period and continued to add on from there in a 12-1...

It wasn’t the season that the Pine-Richland boys basketball team hoped for, but it did end on a high note. The Rams capped a 6-15 season with a 76-72 win over playoff-bound Butler in their season finale on senior night. “It was a good way to end,” Pine-Richland coach Bob...

Dacia Lewandowski said she and her North Catholic girls basketball teammates ask themselves “What’s their why?” going into every game. The choice for their “why” going into the WPIAL Class 4A championship game was clear. “Our why was that we were the two seed and we took that personally,” Lewandowski...