High School category, Page 1141
Nowhere to go but up for St. Joseph girls after 1-21 season
Last season was one to forget for the St. Joseph girls’ basketball team. The Spartans won just once in 22 games, for several reasons. For starters, the team was a year removed from losing one of the best senior classes in school history, a class filled with three-sport stars, as...
Yough girls ‘pointing in the right direction’
It might not seem like much, but three victories last season was a big deal for the Yough girls basketball team. The number represented three more successful outings than a winless team in the previous year. The idea now for the Cougars is to take another step forward. “I feel...
Stalwart Sullivan leads new-look St. Joseph boys basketball
Last season was a good time to be part of the St. Joseph boys basketball team. The Spartans won 18 games, including a 78-45 victory over West Greene in the WPIAL Class A playoffs. It was St. Joseph’s first postseason win since 2011. It will be difficult to replicate that...
Loaded Gateway girls roster out to right last season’s wrongs
The Gateway girls basketball team’s 2018-19 season was over in a flash. The Gators, who totaled 19 wins and won their first section title in coach Curtis Williams’ tenure, earning them a first-round bye, had their WPIAL championship-defending journey halted after one playoff game. After they made some early mistakes...
Springdale boys must replace Zolnierczyk’s production, leadership
Replacing a stellar, multi-sport athlete is tough for any school, let alone a small one. But with the graduation of Valley News Dispatch 2018-19 Athlete of the Year Michael Zolnierczyk, Springdale soccer found a capable replacement in goalkeeper Andrew Haus. Now, the basketball team hopes to have its man to...
Numbers, optimism up for Springdale girls basketball
There is a welcome sight at Springdale girls basketball preseason practices. Players. A bunch of them. After going through an interminably-difficult 2018-19 season with six players, the Dynamos have more than doubled their turnout for this season. There are 14 players for now — 15 when an injured player returns...
WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball preseason breakdown
A new decade of WPIAL boys basketball tips off next weekend. Preparing to defend their district championships from a year ago are Mt. Lebanon (6A), Mars (5A), New Castle (4A), Lincoln Park (3A), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (2A) and Nazareth Prep (A). New Castle is looking for a...
WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball preseason breakdown
WPIAL girls basketball season will tip off next weekend. Preparing to defend their district championship from a year ago are Peters Township (6A), Chartiers Valley (5A), North Catholic (4A), Neshannock (3A), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (2A) and Rochester (A). North Catholic is looking for a fourth straight district...
Experienced Southmoreland girls basketball team turns to defense
It’s not that Brian Pritts undervalues offense. The girls basketball coach at Southmoreland appreciates high-percentage shots and sound ball movement. He wants his players to look to score. But Pritts’ clear focus heading into a new season is defense. He gets a gleam in his eye when he mentions that...
PIAA football championships set as the Road to Hershey concludes
This is the fourth year the PIAA has held six football championships, and the WPIAL will be represented by three of its champions in Hershey. Thomas Jefferson will play in the PIAA Class 4A final Thursday evening, Avonworth plays for state gold Friday afternoon and Central Valley will battle in...
Yough’s Justine Appolonia chosen Tribune-Review Westmoreland Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Player of the Year Justine Appolonia Sr., MF, Yough When Yough needed a goal, it knew where the ball should go. Of course, opponents knew who was getting the ball, too. But stopping Justine Appolonia was the challenge, and very few teams managed to even contain the Cougars’ all-time leading...
GCC’s Nate Ward named Tribune-Review Westmoreland Boys Soccer Player of the Year
Player of the Year Nate Ward Sr., MF, Greensburg Central Catholic Nate Ward will, in all likelihood, be remembered as a star soccer player at Greensburg Central Catholic. Rightly so. He’s an all-timer to wear maroon and black. But think about all of the things he did over the course...
Burrell’s Allie Vescio named Valley News Dispatch Girls Soccer Player of the Year
Valley News Dispatch Girls Soccer Player of the Year Allie Vescio Burrell, senior, forward Versatility is a calling card for Allie Vescio. The Burrell senior entered 2019 preseason practices as a defender with a mind for creating offensive opportunities. A change in the team’s on-field structure during the preseason moved...
