High School category, Page 1051
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Baseball No. 2
While it almost became a theme to repeat in WPIAL softball this past decade, it was nearly an impossible dream for district baseball teams. Wild Things Park in Washington continued to be the home for the WPIAL baseball championships, but only twice in 42 title games was a school successful...
Senior Spotlight: Derry’s Justin Huss was planning WPIAL track comeback
Editor’s note: Trib HSSN is spotlighting WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Derry Area senior Justin Huss missed most of the basketball season after breaking the tibia and fibula in his right leg early in the year. Huss was a three-sport star athlete...
Latrobe’s Cole Ferri captures Mailey Memorial junior golf tournament
Cole Ferri shot an even-par 72 to capture the 52nd annual Tom Mailey Memorial Junior Golf Tournament on Monday at the Latrobe Elks Golf Club. The Latrobe resident edged Latrobe’s Darick Hrtyanksi and Penn-Trafford’s Alex Turowski, each tying for second with a 2-over 74, to win the senior division (ages...
Will Austin Hendrick trade West Allegheny red for Cincinnati Reds in MLB draft?
Hot dogs with Skyline Chili and evenings at Great American Ball Park could be in Austin Hendrick’s future, if draft experts are correct. The West Allegheny outfielder is projected as a first-round selection in the MLB Draft on Wednesday night, and the majority opinion has him headed to the Cincinnati...
Trib HSSN June Madness results for Monday, June 8
The HSSN June Madness results are in from Monday, June 8 in the quarterfinals of the brackets to determine the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. The lone wrestler in the Best of the Century brackets is flexing his muscles. Spencer Lee of Franklin Regional pinned Malik Hooker of New Castle,...
Trib HSSN June Madness quarterfinals: Amani Johnson, East Allegheny vs. Tabitha Bemis, Quaker Valley
Over the course of the next few weeks, June Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made...
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Softball No. 2
From classification expansion to field renovations forcing a change in the venue for the district championships, there was a lot going on with the WPIAL softball championships this past decade. From Lilly Field at Cal (Pa.) to Seton Hill to a mishmash of title games played here and there or...
Football coach Ryan Matsook returning to sidelines at Western Beaver
At Western Beaver, Ryan Matsook’s work duties already include assistant principal and athletic director. Now, add football coach to his busy schedule. Four years after winning WPIAL and PIAA football titles at Beaver Falls, Matsook is making a coaching comeback. Western Beaver needed a football coach after Derek Moye resigned...
New Western Pa. high school QB award honors trailblazer Willie Thrower
Starting this fall, the top quarterback among schools in the WPIAL and City League will receive an award named in honor of the NFL’s first African-American signal-caller. The annual Willie Thrower Award will honor the memory of the New Kensington native who first gained local notoriety by helping New Kensington...
Gov. Wolf: State will release covid-19 guidelines for PIAA in ‘next day or two’
The wait is almost over. Covid-19 guidelines for restarting PIAA sports are expected to be released Tuesday or Wednesday, Gov. Tom Wolf said. The PIAA has banned teams from organizing offseason workouts until those guidelines from the state departments of health and education are put into place. “We’re dealing with...
Montour grad Devin Wilson followed in big footsteps during Spartans’ ‘glory days’
Trib HSSN has been fortunate to cover a lot of great athletes the last two decades. While the ‘Best of the Century’ contest continues, HSSN will feature some of these high school stars from the last two decades Monday and Thursday on the Rebel Yell podcast. The first few years...
Trib HSSN June Madness quarterfinals: Spencer Lee, Franklin Regional vs. Malik Hooker, New Castle
Over the course of the next few weeks, June Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made...
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Baseball No. 3
While it almost became a theme to repeat in WPIAL softball this past decade, it was nearly an impossible dream for district baseball teams. Wild Things Park in Washington continued to be the home for the WPIAL baseball championships, but only twice in 42 title games was a school successful...
