High School category, Page 1115
George Guido: A-K Valley well represented in hoops rankings
It’s rare the Alle-Kiski Valley has two schools ranked No. 1 in basketball, but that’s been the case for two consecutive weeks. Fox Chapel is at the top in Class 6A boys, and Knoch has replaced Highlands at the No. 1 spot in Class 4A by virtue of its 74-69...
A-K Valley wrestling notebook: Starting lineups starting to round out as postseason approaches
As the postseason approaches, teams are mixing and matching weight classes in order to have their optimal starting lineups come section tournament time. This past week was a crucial one for the defending WPIAL Class AAA state champion Kiski Area Cavaliers. They went 3-0, earned big section victories over Plum...
Westmoreland High School Athletes of the Week: Franklin Regional’s Logan Summerhill, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Gia Scala
Logan Summerhill School: Franklin Regional Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Claim to fame: Summerhill, who is averaging 19.9 points and 7 rebounds this season, scored 31 points to lead Franklin Regional (5-9, 2-4) to a 70-56 win over Indiana in Section 3-5A on Jan. 7. Summerhill shoots 53 percent from the...
Seven returning champs looking for more Allegheny County mat gold
On Friday morning, teams from around Allegheny County will travel to Fox Chapel for the annual Allegheny County wrestling tournament. Seven defending champions return, including South Park’s Joey Fischer, Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Michaels, Thomas Jefferson’s Mike Zacur, North Hills’ Sam Hillegas and Pine Richland’s Nathan Lukez, as well as Mt....
Hempfield heavyweight Isaiah Vance making quick work of foes
Hempfield Area junior heavyweight Isaiah Vance didn’t break a record, at least nationally, when he recorded a five-second pin against Woodland Hills heavyweight Michael Ewart last week. He is believed to have broken the Hempfield record of seven seconds, however, which was set by former coach Vince DeAugustine in 1995...
With emergence of Ryan Weinzen, John Altieri, Norwin wrestling wins triple crown
Norwin did something at the 67th annual Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association wrestling tournament that it hadn’t done since 1975. The Knights crowned three champions in the same season. While Kiski Area and Hempfield drew much of the attention, the Knights ended up with a strong showing when seniors Kurtis Phipps...
A-K Valley Athletes of the Week: Riverview’s Sydney McDonough, Knoch’s Ryan Lang
Sydney McDonough Class: Sr. School: Riverview Sport: Basketball Report card: McDonough scored a game-high 22 points to help Riverview earn a crucial Section 2-2A win at Brentwood on Thursday. She also had a team-high 12 points in a 43-22 nonsection win over St. Joseph last Tuesday. McDonough is the all-time...
Burrell’s Seth Fischbach, Freeport’s Ricky Hunter play in All-Star game at NFL stadium
Every kid dreams of playing in an NFL stadium, whether it’s for one game or an entire career. On Jan. 4, Burrell’s Seth Fischbach and Freeport’s Ricky Hunter had the opportunity to do that. As a part of the Blue-Grey All-American game, the two first-team Valley News Dispatch All-Star selections...
WPIAL headed for minor, not major, football realignment
WPIAL football will have some smaller conferences and handpicked nonconference matchups next season, but schools don’t want a radical overhaul. A significant majority of WPIAL schools preferred “Proposal 1” for football realignment, a plan that maintains six classifications and separates schools according to enrollment size rather than geography. School administrators...
Trib HSSN state team wrestling rankings for Jan. 14, 2020
Class AAA Team record LW 1. Bethlehem Catholic (11) 7-0 2 2. Nazareth (11) 9-1 1 3. Waynesburg 6-0 3 4. Seneca Valley 9-1 4 5. Erie Prep (10) 10-1 7 6. Canon-McMillan 8-2 5 7. Hempfield Area 14-2 8 8. Northampton (11) 9-0 9 9. Kiski Area 10-2 10...
Trib HSSN WPIAL team wrestling rankings for Jan. 14, 2020
Class AAA Team record LW 1. Waynesburg 6-0 1 2. Seneca Valley 9-1 2 3. Canon-McMillan 8-2 3 4. Hempfield 14-2 4 5. Kiski Area 10-2 5 6. Norwin 8-2 6 7. Connellsville 8-2 7 8. Mt. Lebanon 9-1 8 9. North Allegheny 4-0 10 10. Latrobe 4-1 NR Class...
Trib HSSN individual wrestling rankings for Jan. 14, 2020
Class AAA 106: 1. Mac Church, fr., Waynesburg (27-3); 2. Briar Priest, so., Hempfield (22-1); 3. Jacob Houpt, so., Canon-McMillan (16-6); 4. Vincent Kilkeary, fr., Latrobe (16-4); 5. Nick Gorman, fr., North Allegheny, (20-2). 113: 1. Carter Dibert, jr. Franklin Regional (22-1); 2. Ethan Berginc, jr. Hempfield (15-3); 3. Nico...