Central Catholic loses in overtime to nationally ranked St. Joseph’s PrepVideo
ALTOONA — Nationally ranked St. Joseph’s Prep needed overtime Saturday to defeat Central Catholic, 31-24, but the WPIAL champion didn’t leave Mansion Park Stadium satisfied with just coming close. The Vikings knew they could have won — maybe even should have won — and they couldn’t hide their hurt. “We...
Southmoreland boys basketball hopes depth translates to wins
Depth on paper and depth on the court are different things. Southmoreland has the roster makeup of a team that will keep the substitutes moving in and out of games with rapidity. Expect to hear the buzzer a lot when the Scotties play if the depth comes to pass. Several...
Westmoreland notebook: Pitt softball feels ‘like home’ for Mt. Pleasant’s Brunson
Mt. Pleasant junior softball player Haylie Brunson announced last week she made a verbal commitment to play at Pitt. Brunson opened her recruitment during the spring after she initially committed to Louisiana-Lafayette as a freshman. Pitt offered a week ago. “I absolutely love the coaches,” Brunson said. “They really made...
Brentwood seniors proud of playoff run
Brentwood wrapped up a banner football season, making a semifinals appearance in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. The Spartans dropped a tough 20-14 decision to Washington in the semifinals to finish with a 10-3 record. “I thought we played really tough against (Washington),” John Milcic, Brentwood senior quarterback/defensive back said....
Pine-Richland girls eager to climb section ladder
The Pine-Richland girls basketball team is in the midst of a rebuilding phase and sports a roster that has youth and inexperience aplenty. The reality of this rebuilding phase and what it entails isn’t lost on the Rams or their foes in Section 1-6A. What may be lost on their...
Franklin Regional hockey winning with defense
Shoring up the defense was one of the Franklin Regional hockey team’s goals early in the season. So far, so good for the Panthers. They’ve been able to rank among the PIHL Class AA’s stingiest defenses through their first seven games. “We’re really pushing defense now. That’s the name of...
Pine-Richland boys reloaded, ready to run
Last season, a high-scoring, guard-heavy offensive attack powered the Pine-Richland boys basketball team to a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal appearance and a PIAA playoff bid. Some aspects of this season’s team will be different, as prominent contributors Dan Petcash, Greg Shulkosky and Colin Luellen were lost to graduation. However, some...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Nov. 29, 2019
Football PIAA playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Friday’s result Central Dauphin 65, Downingtown West 44 Saturday’s schedule St. Joseph’s Prep (10-2) vs. Central Catholic (12-1) at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium, 1 p.m. Championship Dec. 7 schedule Central Dauphin (12-2) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep/Central Catholic-winner at Hersheypark Stadium, 6 p.m. Class 5A...
Central Valley dominates Bald Eagle Area to earn trip to Hershey
One thing in particular that stands out from the many things that Central Valley coach Mark Lyons loves about his football team is that they enjoy playing together and not one player believes he is above another. On Friday, the Warriors took that mentality onto the field and earned a...
Turnovers doom Clairton in PIAA semifinal loss to Farrell
It was a night of missed opportunities for WPIAL champion Clairton in the PIAA Class A semifinals against Farrell on Friday. The Bears committed five turnovers, four inside the Farrell 10, and turned the ball over on downs three more times in Steelers territory as Farrell held on for a...
Avonworth punches ticket to Hershey for first time in program history with win over WilmingtonVideo
The Avonworth Antelopes will play for a state championship for the first time in program history. The fact that they accomplished something so significant was special, but how they went about their 33-21 PIAA Class 2A semifinal victory over District 10 champion Wilmington made the Hershey’s chocolate during their postgame...
Gateway knocked out by Archbishop Wood on last-minute field goal
ALTOONA — Gateway’s wait for its first PIAA football championship continues. Chamor Price’s dazzling run with a screen pass for a 30-yard touchdown near the end of the third quarter tied the game and put the WPIAL Class 5A champion Gators in position to play for the state title next...
