High School category, Page 972
Gateway athletes pick up postseason honors after challenging fall
The Gateway boys and girls soccer teams and the Gators football team each earned WPIAL playoff berths in a fall season dominated each week by covid concerns, cancellations and delays. The teams overcame a week-long practice and competition stoppage in pursuit of postseason opportunities. Several individual standouts helped fuel the...
Shaler indoor track working hard, hoping for chance to compete
Shawn Ryan sees the challenges ahead of him for the Shaler indoor track team. Keeping a positive attitude will be difficult. The Titans are training hard, but their ability to compete will be largely left to the whims of the number of coronavirus cases. All high school sports in Pennsylvania...
Shaler notebook: Pair of volleyball standouts named all-state
Marching into the WPIAL Class 4A volleyball championship game allowed the Shaler girls volleyball team to turn some heads. Along with compiling a 14-3 record before falling in four sets in the district final to four-time defending state champion North Allegheny, the Titans had two players named to the all-state...
Chartiers Valley hockey comes charging out the gate
While the high school winter sports season was trying to get off the ground in December, high school hockey was into its second month of ice action. One of the PIHL Class A teams that galloped out of the gate swiftly was Chartiers Valley. The Colts led the way in...
Bishop Canevin volleyball shows championship-caliber character during emotional season
The 2020 season was a teeter-totter of emotions for the Bishop Canevin girls volleyball team. It started with the very real fear that there would be no season at all, featured the joy of great success on the court and included the tragic loss of their beloved coach. “This group...
Westmoreland high school notebook: FR’s DiFalco awarded again
The honors continued to roll in for Franklin Regional junior soccer star Anthony DiFalco, who garnered United Soccer Coaches Region II All-America and USC All-Region East team honors for the second year in a row. DiFalco, the Trib Westmoreland player of the year, propelled the Panthers to a third straight...
Franklin Regional wrestlers have firepower to contend
Franklin Regional won consecutive WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA team wrestling titles in 2014 and 2015, and it reached the semifinals in 2017. This year, veteran coach Matt Lebe said his team has a chance to make some more noise, though he said Class AAA is very good with Waynesburg...
Penn Hills football standouts rack up postseason honors
Even though the Penn Hills football season didn’t finish the way the team hoped, the Indians had 13 players recognized for their play this season as they received all-conference honors. The Indians (4-4, 4-1) had six players receive first-team honors in the Northeast Conference from the Western Pennsylvania Big 56...
New coach sees great potential in Pine-Richland girls basketball lineup
Pine-Richland’s new girls basketball coach Kyle DeGregorio routinely tells his players they will be an elite team. He always adds that it’s just a matter of how long it takes. “I live day-to day, and I just want us to get better, compete every day, mature as competitors and learn...
New era for Pine-Richland boys basketball tips off with enthusiasm
Joe Petcash was riding in the car with his dad in mid-June when they got a call that would put into motion the next era of Pine-Richland’s basketball team. Bob Petcash answered discreetly, opting not to take it on speaker, and hung up after a few brief words with the...
Norwin infielder chosen for exclusive showcase
No high school baseball season last spring only served to motivate players like Alex Gabauer, a slick-fielding, power-hitting shortstop at Norwin. The senior has committed to play at Penn, so his college future is secure — as secure as it can be during the covid-19 pandemic. But baseball can lead...
Last season’s abrupt ending motivates North Allegheny girls basketball
After having its state title hopes dashed last season by the covid-19 pandemic, the North Allegheny girls basketball team isn’t worried about a couple of inconveniences. Wear masks at all times for practices and during games? Fine. Social distance and wash uniforms and equipment every night? No big deal. “I...
WPIAL champion coach brings spark to North Allegheny boys basketball
Matt McDonough and Robby Jones knew there would be some wide eyes in the gym, so they offered words of advice to their North Allegheny teammates about new basketball coach Dan DeRose. “We let everyone know his style and how he can yell a little bit,” McDonough said. “But he...