PIAA denies Aliquippa request to remain in Class 3A football
The PIAA competitive-balance rule seems particularly harsh on lower-income communities like Aliquippa, said athletic director Brandon LeDonne, where residents tend to be more transient. “Parents change jobs, guardianship changes, living situations change,” LeDonne said. “Sometimes they change like some of us change underwear. It’s kind of unfortunate.” The new rule...
Plum limits section rival Gateway to win battle for first place
The Plum girls basketball team got defensive Monday against rival Gateway in a battle for first place in Section 2-5A. The Mustangs held the Gators 24 points under their season scoring average in a 41-27 victory at Gateway’s Furrie Sports Complex. “We knew this was a huge game, and we...
GCC’s Nate Ward beats Clairton with bomb at the buzzer
Nate Ward simply has a knack for creating bedlam. A tie-busting forward in soccer — one of the top recruits in the country in the Class of 2020 — Ward has a penchant for game-winning goals. The Greensburg Central Catholic senior took that tendency onto the basketball court Monday night...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Jan. 13, 2020
Basketball Boys Monday’s results WPIAL Class A Section 2 Geibel 76, Mapletown 64 Section 3 Greensburg Central Catholic 66, Clairton 65 (OT) Nonsection Brownsville 71, Bentworth 50 Freedom 87, Rochester 35 Mohawk 68, Portersville Christian 62 Mt. Pleasant 43, Brentwood 42 District 6 Heritage Ligonier Valley 69, West Shamokin 53...
High school roundup for Jan. 13, 2020: Emma Walsh hits from half court to lift Seton LaSalle to OT win
Emma Walsh hit a desperation shot from half court at the buzzer to lift Seton LaSalle to a dramatic 54-53 overtime victory over South Park in Section 2-3A girls basketball Monday night. South Park’s Cassie Klocek hit the go-ahead shot for South Park with four seconds left in OT. Walsh...
WPIAL boys basketball hits midway point of section play with rivalry Tuesday
Fifteen years ago, Danny Holzer led Upper St. Clair to the WPIAL Class AAAA boys basketball championship. The following year, in 2006, Joey David guided Mt. Lebanon to a district Quad-A title. The Blue Devils also won WPIAL gold under David 10 years ago and last year. Upper St. Clair...
Riley DeRubbo stars for Trinity in win over Thomas Jefferson
Last year, Thomas Jefferson, as part of a 22-win season in girls basketball, beat Trinity three times. Thomas Jefferson won twice in the regular season and in the first round of the state playoffs, including a 72-41 triumph at Hiller Hall. That Trinity team didn’t have its best player, Riley...
Soccer standout Sam Nemeth nets a different kind of game winner for GCC girls
As a standout soccer player, Sam Nemeth has scored winning goals before for Greensburg Central Catholic. She’s been known to show out in the clutch. On Monday night, she got her kicks for the girls basketball team — with some more flair for the dramatic. Nemeth, a senior forward, ran...
Fox Chapel rises to top in 6A, Quaker Valley out in 4A in state boys hoops rankings
It was an active first week of January in the Trib HSSN weekly boys basketball state rankings with a couple of teams losing their grip on the top spot and others falling completely out. We have new No. 1 teams in Class 6A and 4A with Kennedy Catholic and Archbishop...
Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week — Week ending Jan. 11, 2020
What a difference a week makes. Last week began with Blackhawk tied with Central Valley for third place in Section 2-4A, trailing both Ambridge and Quaker Valley in the chase for first place. After key section wins over the Bridgers and Quakers, the Cougars are about to hit the midway...
Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week — Week ending Jan. 11, 2020
A lot of eyebrows were raised on Tuesday when Frank Stumpo had a game for the ages in a Keystone Oaks victory. The senior guard scored 51 points and the Golden Eagles needed nearly all of those points in an 80-75 victory at Freedom. “I think his shot selection and...
Knoch swimmer Braden Zukowski takes nothing for granted in WPIAL title quest
Knoch’s Braden Zukowski finished third overall in the boys 100-yard breaststroke at last year’s WPIAL Class AA championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. He is the top returner from that race, as both the champion, Belle Vernon’s Robert Spekis, and the runner-up, Greensburg Salem’s William Crites, graduated. While Zukowski figures to...
WPIAL Girls Basketball Team of the Week: Week ending Jan. 11
Their names are legendary in Greene County and well known by WPIAL softball and basketball fans. Madison and McKenna Lampe, Kaitlyn Rizor, Brianna Goodwin and Savannah Pettit graduated this last spring after leading West Greene to four straight WPIAL softball championships, two PIAA softball titles along and three straight girls...
