High School category, Page 938
Pine-Richland boys basketball team jells in coach’s 1st season
The last time the WPIAL had an open basketball tournament in 1984 Bob Petcash was a senior at Ambridge and played for a Bridgers team that made the Class 4A final, where it lost to Farrell. Now, 37 years later, Petcash will enter his first WPIAL tournament as a coach...
Plum swimmers seeking success at WPIAL championship meet
The Plum boys and girls swim teams are making final preparations for this weekend’s WPIAL Class AAA and AA championships at Upper St. Clair High School. After a month and a half of meets and numerous qualifying attempts, the Mustangs swimmers found out last week where they would be situated...
Norwin notebook: Swim teams have season to remember
Norwin will remember the 2020-21 swimming and diving season for more than a global pandemic. The girls team made history in the water this year, claiming its first section title since 2007. “The strength of this team is our depth,” coach Doug Watson said. “We are really three-strong in most...
North Journal notebook: 8 North Allegheny wrestlers advance to WPIALs
The North Allegheny wrestling team was well represented at Saturday’s WPIAL Class AAA championships after an impressive finish at the Section 3 tournament Feb. 20. The Tigers had three section champions and five runners-up who advanced to the WPIAL tournament. Dylan Coy (120 pounds), Nick Gorman (126) and Brady Leczo...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 26, 2021
High schools Basketball Boys Friday’s results WPIAL Class 3A Section 3 Apollo-Ridge 71, Steel Valley 58 Nonconference Fox Chapel 79, Bishop Canevin 71 Monessen 50, East Allegheny 49 Pine-Richland 80, Mars 53 New Castle 83, Seneca Valley 60 Upper St. Clair 65, Chartiers Valley 56 Jeannette 64, St. Joseph 33...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for Feb. 27, 2021: Playoffs tip off
The curtain rises on the biggest block party in district history: The 2021 WPIAL boys and girls open basketball tournament. Twenty of the 42 preliminary round games will be played Saturday with all but two of those game set for noon tipoffs. Boys play-ins Three classifications will be featured in...
High school roundup for Feb. 26, 2021: New Castle sharpens up for playoffs
Mike Wells and Isaiah Boice scored 22 points apiece and Class 5A No. 2 New Castle prepped for the WPIAL playoffs with an 83-60 victory over Class 6A Seneca Valley on Friday night. Donny Cade added 13 and Sheldon Cox 12 for New Castle (17-2, 9-1). Cole Brooks led Seneca...
A-K Valley basketball playoff capsules: Games for Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021
Saturday’s games Boys Class 5A Preliminary round 18-West Allegheny (7-6) at 15-Plum (8-5) Noon, Saturday Coaches: Andrew Tsangaris, West Allegheny; Mark Marino, Plum Winner players: At 1-New Castle (16-2), 6 p.m. Wednesday About West Allegheny: The Indians won two of their final three games and put together a five-game winning...
Westmoreland County basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 27, 2021
Saturday’s games Boys Class 6A Preliminary round 17-Canon-McMillan (0-13) at 16-Greensburg Salem (0-12) Noon, Saturday Coaches: Charles Murphy, Canon-McMillan; Mark Zahorchak, Greensburg Salem Winner plays: At 1-Upper St. Clair (15-1), 6 p.m. Tuesday About Canon-McMillan: The Big Macs may be winless, but they have been in a number of games....
Senior emerges as unlikely top scorer for Franklin Regional
In a flash of a couple of seconds, Kadyn Hannah saw a microcosm of his basketball career manifest before his eyes, in the form of a turnover. A painful turnover. But he owned the moment. “It was a travel, yes,” the 6-foot-4 senior forward from Franklin Regional said. “But here’s...
Inaugural Willie Thrower Award to honor football pioneer, recognize top WPIAL QB
Willie Thrower established himself as a top-level quarterback at New Kensington High School in the 1940s before making his mark in college at Michigan State and making history as the first Black quarterback in the NFL. More than a half century after he worked to break color barriers in the...
Format change ramps up intensity for WPIAL Class AAA wrestling tournament
High school wrestling coaches always talk about the “blood round” in the sport. It’s the round in the consolation bracket where a wrestler puts his career on the line to become an All-American in college, or in high school, earn a spot at advancing to become all-state. Because the coronavirus...