Franklin Regional’s Lindeman chooses Towson
Franklin Regional girls soccer coach Scott Arnold calls Sydney Lindeman a leader by example. The junior midfielder does not have to say much to inspire her teammates. Her skilled game does most of the talking. They often follow the pace she sets. “Syd’s teammates love and respect her,” Arnold said....
Fox Chapel wrestling looks to lean on work ethic in 2020
After losing four seniors to graduation, the Fox Chapel wrestling team is going to go through a transition process in 2020. Eddie Farrell, Josh Miller, Luke O’Connor and Alex Wecht all left a lasting impact on the program after combining for 101 wins last season. They all recorded double-digit pins....
Fox Chapel swimming set to have best team in recent history
The Fox Chapel swimming program is on the rise. With an influx of young talent on both the girls and boys side and state champion Sophie Shao returning, the Foxes are in position to have one of the best seasons in recent history. “We feel really confident; we had one...
Hampton girls swimmers get up to speed quickly in preseason
With most swimming pools shut down for much of the offseason, Hampton coach Morgan Zweygardt was unsure what to expect from her girls team when practices began. To her pleasant surprise, they’ve made a big splash. “I had no real expectations for this year,” she said. “I just wanted to...
Hampton boys swimmers a WPIAL title threat in Class AA
The Hampton boys swimming team is looking forward to picking on someone its own size. Coming off a memorable season in which Hampton placed third at the WPIAL Class AAA swimming and diving championships, the Talbots are dropping into Class AA, where they are expected to be a serious title...
2020 Valley News Dispatch Football All-Stars
Here’s a look at the 2020 Valley News Dispatch football all-star team: Evan Azzara Plum, OL/DL, sr. The 6-foot-6, 290-pound senior was a key piece of an offensive line that helped the Mustangs racked up 344.7 yards per game. The Miami (Ohio) commit was first-team all-conference and was selected to...
Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year: Apollo-Ridge’s Logan Harmon
Alle-Kiski Valley Offensive Player of the Year Logan Harmon RB, Senior, 5-8, 215 pounds, Apollo-Ridge Logan Harmon saved one of the best rushing performances of his career for Apollo-Ridge’s WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal game against Washington on Oct. 30 at Owens Field. The 215-pound senior running back helped dash the...
Valley News Dispatch Defensive Player of the Year: Springdale’s Logan Dexter
Alle-Kiski Valley Defensive Player of the Year Logan Dexter S, Junior, 6-2, 165 pounds, Springdale In Springdale’s first scrimmage of the season, Imani Christian sent two receivers toward junior safety Logan Dexter in hopes they would force him to make a difficult decision about who to cover. Dexter found himself...
Penn-Trafford’s Ethan Carr named Tribune-Review Westmoreland County Player of the Year
When Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane asked Ethan Carr to switch positions during his sophomore season, there were no objections. Carr took it as a challenge and became one of the Warriors’ top receivers and special teams players. So when Ruane approached Carr about returning to his original position —...
2020 Tribune-Review Westmoreland County Football All-Stars
First team Brad Birch Jeannette, QB, fr. The talented ninth-grader helped lead the Jayhawks to the school’s 10th WPIAL title. He completed 117 of 184 passes for 1,676 yards and 30 touchdowns. Late in the season, he started to become a running threat. He rushed for 272 yards and four...
WPIAL teams in action Friday night savor the moment, worry about what’s nextVideo
In all of his years as the Mars boys basketball coach, Rob Carmody has never celebrated an undefeated season. Not until now, said Carmody, who was in a deprecating mood Friday night after Mars won its season opener over Knoch, 79-59. He joked about hanging a banner in the gym,...
High school roundup for Dec. 11, 2020: OLSH boys top North Catholic in battle of WPIAL champs
With only a few hours to spare before a three-week, state-mandated sports shutdown, a pair of defending WPIAL champions managed to squeeze in one of the season’s most marquee boys basketball matchups. Jake DiMichele scored 37 points and Dante Spadafora added 21 to lead OLSH to an 80-74 victory over...
