High School category, Page 1067
Leechburg hires new football coach, athletic director
As an assistant coach with Burrell football the last two seasons, Randy Walters watched the Bucs fling the ball all over the field using head coach Shawn Liotta’s up-tempo Air Raid approach. It’s the kind of offense that can stir football passions in a coach, especially an old quarterback, and...
Scholarship offers piling up for Peters Township’s Corban Hondru
Peters Township junior Corban Hondru has been active this week … on social media, at least. With most of the world homebound and quarantined because of the coronavirus pandemic, Hondru has taken to social media like thousands of other high school students. Rather than posting push-up or dance videos, Hondru...
Early-season track and field invitationals canceled
Two of the area’s marquee track and field invitationals have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The annual South Hills Classic was scheduled to be held Saturday at Baldwin Stadium. In addition, the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational, scheduled for April 9 at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium, has been canceled, according to...
If PIAA playoffs resume, these WPIAL stars can look forward to Roundball Classic
If the suspended PIAA basketball playoffs resume, the season won’t end after all the hardware is handed out in Hershey. A Western Pennsylvania all-star tradition will follow. The Roundball Classic is set for April 24-25 at Geneva College with senior all-stars from the WPIAL, City League and District 10 facing...
Chartiers Valley’s Aislin Malcolm wins Pennsylvania player of year honors
Given the depth of talent on the court at any given time, it’s hard for any individual player to stand out on the Chartiers Valley girls basketball roster. Sophomore Aislin Malcolm has managed to shine through. The 5-foot-10 guard was named Pennsylvania player of the year by MaxPreps on Tuesday....
Guido: A look at other times high school sports shut down
The coronavirus pandemic is threatening to do what World War II, the Spanish flu and the Asian flu couldn’t do: shelve an entire high school sports season. With the schools closed and everything else virtually shut down, some are still hoping a semblance of a 2020 spring sports season could...
Pine-Richland softball focused on adding punch at the plate
Pine-Richland softball coach Gary Shepard has always emphasized pitching and defense as the core tenets of his philosophy for winning games on the diamond. However, this season, the Rams coach is tweaking his approach to incorporate more work at the plate in an effort to increase his team’s scoring output....
PIAA extends postponement of spring sports, winter championships
There’s still hope for high school sports to be held this spring. In response to Gov. Tom Wolf’s directive that all schools in Pennsylvania remain closed for at least two more weeks, PIAA officials have extended the postponement of the possible restart of the winter basketball and swimming championships and...
Local AAU squad deals with ‘so many question marks’ with season in limbo
Normally at this time of year, Tom Droney and his fellow AAU coaches would be gearing up for the first weekend of practice to get ready for the opening tournament on the Adidas 3SSB national circuit. But the word normal has taken on new meaning in recent weeks as the...
Valley News Dispatch wrestling all-star team
Jack Blumer Kiski Area, sr., 160 pounds 2019-20 record: 39-4 Blumer finished his senior year as runner-up in the WPIAL and earned a fourth-place finish at states. He became Kiski Area’s all-time pins leader with 107. Jrake Burford Highlands, so., 132 pounds 2019-20 record: 30-8 Burford was a key contributor...
Trib HSSN wrestler of the year: Canon-McMillan’s Gerrit Nijenhuis
Gerrit Nijenhuis is a dynamic performer and two-time state champion who added another sparkling chapter to Canon-McMillan’s storied wrestling history this season, so it probably is not fair to boil down his high school career to just one number. Then again, it’s a really impressive number. Nijenhuis’ 6-0 victory over...
Trib HSSN 2019-20 wrestling all-star team
Here’s a look at the 2019-20 Trib HSSN wrestling all-star team: Ethan Berginc Hempfield, jr., 113 pounds Record (2019-20, career): 37-6, 90-34 Berginc won the PIAA championship by defeating Cedar Cliff’s Aiden Lewis, 3-2, in the finals. He placed third in the WPIAL. He was the only wrestler who competed...
