High School category, Page 1021
Mt. Pleasant’s Gardner, Belle Vernon’s Shahan lead area swimmers into PIAA meet
After repeating as WPIAL Class AA champion in two events, Belle Vernon junior swimmer Ian Shahan will be out to defend his PIAA titles this week at Bucknell. Shahan is seeded first in the boys 100-yard butterfly at 49.02 seconds and 100 freestyle (44.68). He improved his WPIAL records in...
Fox Chapel freshman in position to claim state swimming gold
Sophie Shao was the No. 1 seed in the 100-yard butterfly at the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and the Fox Chapel freshman turned away all challengers for her first taste of championship gold. She again is a top seed in the 100 fly, this time...
Bigger roster gives new Fox Chapel softball coach Olbrich cause for optimism
During offseason training, first-year Fox Chapel softball coach Chris Olbrich kept seeing more and more girls show up to work out. It was a pleasant surprise for Olbrich, who was an assistant coach with the Foxes the past four seasons. The 2019 team had only 11 girls to start the...
4 WPIAL wrestlers to represent Pennsylvania all-star team at Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic
Kurtis Phipps’ high school wrestling career isn’t over just yet. The Norwin senior was selected to compete for the Pennsylvania all-star team at the annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic Saturday at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House. A team of WPIAL all-stars will wrestle Maryland’s all-stars at 4 p.m. followed by the USA...
High school schedules for March 9, 2020
High schools Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A Second round Wednesday’s schedule Methacton (25-2) vs. Abraham Lincoln (14-10) at Norristown, 7 p.m.; Roman Catholic (17-10) vs. Pennridge (19-8) at Bensalem, 7 p.m.; Freedom-District 11 (19-8) vs. Reading (19-8) at Martz Hall, 7:30 p.m.; Chester (22-4) vs. Simon Gratz (24-5) at...
WPIAL Girls Basketball Team of the Week: Week ending Mar. 8
Many eyebrows were raised when the Laurel Highlands boys and Bishop Canevin girls, both WPIAL basketball champions, were stunned in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. They weren’t the only district champions to fall on opening night. Central Dauphin won the District 3 Class 6A girls basketball championship with...
Trib HSSN girls basketball state rankings for Week of March 8, 2020
The Road to Hershey is open as the state basketball playoffs have one round in the books. Five teams, including four district champions, saw their season end and their time in the HSSN state rankings come to a close with opening-round losses over the weekend. The biggest surprise was the...
Rivals Latrobe, Hempfield meet in PIHL Class AA semifinals
Latrobe’s 5-2 loss to Pine-Richland in last season’s PIHL Penguins Cup Class AA semifinals stung the Wildcats. While the Rams went on to win the Penguins Cup and state championship, the Wildcats tried to process the defeat. They hope the semifinals go better this postseason when they take on rival...
WPIAL Girls Basketball Player of the Week — Week ending March 8
The WPIAL continues to dominate the first round of the PIAA Class 5A girls basketball playoffs, going 4-1 for a third straight season. One of those teams flexing their muscles was Thomas Jefferson, the No. 3 team out of District 7. The Jaguars crushed District 6 champion Portage, 62-30, in...
Greensburg Central Catholic baseball turns focus to fundamentals under new coach
Last season for the Greensburg Central Catholic baseball team ended earlier than expected. With a new coach and new outlook, the Centurions want refocus on making their accustomed deep runs in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs. Tom Appleby takes over as coach after Dennis Reist’s departure. Reist went 40-22 in...
Trib HSSN broadcasts for Week of March 9-15
The focus as March rolls on is split between the final four in hockey and the second- and third-round state basketball playoff games this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. The PIAA basketball postseason continues with second-round and quarterfinal action. The puck drops on the PIHL Penguins Cup...
Trib HSSN PIHL Team of the Week: Week ending March 8, 2020
In Class AAA’s Penguins Cup Playoffs, each game was decided by three goals or fewer. Ask any coach in the classification, there is parity. The cliche that anybody can beat anybody on any given night echoes in the classification. Tuesday, the biggest upset in terms of seeding in any of...
Trib HSSN PIHL Player of the Week: Week ending March 8, 2020
When it comes to the PIHL playoffs, teams often rely on their experienced players. It is no different for North Allegheny, which is the top seed in the highest classification of the PIHL. The Tigers are the Class AAA defending champions. They might be primed to go back-to-back, but they...
