High School category, Page 1123
Highlands boys sharing spotlight, climbing WPIAL rankings
When Highlands takes the court, most eyes in the gym usually drift straight toward the play of forward Johnny Crise and point guard Luke Cochran. Over the past few years, the pair of childhood best friends have helped Highlands (8-1, 1-0) jump into the upper echelon of WPIAL boys basketball....
Shaler Area wrestling coach Swope hopes Yeager’s tournament medal is building blockVideo
Brad Yeager demonstrated what Shaler Area wrestling coach Ethan Swope hopes to see more of moving forward. By placing sixth at 106 pounds, the Titans freshman wrestler earned a medal in his first varsity tournament. Shaler, which has only five wrestlers on the roster, placed 28th as a team at...
Shaler focuses on fine-tuning in pursuit of WPIAL qualifying
Shaler Area sophomore Jake Bacasa wants everything to come together so he can qualify for the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships. Right now, Bacasa is within several seconds of qualifying in the 100 breast and 500 free. “I want to better my technique,” Bacasa said. “A lot of the techniques...
Full roster could spell playoffs again for Hampton girls basketball
It might be too early to shout about, but Hampton girls basketball is back at the top of the section. After a four-win season last year following seven consecutive playoff appearances, the team went into the new year 2-0 in its section. That put the team in first place despite...
South Fayette senior Duncan signs with Ohio swim team
South Fayette senior Abbie Duncan signed a letter of intent to compete for the Ohio women’s swimming team next season. Tom Donati, her coach with the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club, said the Bobcats are getting a steal. Donati said Duncan is one of the most talented swimmers he has coached...
Offense catching up to defense as Chartiers Valley hockey hopes for strong 2nd halfVideo
With only three returning varsity players, Chartiers Valley hockey coach Paul Bonetti thought his team might be in for a challenging season. When the Colts dropped their first two games, it looked as though his suspicions were confirmed. At the holiday break, their record was a pedestrian 5-4-1-1 (including an...
Penn Hills girls hope tough nonsection games pay off in section playVideo
Robert Cash never has shied away from having his Penn Hills girls basketball program play against the top teams in the WPIAL. The Indians’ 3-5 overall record doesn’t look great, but the Indians’ losses came against the top teams in the WPIAL and out-of-state teams. The losses haven’t affected their...
Penn Hills boys steer clear of early season roadblocks
Going into the season, Dan DeRose knew his Penn Hills boys basketball team was going to be tested with a tough regular season schedule. DeRose knew his team would be battle ready when it came to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs thanks to a tough nonsection schedule as well. Off-the-court...
North Hills swimming teams enjoying improvement this season
While they’re only a handful of meets into their season, the North Hills boys and girls swimming teams are seeing measureable gains in their performances. So far, the North Hills girls (3-0) have seen one pool record, in addition to qualifying three of their relay teams for WPIALs and six...
Big year for Hampton wrestler Ty Kocak includes 100th win, commitment to George Mason
It might seem like ages ago that Ty Kocak wrestled his first match for Hampton. If you see a photo of him from three years ago, it looks like it too. He started at 106 pounds, the lightest weight class. But Kocak kept growing — and so did his win...
Detail-oriented Penn-Trafford boys collecting quality wins
Penn-Trafford is more interested in the small details than the big picture. The Warriors boys basketball team is off to a firm start, but its success is more situational than all-encompassing as Section 3-6A play begins to ramp up. “I’m not terribly surprised by the start we’ve had,” coach Jim...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: New defense suits Centurions
Greensburg Central Catholic soundly defeated Class 3A No. 3 Washington, 50-34, on the second day of the Greensburg Salem Holiday Classic. Coaches were praising the team’s defensive efforts, particularly how the Centurions performed in a 1-2-2 zone press. First-year coach Christian Hyland was asked when the new defense was introduced...
Alle-Kiski Valley boys basketball notebook: Marquee matchups set for Tuesday
Basketball fans looking for a big game to check out Tuesday will be in luck as a few of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s top teams face off against some of their toughest opponents yet. Trib HSSN Class 6A No. 1 Fox Chapel (9-0, 1-0) plays Norwin (8-1, 0-1) in a Section...
