High School category, Page 1104
Penn Hills’ Grimes to play football at Akron
With National Signing Day approaching, Penn Hills’ Tony Grimes took his turn at announcing where he will play the sport he has loved since he was 6. Grimes announced his verbal commitment to play football at Akron as a preferred walk-on via his personal Twitter account Jan. 27. Grimes will...
North Allegheny girls proving to be quick learners
The North Allegheny girls basketball team showed it can play fast and slow in a 60-42 victory against section rival Norwin on Tuesday night. The Tigers (15-3, 10-1) have won four straight and are tied atop Section 1-6A partly because of their flexibility, something that coach Spencer Stefko said comes...
North Allegheny’s Mihm listed among nation’s top swimmers
North Allegheny senior Rick Mihm was recently named to a list of the country’s top 18-and-under male swimmers by USA Swimming. Mihm ranks 72nd on the 2019 18 & Under World 100. His time of 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds in the 200-meter individual medley is 31st in the world. The...
Lincoln Park boys basketball seeking consistency
Lincoln Park’s boys basketball team has chased consistency all season. The Leopards (16-2) know they’ll have to find it before the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs approach. “We’ve had some ups and downs like every team has. We’ve been playing some great basketball one week and, the next week, we play...
Ligonier Valley boys basketball rebounds from poor start
If you witnessed Ligonier Valley’s boys basketball game against Nazareth Prep, you probably walked away thinking it was going to be a long season for the Rams. Ligonier Valley coach John Berger might have agreed after the 37-point loss to the returning WPIAL Class A champions. But first impressions can...
Several storylines heading into a busy Friday of section boys basketball
Thing are heating up in Section 2-5A in WPIAL boys basketball with three section games remaining. Chartiers Valley (10-1) has clinched a section title and appears on its way to an outright section crown. Thomas Jefferson (8-3) is second and can clinch a playoff spot with a win Friday. Then...
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Derry boys return to playoffs
It’s been 61 years since Derry made back-to-back WPIAL playoff appearances in boys basketball. But the Trojans (7-11, 4-4) ended that miserable drought. They will make a return trip to the postseason after clinching a Class 4A berth with a 50-37 Section 1 win Tuesday over Yough. Other local teams...
Realignment marks significant change in fortune for Hampton football
Less than six years ago, Hampton was a good football program. In 2014, the team went 9-2 and won its conference. The next year, it qualified for playoffs again and made a WPIAL quarterfinals appearance. Then expansion and realignment happened, along with some really bad times for the program. “I...
Central Michigan offers Jeannette sophomore Brett Birch
Jeannette’s Brett Birch is just a sophomore, but his coaches have noted he can do things that are ahead of his years. The way he runs routes. The way he makes catches in traffic and covers ground on defense. The way he leads by example. “One-hundred percent,” Jayhawks coach Roy...
Penn-Trafford’s versatile Ethan Carr pulls in four Division I offers
Let the Ethan Carr sweepstakes begin. Carr, the on-the-rise football standout at Penn-Trafford, is starting to see the recruiting process unfold months before he begins his senior season. A versatile prospect who played wide receiver, quarterback, running back, safety and outside linebacker for the Warriors last season, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound...
WPIAL releases football schedules for 2020 season
The loudest complaints from WPIAL football teams were about travel and blowouts. So the WPIAL released schedules Thursday for the 2020 and ‘21 seasons tailored specifically to address those concerns, WPIAL associate executive director Amy Scheuneman said. The schedules differ from years past because the WPIAL handpicked most nonconference opponents...
Franklin Regional swimming, diving get mixed bag at WCCAs
The Franklin Regional swimming and diving teams had mixed outcomes at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships Jan. 24-25 at Derry. The boys won their first Class AAA title since 2008, and the girls saw their four-year reign end. The boys dominated with 393.50 points in a 15-team field. Senior...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Jan. 29, 2020
Basketball Boys Wednesday’s results WPIAL Nonsection Armstrong 59, United 37 Carmichaels 51, West Greene 49 Ellwood City 63, Wilmington 48 Gateway 78, West Mifflin 44 Laurel Highlands 62, Uniontown 54 Norwin 67, Elizabeth Forward 60 Shady Side Academy 62, Freeport 45 South Allegheny 81, Serra Catholic 54 Winchester Thurston 81,...
