High School category, Page 1203
McDonough leads North Hills past Kiski Area in hard-hitting matchupVideo
Heading into Friday night’s WPIAL Class 5A Northern Conference matchup between Kiski Area and North Hills, coaches Sam Albert and Pat Carey were expecting a battle, which was exactly what they got. While the Cavaliers won a few of those battles in front of a packed house at Richard J....
South Fayette’s Naman Alemada throws 5 touchdowns in win over New CastleVideo
South Fayette’s Naman Alemada tossed five touchdown passes in Friday night’s 37-21 victory, but those throws weren’t the only ones that left New Castle coach Joe Cowart impressed. Rather, Cowart pointed to a 21-yard back-shoulder throw early in the fourth quarter and a few other well-placed ones like it. “Spectacular,”...
New faces lead way for Norwin volleyball
Norwin’s volleyball team was back to its winning ways in its first section game of the season against Plum. The team hopes it will be the first of many victories en route to another playoff run. “We won in four sets, but the games were very close,” Norwin coach Mary...
Gateway volleyball seeks improvement, playoff berth
Coming off of a 2-12 record in Section 1-3A last year, Gateway’s girls volleyball team hopes the rough road it endured has set the stage for a bounce-back season. The Gators felt a Tuesday game against Armstrong, which went undefeated in the section in 2018, showed their potential in a...
Baldwin girls soccer enters season with new coach, enthusiasm
Tom Dongilli has embraced a basic yet enthusiastic approach to his first year as coach of the Baldwin girls soccer team. “Work hard, learn our new system and roles, and the scores will take care of themselves,” Dongilli said. The Highlanders went 2-15 last season. They were shut out 13...
Baldwin boys soccer takes it step by step
Success for the Baldwin boys soccer team appears to be a step-by-step process. “We have a very talented but inexperienced team,” second-year coach Dave Zinski said. “We are replacing six starters from last year due to graduation. While many of the players who have stepped into starting roles played some...
Sewickley Academy girls tennis in position to repeat; Quaker Valley rebuilding
With most of its players back, the Sewickley Academy girls tennis team is optimistic about repeating as WPIAL and PIAA Class AA champions. “We’re a tight group,” junior Evelyn Safar said. “I think that comes from all the experience we’ve had playing together. “All the fun stuff we do together...
Quaker Valley volleyball has mix of youth, experience
Quaker Valley’s girls volleyball team got its introductions out of the way last year. With six starters back, the Quakers want to make some progress this fall. “It’s really nice to have the same girls come back,” Quaker Valley junior Nicole Shaheen said. “We all know each other and how...
Roster turnover can’t slow Pine-Richland golf
The Pine-Richland boys golf team is in the rare position of replacing seven seniors who graduated from its 2018 team. Despite that turnover, the Rams’ surroundings are quite familiar as they are battling for the top spot in the Section 3-AAA standings with a 7-1 mark through the first leg...
Young Plum volleyball team showing fight
The Plum girls volleyball team lost the first two sets of its Section 3-AAAA opener against Norwin on Sept. 3. Faced with a quick elimination, the Mustangs instead battled back, won the third set and were on the brink of a victory with a 23-20 lead in set four. But...
Junior duo goes low for Franklin Regional golf team
Franklin Regional’s Chuck Tragesser and Michael Wareham spend a lot of their free time playing golf together at Willowbrook Country Club in Apollo. On match days, they are paired. Needless to say, the duo is around each other a good amount, and they always are looking for to improve upon....
Shady Side Academy girls soccer enters season with confidence
Shady Side Academy girls soccer reached the PIAA and WPIAL Class A semifinals last season. Coach Mary Lynch must replace four senior starters from a team that compiled a 14-5 record. She feels confident about this year’s group. “Our seniors have done a great job so far of stepping into...
Shady Side Academy field hockey counting on freshmen to help defend WPIAL title
Last year, the Shady Side field hockey team posted a 14-1-1 record with the lone loss coming in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. Prior to that loss, the Indians cruised to section and WPIAL titles. The team lost three seniors to graduation. “They were very important seniors and...
Communication helps 13 Westmoreland schools maximize turfs
It’s a muggy late summer day in Harrison City. The fall sports season has begun, and Warrior Stadium, with its gleaming new artificial turf, is alive with action. The field is split for a dual workout: The No. 1-ranked football team is on one end, the three-time defending WPIAL champion...
