High School category, Page 1255
Highlands holds off Belle Vernon in Class 4A 1st-round victory
Highlands saw its playoff life flashing before its eyes against an unafraid underdog Belle Vernon. The Golden Rams prepared all season for such a moment, though, and ultimately it paid off. A career night from Johnny Crise, a few key defensive plays and some clutch free-throw shooting proved just enough...
WPIAL Hall of Fame to announce 13th induction class
For some all-time WPIAL greats, 13 will be their lucky number. The 13th WPIAL Hall of Fame induction class will be revealed at 10:30 a.m. Thursday during a press conference at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum inside the Heinz History Center. The WPIAL Hall formed in 2007 to honor athletes,...
New Castle hosting marquee boys basketball playoff doubleheader Thursday night
It will be a Section 1-3A convention of sorts Thursday for a WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball doubleheader to kick off quarterfinals weekend. In the opener, Aliquippa faces Neshannock at 6:30 p.m. followed by Lincoln Park facing Beaver Falls at 8 p.m. in the third meeting of the season between...
High school scores, schedules for Feb. 20, 2019
High Schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Saturday’s schedule Pine-Richland (20-2) vs. Peters Township (16-7) at North Hills, 3 p.m.; Upper St. Clair (19-3) vs. Butler (18-4) at Canon-McMillan, 1:30 p.m.; Latrobe (18-2) vs. Canon-McMillan (15-8) at Norwin, 3 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (19-3) vs. Fox Chapel (16-7) at...
Hempfield’s Orischak commits to St. Francis (Pa.)
Another Hempfield softball player has committed early to a Division I college. Standout sophomore Ashley Orischak, a key designated hitter for the Spartans last season during their run to a third straight PIAA title and a WPIAL four-peat, gave a verbal commitment to St. Francis (Pa.). There, she plans to...
Mars boys, Peters Township girls stay atop Trib 10 basketball power rankings
Every Wednesday during the 2018-19 WPIAL basketball season, the TribLive High School Sports Network releases Power Rankings during the WPIAL Roundball Report at 6:30 p.m. Then, after the show, the Trib Ten is posted online at TribHSSN.TribLive.com. These rankings have zero classification boundaries. Here are the rankings for the Week...
‘Squirrelly’ Burrell wrestler Salerno reaps benefits of joining Bucs
Nick Salerno earned his nickname in his earliest days as a wrestler, when he drove a hard bargain with his mother before going to a camp. “I wouldn’t go until I got a milkshake,” Salerno said. So it was that Salerno walked into a full camp — late — holding...
A-K Valley basketball playoff capsules: Games of Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019
Boys Class 3A Quarterfinals No. 3 North Catholic (19-4) vs. No. 6 Deer Lakes (16-6) 8 p.m. Thursday at North Allegheny Winner plays: No. 2 Aliquippa (15-7) or No. 7 Neshannock (18-5) on Monday in semifinals Coaches: Dave DeGregorio, North Catholic; Terence Parham, Deer Lakes Points scored/allowed: North Catholic, 76.0/55.3;...
Westmoreland basketball playoff capsules: Games of Friday, Feb. 22, 2019
Boys Class 5A Quarterfinals No. 6 Franklin Regional (17-6) vs. No. 3 Moon (21-1) 8 p.m. Friday at West Allegheny Winner plays: Winner of No. 2 Penn Hills (19-3)/No. 7 Montour (15-8) Tuesday in semifinals Coaches: Steve Scorpion, Franklin Regional; Adam Kaufman, Moon Points scored/allowed: Franklin Regional 59.1/47.4; Moon, 64.2/46.3...
WPIAL adds 2 boys basketball teams for 2019-20 season
One WPIAL boys basketball section will have a new look next season. Aquinas Academy and Propel Montour are joining Section 3-A where they’ll compete with Clairton, Greensburg Central Catholic, Imani Christian, Leechburg, Propel Andrew Street and St. Joseph next winter. Trinity Christian was in that section last season but decided...
Carlynton hires former Peters Township football coach Piccinini
Carlynton has hired Rich Piccinini as football coach, the school announced Wednesday. Piccinini previously was head coach at Peters Township from 2011-15 and North Catholic from 2003-05. He replaces Scott Yoder, who led Carlyton for four and a half years after taking over midseason in 2014. Carlynton went 2-8 overall...
WPIBL boys singles tournament postponed; girls event still on for Thursday
Wednesday morning’s winter weather forced Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League officials to postpone the boys singles championship tournament to next Wednesday at 3 p.m. The event will remain at Wildlife Lanes in Lower Burrell. Weather permitting, Thursday’s girls singles tournament at Sims Lanes in Beaver Falls is on as scheduled...