Renovations underway on Buccaneers Stadium in Burrell
As soon as the Burrell School Board voted unanimously in March to renovate Buccaneers Stadium with artificial turf and replace the surrounding track, anticipation began. A time to begin the project was negotiated, taking into account the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and ground finally was broken late last month....
‘Position-less basketball’ draws Penn Hills’ A’Lysa Sledge to UMass LowellVideo
A’Lysa Sledge owns point guard skills and the size of a forward, a combination that lets her play every position on the floor for Penn Hills. That versatility also makes her an ideal fit for UMass Lowell’s basketball team, so the 5-foot-11 rising senior committed Saturday to River Hawks coach...
Hempfield zeros in on new athletic director
There is a Hempfield Area School Board meeting Monday, but don’t expect them to hire a new athletic director. That should come at the June 15 meeting, according to board member and head of the athletic committee Vince DeAugustine. The hiring committee, headed by superintendent Tammy Wolicki, interviewed 11 candidates...
Indiana rising sophomore Eve Fiala draws Pitt basketball offerVideo
Indiana’s Eve Fiala, who’s part of a talented 2023 WPIAL basketball class, added a scholarship offer Saturday from Pitt. She will be a sophomore in the fall. The 6-foot-4 center averaged 15 points last season for Indiana, which reached the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals. She received her first Division I...
Senior Spotlight: Latrobe captain hoped to lift Wildcats into title contention
Editor’s note: Each day, Trib HSSN will spotlight WPIAL spring athletes whose senior years were cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Ainsley Novotny and her senior teammates worked the past three years to help Latrobe girls lacrosse compete with the WPIAL powerhouses. The group hoped this would be their year...
Westmoreland high school notebook: No decision yet on 7-on-7 tournament
The waiting game continues for the Westmoreland County Coaches Association 7-on-7 football championship. Don’t write off the event just yet. The county organization wants to have the annual passing tournament July 18 as scheduled but needs the go-ahead from the state in the way of Gov. Tom Wolf’s phased return...
PIAA’s spring sports cancellation especially tough for new softball, baseball coaches
Bob Kovalcin did not coach a game this season at Latrobe, but the man who came out of retirement to lead the Wildcats softball team has spent the last couple of weeks conducting exit meetings with his players. The asterisk-stamped season never happened because it was claimed by coronavirus restrictions....
Trib HSSN June Madness quarterfinals results for Friday, June 5
The HSSN June Madness results are in from Friday, June 5 in the quarterfinals of the brackets to determine the WPIAL Athlete of the Century. They say speed kills. That was the case in the first girls’ quarterfinals matchup as Lauryn Williams of Rochester raced past Christa Harmotto of Hopewell....
Bill Cowher surprises Carlynton grads with virtual commencement speech
Graduating from high school during a pandemic has eliminated many of the traditional trappings associated with the annual ceremony, but there is a bright side. When schools turn graduation into a virtual occasion, they are sometimes able to secure commencement speakers who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend in...
Sports might return sooner if schools prepare covid-19 plans now, PIAA says
The PIAA wants schools to use this downtime wisely. It’s unclear when Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration will release covid-19 guidelines to restart interscholastic sports, but in the meantime, the PIAA is asking school administrators to start making plans for their own districts, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said Friday. That...
With statewide American Legion season called off, another local league hoping to start soon
Another area group is planning to hold a season for teams that would have normally played American Legion baseball this summer in Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette and Allegheny counties. The Western Pennsylvania Baseball League hopes to begin play with exhibition games June 13. The regular season will open June 17. According...
Cheswick Christian Academy pastor and ex-basketball coach ‘doing well’ after heart transplant
Clinton Blazevich returned to Allegheny General Hospital on Thursday for a test to see how everything is progressing with his new heart. His numbers, he said, continue to move in the right direction. It has been a month and a half since the April 22 transplant, and the pastor at...