Highlands’ Hiester, Kiski Area’s Crosby continue female kicking traditionVideo
During her freshman year at Highlands, Hailey Hiester watched her soccer teammate, senior Taylor Gunn, kick as a starter for the Golden Rams football team. She witnessed Gunn’s success, a collection of kicks that included a winning field goal in overtime to beat Apollo-Ridge in 2015. Gunn now is a...
Washington lineman Chase Mitchell commits to FBS newcomer Liberty
The WPIAL added another Division I lineman to the 2020 recruiting class Thursday when Washington’s Chase Mitchell committed to Liberty. Mitchell announced his decision on Twitter. The 6-foot-5, 340-pound senior chose Liberty over offers from William & Mary, Seton Hill, Wheeling Jesuit, West Liberty, Tiffin and Notre Dame College. Mitchell...
WPIAL Week 2 football: How to watch, listen and find scores
There might not be a bigger game on this weekend’s WPIAL football schedule than North Allegheny-Central Catholic. The perennial 6A powers face off at 7:30 p.m. at Shaler’s Titans Stadium. TribLIVE HSSN has you covered with broadcasts and coverage of that game and others across the WPIAL. You can find...
Highlands’ Gabe Norris is connecting the dots for the Golden Rams
Getting off to a good start is important for any young player and Highlands midfielder Gabe Norris is off to one of the best of his high school career. Through three games this season, the junior has scored five goals and tallied four assists. In total, the Golden Rams have...
New Castle wants to stop South Fayette’s 3-year undefeated run in Northwest 8
The name changed from the Northwest Nine to the Northwest Eight, but whatever the Class 4A conference was called, South Fayette has owned it. The Lions are 24-0 in conference game since WPIAL football expanded to six classifications three years ago. “They’ve had a strangle hold on the conference,” New...
High school scores, summaries, schedules for Sept. 5, 2019
Field Hockey Thursday’s results WPIAL Division I Pine-Richland 3, Norwin 0 Division II Shady Side Academy 3, Ellis School 0 Nonsection Peters Township 7, Winchester Thurston 1 Football Thursday’s result District 8 City League University Prep 32, Westinghouse 22 Friday’s schedule WPIAL Class 6A Butler at Mt. Lebanon, 7:30 p.m.;...
High school roundup for Sept. 5, 2019: Franklin Regional’s Anthony DiFalco records second straight hat trick
Anthony DiFalco recorded a hat trick for the second straight game to lead No. 1 Franklin Regional (3-0, 1-0) to a 3-0 victory over No. 4 South Fayette (2-1, 0-1) in Section 4-3A boys soccer Thursday. Penn-Trafford 3, Latrobe 1 —Nathan Schlessinger scored twice off free kicks to lead Penn-Trafford...
Avonworth’s Kyros Thorpe among 3 denied postseason eligibility by WPIAL
Avonworth transfer Kyros Thorpe can complete the regular season but the football standout remains ineligible for the playoffs. The WPIAL held a hearing Thursday at the league office in Green Tree and voted to deny a request from Avonworth to grant Thorpe postseason eligibility. Thorpe didn’t meet the waiver criteria...
WPIAL rules North Catholic soccer transfer Jayden Sharpless eligible
A WPIAL hearing panel overturned an earlier decision and ruled North Catholic soccer star Jayden Sharpless eligible Thursday by a narrow vote. The sophomore was declared ineligible last month following her transfer from Freedom, but the WPIAL reversed that decision after a lengthy hearing at the league office in Green...
Norwin coach calls Red, White and Blue Invitational a good early season test
Norwin cross country coach Brian Fleckenstein is looking forward to the Red, White and Blue Invitational on Saturday at Schenley Park. It’s an early season meet that features some of the top teams in the WPIAL, West Virginia and Ohio and gives coaches a chance to see how their teams...
Trib HSSN high school football players to watch in Week 2
Here are four WPIAL football players to watch for during Week 2: Naman Alemada South Fayette, Jr., QB The junior signal caller has thrown for 542 yards and three touchdowns this season, second best in the WPIAL behind Sto-Rox’s Eric Wilson. He completed 11 of 15 passes for 181 yards...