Thomas Jefferson girls send Plum packing in WPIAL 1st round
The Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team won seven of eight games, including five in a row, to close out the regular season. The only loss in that stretch was to undefeated and top-seeded Chartiers Valley by three points. The Jaguars, seeded sixth in the WPIAL Class 5A tournament, kept rolling...
High school roundup for Feb. 19, 2019: Canon-McMillan rallies past North Allegheny
The Canon-McMillan boys basketball team trailed by 10 points after three quarters of a WPIAL Class 6A first-round playoff game against North Allegheny. That’s when the Big Mac attack came to life. No. 7-seeded Canon-McMillan rallied to tie the game at the end of regulation and held the edge in...
Mars girls persevere in 1st-round win over Woodland Hills
The postseason has a way of exposing both the good and bad in teams, and Tuesday night was no exception for Mars girls basketball. All season, the Fightin’ Planets have been inconsistent. Starting games slow, falling into shooting ruts and, at times, just flat-out disappearing. All of that was on...
Fox Chapel feels it after 1st quarter, beats Seneca Valley
Fox Chapel missed 10 of its first 11 shots Tuesday night, a dismal start that could have doomed the team’s playoff hopes, but then suddenly, they almost couldn’t miss. Even a 3-pointer to take the lead banked in. Eli Yofan made a 3, Ryan Kerr followed with a 3 and...
High school scores, schedules for Feb. 19, 2019
High Schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A First round Tuesday’s results Butler 57, Connellsville 48 Canon-McMillan 61, North Allegheny 59 (OT) Fox Chapel 58, Seneca Valley 45 Peters Township 74, Penn-Trafford 56 Byes: Pine-Richland (20-2), Latrobe (18-2), Mt. Lebanon (19-3), Upper St. Clair (19-3) Quarterfinals Saturday’s schedule Times, sites...
Peters Township boys use strong 2nd half to take down Penn-Trafford in 1st roundVideo
As 8 vs. 9 games go in basketball tournaments, teams are often evenly matched and produce tight games. Outcomes sometimes are as good as coin flips. Penn-Trafford and Peters Township couldn’t have played each other much closer in the first half Tuesday night in the WPIAL Class 6A first round....
Franklin Regional uses big run to secure playoff win over South FayetteVideo
Franklin Regional used a strong third quarter, which included a 16-0 run that carried into the fourth quarter, and pulled away for a 46-35 victory Tuesday against South Fayette in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs at Keystone Oaks. It was the first playoff victory for the...
Short-handed Leechburg girls no match for perennial power Vincentian
Unaccustomed to entering the playoffs with a sub-.500 record, 11-time WPIAL champion Vincentian showed why it shouldn’t be forgotten at playoff time. The Royals controlled the boards and held Leechburg without a field goal for nearly 13 minutes to defeat the Blue Devils, 56-24, Tuesday in an opening-round Class A...
Kiski Area goalkeeper Nick Smith commits to Duquesne soccer
Nick Smith spent two years as Kiski Area’s starting goalkeeper, allowed to pick up the ball when teammates couldn’t, and he took his recruitment into his own hands as well. Smith signed Tuesday with Duquesne’s men’s soccer team, calling it “an honor” to join a Division I program. “It just...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Derry’s Ty Cymmerman, Southmoreland’s Bailey Kuhns
Ty Cymmerman School: Derry Sport: Wrestling Class: Sophomore Claim to fame: Cymmerman won the 128-pound WPIAL Class AA title after defeating McGuffey senior Jett Pattison, 8-3, in the finals Saturday at Canon-McMillan. Cymmerman captured the 120-pound title as a freshman. “There were four WPIAL champions in that single bracket so...
District 6 basketball playoffs postponed; Ligonier Valley boys to play Saturday
Ligonier Valley’s District 6 playoff schedule in boys basketball will begin a day later as part of a decision to delay most boys and girls games because of a winter storm warning Wednesday. Top-seeded Ligonier Valley (20-2), the defending Class 3A champion, will open the playoffs on Saturday, instead of...
A-K Valley Athletes of the Week: Leechburg’s Connor McDermott, Burrell’s Carlee Hummel
Connor McDermott School: Leechburg Class: Junior Sport: Basketball Report card: McDermott put up a game-high 17 points to help guide No. 9 seed Leechburg (13-9) to a 59-40 win over No. 8 Bishop Canevin in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs. A first-year starter for the Blue...
Derry wrestler Baker already a champion after winning battle with cancerVideo
No matter what happens the rest of Jason Baker’s high school wrestling career, he already is a champion. The Derry senior has accomplished something many his age have never done: recover from a brain tumor and beat cancer. “He may be the first wrestler to beat it,” said Baker’s dad,...
