High School category, Page 303
PIAA sets sites for girls 2nd-round games in Class 6A, 3A, 2A
The opening round of the 2024 PIAA girls basketball state playoffs in Class 6A, 3A and 2A was a mixed bag for WPIAL teams. They were perfect in one bracket, slightly above average in another and below the bar in a third. Combined, the 19 district teams went 11-8 in...
High school roundup for March 9, 2024: South Fayette cruises in 1st round to set up meeting with Oakland Catholic
Erica Hall had 14 points to lead three players in double figures as WPIAL champion South Fayette defeated Red Land, 48-20, in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A girls basketball playoffs Saturday. Juliette Leroux scored 12 and Lainey Yater had 10 for the Lions (19-8), who had a...
Frazier’s Rune Lawrence becomes 4-time PIAA wrestling champion
HERSHEY – Frazier senior Rune Lawrence surprised many when he stuck the landing on a backflip after his final match Saturday at the Giant Center. The impromptu move came after his opponent, Muncy junior Austin Johnson, said something to Lawrence following his dominating 6-3 victory at 215 pounds at the...
Burrell’s Joe Makara giving back to sport; three from A-K Valley earn medals
HERSHEY — Even though Burrell didn’t have a wrestler in the PIAA wrestling championship finals, it did have a former two-time PIAA champion roaming the mats as an official. Joe Makara, who won consecutive titles in 2002 and 2003, was on the center mat for two girls finals: 130 and...
Norwin’s Landon Sidun keeps Westmoreland County streak alive by winning PIAA title
HERSHEY — Thanks to Norwin freshman Landon Sidun, the streak of PIAA wrestling champions from Westmoreland County has reached 30 consecutive years. Sidun (42-2) secured that milestone by rallying from an early takedown to defeat Ridley junior Curtis Nelson, 6-3, in the Class 3A 114-pound final Saturday at Giant Center....
Canon-Mac’s Valarie Solorio makes history as 1st PIAA girls wrestling champion
Only one can be first. That is the distinction Valarie Solorio of Canon-McMillan always will have. Solorio won the 100-pound gold medal at the inaugural PIAA girls wrestling championships Saturday at Giant Center in Hershey. Because hers was the first weight class to complete, Solorio became the first PIAA girls...
Upper St. Clair stages furious rally to get past Central Dauphin in PIAA 1st round
For the first 10 minutes of its PIAA Class 6A boys basketball first-round playoff game, it didn’t just look like host Upper St. Clair was suffering through a WPIAL champions funk. It looked like the Panthers were sunk. However, USC battled back and found a way to edge Central Dauphin...
Greensburg Central Catholic boys assert themselves in PIAA win
Tyree Turner dribbled into the open court with nothing between himself and the rim but gravity. While he just barely missed the slam dunk, he immediately recovered, came up with a steal at midcourt and was ready to try again. “I’m like, ‘If I miss this one, I won’t hear...
Plum outduels Freeport for girls regional bowling title
Plum and Freeport, the dominant teams at the Western PA Regional girls team bowling championships over the last four years, did battle for the title in a tightly contested championship match Saturday at AMF Noble Manor Lanes. The Mustangs came away with the crown, winning their second consecutive girls singles...
Untimely scoring slumps end Baldwin’s historic season with PIAA loss to McDowell
The scoreboard in Baldwin’s gym showed a good news, bad news scenario for the Highlanders as the fourth quarter got underway Saturday. “They only had 41 points through three,” Baldwin coach Jeff Ackermann said of visiting Erie McDowell. “You’d think you could be winning if you hold them to 41....
Deer Lakes relies on inside game to defeat Mercyhurst Prep in PIAA 1st round
In the last couple of seasons, Deer Lakes has won playoff games in a variety of ways, and Saturday they turned to their inside game. And their domination in the paint helped put another one in the win column. The Lancers scored 46 of their points in the paint in...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Valley’s Tyler Danko, Burrell’s Leah McCandless
Leah McCandless Class: Senior School: Burrell Sport: Bowling Report card: McCandless won the girls singles title at the Western PA Regional bowling tournament Friday at AMF Noble Manor Lanes. She defeated Conneaut’s Lexi Potts in the championship match 211-182. McCandless, who was 11th at regionals and 24th at states in...