2020 tips off with plenty of girls section basketball around WPIAL
Three WPIAL girls basketball teams from the biggest classification won two championships in the just-completed decade. Two of them meet for first place in Section 1-6A on Thursday. North Allegheny visits Norwin in the first of two regular-season meetings between the girls hoops powers. Both teams are off to 3-0...
1st Trib 10 basketball power rankings of 2020 see Fox Chapel boys new No. 1
We ring in the New Year with the first Trib HSSN basketball power rankings of 2020. On the boys side, the 10 teams remain the same with some serious shuffling going on from the initial rankings and only one team remaining in the spot it had before the holidays. Fox...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Danielle Rosso steps up for Norwin
Danielle Rosso was expected to be a key contributor for the Norwin girls basketball team, but not even coach Brian Brozeski expected this type of production from the 5-foot-8 junior combo guard. With senior guards Olivia Gribble and Jayla Wehner forming a skilled scoring tandem, the Knights expected to build...
High school schedules for Jan. 2, 2020
High schools Basketball Boys Thursday’s schedule WPIAL Nonsection Union at Avonworth, 7:30 p.m. Girls Thursday’s schedule WPIAL Class 6A Section 1 North Allegheny at Norwin, 7:30 p.m. Seneca Valley at Pine-Richland, 7:30 p.m. Section 2 Baldwin at Mt. Lebanon, 7:30 p.m. Bethel Park at Peters Township, 7:30 p.m. Connellsville at...
A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Deer Lakes leaning on defense
The defense is not resting for the Deer Lakes girls basketball team. The Lancers, 5-3 overall, lead Section 3-3A in scoring defense at 37.3 points per game. They limited Riverview and South Side Beaver to 39 and 29 points, respectively, last weekend in winning the St. Joseph Tournament. Deer Lakes...
Derry girls basketball stays above .500, seeks playoffs
It was a nail-biter in the truest sense of the term. Derry’s Kamryn Kelly sank a free throw with 0.1 seconds remaining to clinch a tense 47-46 win against Bishop Canevin on Saturday in the second round of the Mt. Pleasant holiday tournament. “It was very nerve-racking at first,” said...
Knoch girls basketball team refuses to get complacentVideo
The Knoch girls basketball team found itself in a dogfight last season for a spot in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. It came down to the wire in Section 1, and despite a 1-4 mark in their final five section games, the Knights finished in a three-way tie for third...
George Guido: Making A-K Valley sports predictions for the 2020s
Happy New Year and welcome to new decade. We’ve arrived at the 20s. Don’t know if they’ll be roaring like the 20s of the previous century. But we do know it’s time to make our decennial high school sports predictions for the next 10 years. But first, let’s go back...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Deer Lakes’ Reese Hasley, St. Joseph’s Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan School: St. Joseph Sport: Basketball Class: Junior Report card: Sullivan became the first junior in the WPIAL this season to eclipse 1,000 points for his career during a 31-point effort Saturday in a 78-70 win over Aquinas Academy in the consolation game of the St. Joseph tournament. He...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Latrobe’s Gabe Willochell, Penn-Trafford’s Bella Long
Gabe Willochell School: Latrobe Sport: Wrestling Class: Senior Claim to fame: Willochell (15-0), an Edinboro recruit, defeated two-time PIAA champion Alejandro Herrera-Rondon of Seneca Valley by a 2-0 decision to capture the 132-pound title Saturday at the Powerade Tournament at Canon-McMillan. “I thought I wrestled good. It was a tough...
Apollo-Ridge’s Harmon brothers excelling on mat at Armstrong
Just last year, Apollo-Ridge and Armstrong worked out a co-op agreement that allowed then-Apollo-Ridge sophomore Logan Harmon to wrestle for the River Hawks and compete in orange and blue during the winter months. During his first season, Harmon excelled. He went 22-6 with 12 pins wrestling at 182 and 195...
Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps happy with win, but not DQ finish, at Powerade
Norwin senior Kurtis Phipps was locked in a tight battle with Wyoming Seminary sophomore Nic Bouzakis in the 126-pound final Saturday at Powerade Tournament. With the score tied 3-3, Phipps stood up to attempt an escape. Bouzakis decided the take Phipps back down to the mat, but he lifted him...