South Park’s O’Connor, North Catholic’s Foley capture WPIAL Class AA diving titles
Cole O’Connor saved his toughest dive for last and it paid off. The South Park senior trailed by five entering the final round, but successfully executed an inward double with a 2.8 degree of difficulty to score 46 points and vault himself to his first WPIAL Class AA diving championship...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 26, 2021: Diving, gymnastics take center stage
A busy weekend of playoff and championship action on the mats and courts begins with two days of events in the pool and on the beam, vault and bars. The pool is at North Allegheny, the host site of the 2021 boys and girls diving championships. The Class AA championships...
High school scores, summaries and schedule for Feb. 25, 2021
High schools Basketball Thursday’s results WPIAL Class 5A Section 1 Connellsville 47, Ringgold 32 Section 3 Kiski Area 53, Woodland Hills 49 Section 4 Armstrong 44, Hampton 31 Plum at Indiana, ppd. Class 4A Section 1 Deer Lakes 59, Freeport 40 Section 2 Lincoln Park 71, Hopewell 32 Blackhawk 83,...
High school roundup for Feb. 25, 2021: Chartiers Valley girls top USC in battle of title contenders
Perri Page scored 20 points, Aislin Malcolm added 12, and Class 5A No. 2 Chartiers Valley tuned up for the WPIAL playoffs with a 49-38 victory over Class 6A No. 2 Upper St. Clair on Thursday night. The Colts (18-3, 9-1) opened the second half on a 16-0 run. Paige...
Latrobe celebrates ‘section’ title with win against Woodland HillsVideo
The section standings were uneven, but the ladder underneath the basket was sturdy as Latrobe girls basketball players climbed the rungs and each snipped a piece of the net. Latrobe isn’t worried about the WPIAL not recognizing section champions because of unbalanced records this season, and the Wildcats celebrated their...
A-K Valley boys basketball notebook: Andrew Sullivan’s becomes all-time leading scorer in St. Joseph boys basketball historyVideo
Senior guard Andrew Sullivan has a been big-time player for the St. Joseph boys basketball team. On Thursday, he solidified his legacy. With 5 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second quarter of St. Joseph’s matchup with Bethel Park, Sullivan made a trip to the line and hit two free...
Connellsville football promotes assistant Bill Maczko to head coach
Bill Maczko grew up in Fayette County. He vividly remembers the days when Connellsville was one of the top big school teams in the WPIAL under Dan Spanish. Maczko, 46, was a 1992 graduate of Uniontown. He was hired on Wednesday as Connellsville’s new football coach to replace Marko Thomas,...
Burrell junior captures WPIBL girls title
In her first two years of high school competition, Burrell junior Lydia Flanagan was on the verge of claiming a WPIBL championship. On Thursday, she took the final step. Flanagan defeated Elizabeth Forward’s Kaylee Christeson, 175-159, in the finals of the WPIBL girls singles tournament at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes....
WPIAL open tournament in 1984 helped pave way for Latrobe’s future success
Neal Fenton was a junior at Latrobe in 1984, the year the WPIAL opened its playoff doors to everybody. The first open tournament, more of a trial run idea than one reflecting the damage done by a global pandemic like this year, welcomed any team far and wide within the...
Leechburg looks to continue playing fast as playoffs approach
Throughout this season, the Leechburg boys basketball team has set out to do one thing: Get out and run. Leechburg coach Damian Davies and the Blue Devils (7-4, 6-3) always want to take advantage of their athleticism by getting up and down the court and putting up as many attempts...
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Deep bond for Mt. Pleasant senior, freshman
Nate Kubasky is a senior and Dante Giallonardo, a freshman, but the Mt. Pleasant boys basketball teammates share a common bond as they prepare to play in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. They each lost a loved one to cancer. They not only support each other but also get a...
WPIAL cancels 2 preliminary-round playoff basketball games
The WPIAL on Thursday cancelled two playoff basketball games after the Ambridge girls and Propel Braddock Hills boys withdrew from the postseason. No. 17 seed Ambridge (1-16) was scheduled to visit No. 16 Burrell (8-8) in a preliminary round game Saturday in Class 4A girls. Instead, Burrell advances to face...
Derry boys basketball shooting for 1st playoff win in program history
Motivation can come in many forms in basketball. For Derry, the WPIAL playoffs, while open this year to every team because of disproportionate records and games played — a reflection of the pandemic — did not come with a free pass. Coach Tom Esposito still wanted his team to earn...