St. Joseph earns 1st state playoff win in seniors’ last game on home court
There was history being made by both St. Joseph teams coming into their PIAA Class A first-round game Saturday in Natrona Heights. The St. Joseph Spartans, the senior-laden WPIAL runner-up, had done so much that had never been done before in program history the past several years. But Saturday’s game...
Basketball standout Brice Flenory to take place with uncle, B.B., in A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame
Longtime local basketball fans might remember Brice Flenory for his deadly fade-away jumper. A 1998 Valley graduate, Flenory apparently hasn’t lost his touch over the years. “My fade-away shot still is unstoppable, even at the age of 45,” said Flenory, who is a dean of students for the Pittsburgh Public...
Westmoreland high school athletes of the week: Mt. Pleasant’s Lily King, Franklin Regional’s Shawn Sinclair
Lily King School: Mt. Pleasant Class: Junior Sport: Swimming Claim to fame: King won three gold medals and a bronze at the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships last weekend at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She was a repeat winner in the 100-yard freestyle, where she broke her own record with a...
Burrell’s breakout season ends with 4th-quarter struggles in PIAA loss to Bishop Guilfoyle
There were bumps along the way, but the Burrell boys basketball team was where it felt it belonged Saturday afternoon. The Bucs earned a spot in the PIAA Class 3A playoffs by making a surprise run through the WPIAL playoffs as a No. 11 seed. An energized Burrell team surged...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for March 9, 2024: PIAA basketball 1st round continues
Opening weekend of the 2024 PIAA basketball playoffs continues Saturday with first round games in boys 6A, 3A and 2A, along with girls 5A, 4A and A. Once again this year, all first round games are home contests for the higher seeds unless otherwise determined. The WPIAL playoffs lead to...
Plum swimmers earn berth to PIAA championships
The Plum girls swim team fared well in a number of events at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Feb. 29 and March 1 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Mustangs clinched three PIAA appearances — the two freestyle relays and junior Giuliana Ricciuti in the 200-yard freestyle — and were close...
Plum hockey hopes to build off turnaround season
It was quite a turnaround this season for the Plum hockey team. The Mustangs were 3-16 a year ago. The organization’s board of directors felt a coaching change was needed, and Plum hockey alumnus Jon Gratton came on board. The returning team members hit the ice together in August and...
Norwin notebook: Girls wrestling team crowns 2 regional champs
The Norwin girls wrestling team had two champions at the PIAA Western Regional championship at Canon-McMillan and advanced four to the PIAA championships set for March 7-9 at Giant Center in Hershey. Sophomore Josephine Dollman won a title at 142 pounds, pinning Grace O’Korn of Peters Township in the finals....
After struggling at end of regular season, Franklin Regional advances in Penguins Cup playoffs
It didn’t matter that the Latrobe hockey team had beaten Franklin Regional in both regular-season meetings this season. That’s because the PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs are a different animal, and the Panthers have experience in the high-stakes environment. They know how to win these type of battles. Shawn Sinclair scored...
Hampton sophomores bring home WPIAL swimming and diving gold
Hampton sophomore Lainey Sheets popped her head out of the water after the 100 backstroke at the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships at Pitt on March 1 and was a bit bewildered. Sheets, already the fastest girls swimmer in Hampton history, saw the scoreboard was awarding Mt. Pleasant junior Kiersten...
Hampton softball picks up pace under new coach
Hampton all-section senior shortstop Charlotte Lomb said new coach Kate Hedderman’s high-paced workouts were an eye-opener for some of her teammates. “It was a little bit of a culture shock,” Lomb said. “She definitely moves a lot quicker. It’s a lot more serious practices than we are used to. But...
After productive offseason, Hampton baseball eager to get started
Hampton baseball coach Kellen Wheeler had a numbers problem this offseason. But it was a good one. The sixth-year coach had to figure out how to accommodate an overflow group of players in the school’s auxiliary gym and weight room for the team’s four-times-a-week workouts. “I had anywhere from 24...
Sarah Pasquella, Fox Chapel swimmers live up to big expectations at WPIAL meet
Fox Chapel swim coach Matt Mauclair enjoyed watching Sarah Pasquella turn in a big performance during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Pasquella, a Pitt commit, shattered a 29-year-old school record by winning the 200 free in 1 minute, 51.08 seconds. “You can tell she swam...
