Bill Beckner stories, Page 127

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...

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...

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...

The Roundball Classic was canceled last spring due to the onset of the coronavirus outbreak. But the high school basketball all-star event is returning — and in full force. Organizer Allen Deep green-lighted the 2021 Roundball, which will be played May 13, 14 and 15 at Geneva College. “We couldn’t...

Penn-Trafford is known for playing close basketball games and competing with some of the best in the WPIAL. Franklin Regional has a similar reputation for playing anybody, anytime. So, when the teams met Wednesday night, the last thing they wanted to hear was that they weren’t playing for anything. That...

Home-court advantage could play a much larger role than in past years when the WPIAL basketball playoffs get started Saturday. Most years, all games are played at neutral sites. The Southmoreland girls could be a beneficiary of a new rule that will allow higher-seeded teams to host tournament games through...

As far as scorers go, Mt. Pleasant might have the best-kept secret in WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball. Sophomore Tiffany Zelmore has been on a scoring tear of late, with 35- and 30-point efforts in back-to-back wins. The 5-foot-10 forward had 35 in a 57-52 victory over South Allegheny, and...

While many higher-seeded teams in the WPIAL basketball playoffs will be playing at home, a rare luxury afforded to participants this season in response to the pandemic, Greensburg Central Catholic will have to take its show on the road. The Centurions’ boys team was awarded the No. 2 seed in...

Yough’s first trip to the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs since 2009-10 is over before it started. Covid-19 contact tracing showed the Cougars played a team last week that had a player test positive for the virus, so Yough, out of an abundance of caution, has withdrawn from the Class 4A...

Fifth-ranked Norwin was looking to score an upset in its Section 1-6A finale Monday night — the eve of the release of the WPIAL girls basketball playoff pairings — but not because it had a chance to share the section title with No. 1 North Allegheny. No, that ship had...

Ligonier Valley still is getting its feet wet in the WPIAL sports scene, including girls basketball. A challenging first year showed the Rams what is necessary to compete in a new district. It also showed they are not quite ready for playoff competition. At least that’s the sentiment of coach...

Olivia Miller found her comfort zone competing for the Carlow women’s indoor track and field team this season. She also looked pretty cozy atop the medals stand. Miller, a senior who graduated from Ligonier Valley, was named River States Conference Indoor Field Athlete of the Year for the second straight...

Oregon assistant football coach Joe Moorhead called Team 412 Elite coach Will Reynolds on Wednesday, and Reynolds turned it into a conference call. He called Jeannette freshman quarterback Brad Birch on another cellphone and let him hear the good news from Moorhead, a Central Catholic grad and former Penn State...

Lehigh is making its rounds in the WPIAL as it looks for future football talent. The Patriot League program located about 300 miles east of Pittsburgh, in Bethlehem, is particularly eyeing Westmoreland County. Lehigh this weekend extended scholarship offers to a pair of local juniors in Greensburg Salem lineman Billy...

Hempfield boys basketball coach Bill Swan said he didn’t know what to expect from a “Saturday soiree” at Franklin Regional. A soiree refers to a fancy evening affair. You wouldn’t call Hempfield’s latest victory fancy, but the Saturday afternoon nonsection matchup will pass as another tune-up for the upcoming WPIAL...

If anything can turn around a basketball season, it’s one of those can’t-miss games. You know, when everything a team tosses up seems to splash down through the net? Some call it lights-out shooting. Others say luck had a front-row seat. Franklin Regional’s girls had one of those games recently...

Recruiting can be an odd thing. Timing can play a key part in determining where a prospect plays in college. Sometimes the stars have to align. Norwin senior football player Tanner Krevokuch is a prime example. After he lost a Division I scholarship offer, he began to explore other options....

Elizabeth Forward turned a home economics classroom at Mt. Pleasant into a makeshift locker room Friday night. There certainly weren’t too many cooks in that kitchen. Two players did all the heavy lifting for the Warriors, scoring 88% of the team’s points in a 42-38 victory over the Vikings in...

Franklin Regional plans to hire head coaches Monday night to fill vacancies in football and boys soccer. According to the school board agenda, Franklin Regional will recommend Lance Getsy for football and Thomas Louisy for boys soccer. Getsy, an assistant under longtime coach Greg Botta who resigned in January after...

Latrobe senior Tucker Knupp will play college football in the Patriot League. Knupp gave a verbal commitment to Lehigh, a Divison I-FCS program. Lehigh was his only Division I option, but he also had interest from Carnegie Mellon. A 6-foot, 220-pound inside linebacker, Knupp was a Class 5A Big East...

Talk about cutting it close. Southmoreland knew it was going to bring out the ladder and scissors and cut down the net if it defeated Belle Vernon on Thursday night to clinch at least a share of back-to-back section championships. Belle Vernon didn’t know about the Scotties’ plans but played...

All 18 boys teams from Westmoreland County will enter the WPIAL basketball playoffs. The WPIAL is having an open tournament this year where all teams are invited to compete. The league deadline to opt in was 3 p.m. Thursday. Southmoreland was undecided going into Wednesday night’s game against Geibel but...

Mt. Pleasant had just surrendered a six-point, fourth-quarter lead against Jeannette and took a gut-punch. Jayhawks 32, Vikings 30. The Vikings did not score in the final period. That game, although nonsection, would have been a nice feather in their collective cap, but instead left them wrung out and looking...

Franklin Regional will pull double-duty Saturday. The Panthers boys basketball team will play two nonsection games as they continue to sharpen their rotation for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. Coach Steve Scorpion’s grandfather, legendary Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Dick Groat, might appreciate the “let’s play two” reference as it pertains to...