Pieces in place for Greensburg Central Catholic softball
The Greensburg Central Catholic softball team made a return trip to the WPIAL playoffs in 2019, a nice bounce back from a one-win season. Now, the Centurions will look to take the next step by making a deep playoff run. They feel the right parts — pitching and young talent...
Kiski Area hockey continues remarkable turnaround
Kiski Area sophomore defenseman Aiden Sites said if he was told before the season the Cavaliers would be in the PIHL Class A semifinals he wouldn’t have believed it. After all, the Cavaliers were coming off a one-win season, but after a 5-4 loss to Bishop McCort in the opener,...
New Deer Lakes softball coach Cerra hopes to build on program’s success
For the first time in 15 years, the Deer Lakes softball team will begin a season with a new coach. Rick Cerra, who was hired by the school board in November, will have a tough act to follow. Craig Tialani retired from coaching the program he had directed since 2005,...
Deer Lakes baseball wants to carry bigger bats into season
It all starts at the plate. At least that is where fourth-year Deer Lakes baseball coach Josh Tysk believes his team must excel to have a memorable season. “That’s not a secret, it has been our biggest weakness for the last three seasons,” Tysk said of his program’s hitting performances....
3 WPIAL indoor track athletes earn 1st-team PTFCA all-state honors
Indiana’s Kendall Branan, North Allegheny’s Casey Burton and Shaler’s Cam Mbalo earned first-team all-state indoor track honors from the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association. All three WPIAL athletes won state titles last weekend at the PTFCA indoor championships. Mbalo won the boys triple jump, Branan won the boys 800...
PIAA announces sites, times for 2nd-round girls basketball games
The PIAA announced sites and times for second-round basketball playoff games Sunday. Here’s a list of games involving WPIAL and City League girls teams. Class 6A Tuesday’s games 7-1 North Allegheny (23-3) vs. 6-2 State College (19-6) at Indiana, 7 p.m. 7-2 Bethel Park (22-3) vs. 1-6 Upper Dublin (20-7)...
PIAA announces sites, times for 2nd-round boys basketball games
The PIAA announced sites and times for second-round basketball playoff games Sunday. Here’s a list of games involving WPIAL and City League boys teams. Class 6A Wednesday’s games 7-1 Butler (21-4) vs. 7-3 Upper St. Clair (21-4) at North Allegheny, 7 p.m. 7-2 Mt. Lebanon (19-7) vs. 1-2 Cheltenham (24-3)...
PIAA basketball roundup: South Allegheny boys down Franklin
South Allegheny blew open a close game with a big third quarter on their way to a 62-40 win over Franklin on Saturday afternoon at North Allegheny in a PIAA Class 3A boys first round game. The Gladiators led 28-21 at the break but outscored the Knights, 22-6, to take...
WPIAL dominates PIAA finals in Class AAA
HERSHEY — It was another dominating year for the WPIAL at the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships Saturday. There were six state champions from the WPIAL headed by two-time champion Canon-McMillan senior Gerrit Nijenhuis (182). District 11 had three champions. Four all-WPIAL finals were contested. Norwin senior Kurtis Phipps used...
High school scores, schedules for March 7, 2020
High schools Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A First round Saturday’s results Abraham Lincoln 50, Bensalem 48 Butler 93, Central Dauphin 90 (OT) Central York 60, Central Catholic 39 Cheltenham 57, Easton 56 Chester 76, William Allen 63 Freedom District-11 69, Downingtown East 50 Lower Merion 63, Northampton 41 Methacton...
Burrell’s Corrado, Oswalt come up short in quest for PIAA wrestling gold
HERSHEY — Burrell came home from the PIAA Class AA wrestling championships Saturday with two silver medals. Ian Oswalt and A.J. Corrado qualified for the finals Friday evening, but both lost on the last day of the three-day event at Giant Center. Oswalt lost a 5-1 decision in three overtimes...
Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps finally wins state titleVideo
HERSHEY — It wasn’t a perfect match, but Norwin senior Kurtis Phipps will take it. After finishing second the past two seasons at the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships, Phipps finally won his state title. Phipps (41-1, 153-10) used a five-point move in the first period and held off a...
