Michael Love stories, Page 68

The Alle-Kiski Valley Cross Country Honor Roll for the 2021 season was released Wednesday. Jack Lorence, a senior from Fox Chapel, was named the boys runner of the year. He capped his final season with a ninth-place finish at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Oct. 28 at Cal (Pa.). He...

The Deer Lakes girls basketball team made a furious fourth-quarter comeback at Freeport on Monday in the Section 1-4A opener for both teams. But a 17-point third-quarter lead by Freeport — its largest of the game — was more than the Lancers were able to overcome. The Yellowjackets held on...

Vinnie Citrano has great expectations for his final varsity wrestling season. The Plum senior is eyeing section gold after a third and two runner-up finishes and is hoping to place at WPIALs and make a run at states. He also is hoping to join the exclusive 100-win club at Plum....

After making his mark at WPIALs last year and competing at the PIAA championships, Plum senior Sam Schohn’s goals are clear for the 2021-22 swim season. “I worked really hard in the offseason to get back to states and go even faster,” Schohn said. “I got best times in both...

The Highlands girls basketball team got off to a winning start in Section 1-4A play Thursday as three players scored in double figures and a fourth came close during a 59-37 victory over Burrell. The Golden Rams, playing for the fifth time in seven days, improved to 5-0 overall. “We...

Sophie Shao was the hunted last season after bursting onto the high school scene as a freshman and winning WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA gold in the 100-yard butterfly. She answered the bell and turned away all challengers to defend both crowns. Shao, a junior, now is eyeing a WPIAL...

Patrick Body is confident. The Gateway senior feels Cincinnati can pull out a Cotton Bowl victory over No. 1 Alabama in one of the two College Football Playoff semifinals Dec. 31. His rooting interest these days runs deeper than it ever has before. On Wednesday, the three-star defensive back finalized...

Brandon Lawhorn Moore made a verbal commitment to Miami (Ohio) last month, and Wednesday morning, “Beef” made it official with the Redhawks. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Kiski Area offensive tackle joined Cavaliers senior teammate Brock Wilkins (Pitt) and dozens of others from throughout the WPIAL, including Apollo-Ridge lineman Greg Klingensmith (William...

The Highlands girls basketball team took advantage of the opportunity to get on the court in game action starting last Friday against Fox Chapel at the Freeport Tip-Off Tournament through Tuesday evening’s game against neighboring St. Joseph. The Golden Rams played four games in five days — Sunday was a...

Ahmad Matour was surrounded by a bevy of savory food selections on Thanksgiving Day. But the Monroeville resident and one of the region’s top bodybuilders was disciplined and focused. Matour has let nothing stand in the way of his goals in the lightweight division at Saturday’s National Physique Committee National...

Tess Myers has made quite the impact for the Duquesne women’s basketball team. The latest evidence from the Dukes freshman guard, Lower Burrell resident and North Catholic graduate came Saturday against St. Francis (Pa.) in a nonconference game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Myers scored a career-best 23 points (6 of...

Sophomore guard Megan Marston scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half, and junior forward Dannika Susko added 12 points and nine rebounds as the Plum girls basketball team topped Freeport 43-33 in the second game of the Freeport Tip-Off Tournament on Friday at Freeport Middle School....

The Highlands girls basketball team trailed Fox Chapel for most of the first half of Friday’s season opener at the Freeport Tip-Off Tournament. But senior guard Maria Fabregas’ 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer gave the Golden Rams a one-point advantage. Highlands didn’t look back from there as it opened the...

Starting 5s Girls 5 Teams to Watch Knoch: With three starters back, including Valley News Dispatch first-team all-star selection Madilyn Boyer and second-team pick Nina Shaw, the Knights hope to make waves again. Knoch went 7-0 in section play last year but was denied a section title because of the...

Rich Mull certainly wasn’t alone when he officially took over the head coaching duties of the Plum girls basketball team in August. He was one of a dozen coaches making that transition – six boys and six girls – among Alle-Kiski Valley teams at various points in the offseason. “The...

The Plum girls soccer team surrendered two goals in a game just three times in the 2021 season. One was in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against Mars, and the other two came against Section 3 rival Oakland Catholic. The second matchup between the Mustangs and Eagles, the section...

Luke Kolankowski has always seen himself as a facilitator in the offense for the Plum boys soccer team. “I feel that a nice assist and getting a teammate a goal is better than getting a goal yourself,” Kolankowski said. “No matter who scores, the win is the most important thing.”...

Gateway boys basketball coach Alvis Rogers said he has a lot to be excited about with his team as it is on the cusp of a new season in Monroeville. Four starters are back for the Gators who hope to challenge for the Section 3-5A title and make a deep...

When Phil McGivney took the reins of the Riverview boys basketball program over the summer, he saw strong potential in a group of players hungry for a turnaround. The Raiders were 3-12 overall in a truncated 2020-21 season and finished 1-9 in Section 1-2A. “I came in with a clean...

Maddie Deem is on an island, so to speak. She is the lone senior on the Riverview girls basketball team. But rather than wallow in the fact she isn’t able to share her final high school season with any classmates, Deem is energized by the youth and talent that dot...

When the final buzzer sounded to conclude Plum’s WPIAL Class 5A first-round loss to New Castle last March, Plum coach Mark Marino was able to take stock of what his veteran team was able to accomplish during a season filled with so many covid-related uncertainties In the days following, he...

When Rich Mull took over the reigns of the Plum girls basketball program in August, he was anxious to get going full speed ahead with a youthful group of players he knew had the potential to do great things. From workouts and games in the fall to now being fully...

Madilyn Boyer wants to help put a “2022” on a girls basketball section-championship banner in the gym at Knoch High School. The senior guard was part of a frustrating conclusion to an undefeated section slate. The team went 7-0 in section play, but because the section standings reached an uneven...

When asked what the biggest takeaway was from his team’s offseason of work, second-year Knoch boys basketball coach Alan Bauman pointed to the development of strong depth in the varsity rotation. “Last year, we didn’t have that (depth) as much,” he said. “We just had seven in the rotation. We...

The Gateway girls basketball team didn’t start out the way it had hoped last year amidst the atmosphere of overall uncertainty in the wake of the covid pandemic. The Gators were 0-6 before defeating Section 4-5A foe Greensburg Salem. They righted the ship and went 7-4 over the final 11...