Moon girls basketball trying to keep pace in rugged Section 1-5A
The Moon girls basketball team lost twice in December, and twice in January. The Tigers are hoping to keep that record intact Thursday in a key section test at home against Trinity. Just as the Moon girls avenged an early season loss to Thomas Jefferson with a 55-52 victory Jan....
High school roundup for Jan. 29, 2020: Top seeds hold serve in WPIAL wrestling playoffs
Eight bouts into its WPIAL Class AAA team wrestling tournament quarterfinal match Wednesday night, No. 2 Seneca Valley looked primed for an upset. Six matches later, the Raiders looked primed to challenge for a WPIAL title. Tyler Chappell (106) recorded a fall to start a run of six straight wins,...
Burrell wrestling dominates Beth-Center, advances to WPIAL team semifinalsVideo
The Burrell wrestling team left no doubt it was ready to defend its WPIAL Class AA team championship as it kicked off this year’s tournament in dominant fashion on its home mat Wednesday. The top-seeded Bucs, in pursuit of their 14th straight WPIAL crown, won 11 of 14 bouts in...
Plenty of big girls basketball games in Beaver County on Thursday
The top two girls basketball teams in the latest Trib HSSN weekly rankings will square off with first place at stake on Thursday. The strange thing is, both Mohawk and Beaver are coming off losses on Monday. Mohawk (16-2) is in first place with a 10-1 record in Section 1-3A...
Fox Chapel boys, Chartiers Valley girls remain on top of HSSN power rankings
The boys and girls Trib 10 from last week to this week was like an impatient card dealer, a little bit of shuffling before getting down to business. All 20 teams kept their power ranking with no new teams and nobody falling out. There were two drops on the boys...
Shaler notebook: Titans swimmers hope to make late push to WPIALs
Time is running out for the Shaler Area swimmers to earn times needed to reach the WPIAL Class AAA championships. Titans coach Keith Simmons would have liked to see some of his swimmers hit the times earlier, but he said sometimes it takes an extra sense of urgency to push...
Young Mt. Lebanon girls team continues to progress, develop
Most coaches will tell you experience and depth are two key elements that most successful teams possess. The Mt. Lebanon girls basketball team, however, is proving you can put together a pretty good squad without much of those traits. The Blue Devils start three sophomores and have only one senior...
Hempfield rolls over Kiski Area to reach WPIAL wrestling semifinals
Hempfield didn’t look sharp in its first match Wednesday in the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament. But the Spartans were a different team in the quarterfinals against No. 5 Kiski Area. Fourth-ranked Hempfield won the coin toss, which allowed coach Tommy Dolde to dictate matchups, and his team did the...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Southmoreland remains perfect
There are three teams left in WPIAL girls basketball with perfect records. Southmoreland (18-0) is one of them. But don’t expect coach Brian Pritts to underscore that point when the Scotties take the floor for practice and games. One of the more detail-oriented coaches in the game, Pritts truly is...
Senior Scala helps accelerate maturing process for Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball
As one of only three seniors on the Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team, Gia Scala was well aware of the Centurions’ inexperience coming into the season. Scala missed six weeks — three games — but her return to the backcourt has accelerated the team’s maturing process. She likes the...
Freeport girls basketball making postseason push with healthy Shemanski
Sidney Shemanski appreciates the ability to be on the court with her Freeport teammates. She doesn’t take that for granted. Not after injury and illness earlier this season took her away from game action. “You never know when something is going to happen to keep you from playing a game...
A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Deer Lakes solidifies playoff spot
Deer Lakes took a seven-point lead at halftime of Monday’s Section 3-3A matchup with Steel Valley, but a 20-1 third quarter in favor of the Lancers left no doubt in the 49-32 result. “It was fun to watch and definitely something I was confident they were able to do,” Lancers...