Tribune-Review Westmoreland County wrestling all-star team
John Altieri Norwin, jr., 138 pounds Record (2019-20, career): 40-7, 72-16 Altieri reached the PIAA semifinals before losing to North Hills senior Sam Hillegas. He ended up finishing fourth. He was the WPIAL third-place finisher. Ethan Berginc Hempfield, jr., 113 pounds Record (2019-20, career): 37-6, 90-34 Berginc won the PIAA...
Tribune-Review Westmoreland County wrestler of the year: Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps
Kurtis Phipps, like everyone in the world, is bored sitting at home watching TV. But that is what has happened with the coronavirus forcing people to take precautions to stay healthy. Phipps is glad the PIAA didn’t stop its wrestling tournament like the NCAA did for the basketball and wrestling...
Local ballplayers trying to stay sharp during coronavirus’ spring shutdown
Max McDowell was set to begin his sixth season in the minor leagues. A catcher for the Biloxi Shuckers, the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, McDowell couldn’t wait to start another year of dream-chasing on the diamond. But the Norwin graduate ended up disappointed. As slack-jawed as any athlete...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Penn-Trafford baseball honoring Maclean Maund
The late Maclean Maund was the ace of the Penn-Trafford pitching staff last season. He helped lead the Warriors to a runner-up finish in WPIAL Class 6A and was named a Tribune-Review All-Star. Maund was set to play for Seton Hill this spring but was killed in a vehicle accident...
Mohawk joins 6 other WPIAL teams in HSSN girls basketball state rankings
An old song had lyrics that proclaimed “one is the loneliest number.” That is true if you are the one team that got bumped in each class from the Trib HSSN state rankings. Four teams in each classification won their second-round PIAA playoff game last week and advanced to what...
Belle Vernon soccer standout Laurita flips college commitment to Georgia State
Nearly six months after announcing a verbal commitment to the University of Memphis to play soccer, former Belle Vernon Area star and Pittsburgh Riverhounds ECNL squad member Izzy Laurita flipped her commitment and will now be heading to Georgia State, a member of the Sun Belt Conference. “I was talking...
Thomas Jefferson football program honors accomplished senior class
The senior class racked up astonishing numbers in the Thomas Jefferson football program. Over the past four years, the Jaguars won 50 games with just four losses, posting a 29-1 record in conference play and winning three championships. They lost just one regular season game, going 36-1 and tacking on...
Depth fuels Quaker Valley baseball team after reaching playoffs last season
No nametags are needed this year for Quaker Valley’s baseball team. Quakers coach Dean Owrey and his assistants enter their second season leading the program, and they’re pleased with the progress they’ve seen. “Things are going well. These guys have been working hard through the summer and fall. We’re very,...
Fox Chapel boys tennis faces challenging road to 5th straight WPIAL title
Last season was one to remember for the Fox Chapel tennis team. The Foxes won their fourth consecutive WPIAL team championship and made it to the semifinals of the PIAA tournament while finishing 18-1. Coach Alex Slezak will have his work cut out for him if the Foxes are to...
Fox Chapel lacrosse has talent to thrive despite losses to graduation
The Fox Chapel High School boys lacrosse team posted an 11-5 record last year and made it to the quarterfinals of the WPIAL tournament. To make a similar run this year, fourth-year coach Kevin Devinney will need to replace a lot of key players who graduated. “We graduated the best...
After down year, the Valley Vikings are looking to return to the playoffs
The Valley baseball team didn’t have one senior on the roster last season, and coach Jim Basilone and his underclassmen took some lumps, winning only five games. But the Vikings took their losses in stride and worked to improve every day. Now, they are hoping the down season will pay...
With youth and experience, Valley softball is looking to break its playoff hiatus
The Valley softball team hasn’t made the WPIAL playoffs in eight years, but the seven returning seniors are hoping to end that streak. “It’s very important for us,” senior Casey Gatto said about getting back to the playoffs. “It’s our last chance, really, and we are hoping to do that.”...
Chartiers Valley, Carlynton, Bishop Canevin baseball teams hitting pause
With the spread of coronavirus putting all levels of sports on hold across the globe, Chartiers Valley baseball coach Curt Cairns summed it up best when asked what his players are doing to get ready for the season — if it happens. “In this situation, there’s no playbook for a...
