High School category, Page 359
Madison Zavasky, Cate Gentile return to lead Pine-Richland girls in quest for playoff success
Positive progress was the theme for Pine-Richland girls basketball in Gabby Baldasare’s first season as coach. The Rams made the playoffs for the first time on merit since 2017-18 and finished in a tie for third in the Section 1-6A standings. With IUP recruit Madison Zavasky back to lead the...
Pine-Richland boys hoping to sneak up on Class 6A competition
The Pine-Richland boys basketball team is in a position to surprise some people, and it’s an opportunity that’s being embraced. After a rare playoff miss last year, a young Rams team is energized, hungry and ready to get back on track in what should be an extremely competitive Section 1-6A....
North Hills girls look to keep rebuilding process rolling
A year ago, newly hired Tony Grenek looked at his North Hills girls basketball team and knew that a significant step needed to be taken. While the end result was another postseason miss for the Indians, the team undeniably showed signs of progress, improving from a 1-21 record the year...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Dec. 1, 2023
High schools Basketball Boys AHN/Highmark Tip-Off Tournament Friday Baldwin 55, Altoona 33 Chartiers Valley 61, Peters Township 59 Saturday Altoona at Peters Township, noon Chartiers Valley at Baldwin, 1:30 p.m. Aquinas Academy Tournament Friday Pittsburgh Christian Academy 53, Portersville Christian 36 Aquinas Academy 88, Cheswick Christian 65 Saturday Consolation Portersville...
Upper St. Clair, Gateway open season with victories at USC tip-off tournament
On opening night of the new WPIAL basketball season at the Novum Upper St. Clair tip-off tournament, a couple of roundball truths were re-enforced. Size matters and defense wins. Host Upper St. Clair broke open a tied game at the half by outscoring Ambridge by 32 points in the second...
High school boys basketball roundup for Dec. 1, 2023: Jayden Davis lifts Chartiers Valley past Peters Township
Jayden Davis dropped 29 points and made a basket with 27 seconds left to lift Chartiers Valley to a 61-59 boys basketball victory over Peters Township in the AHN/Highmark Tip-Off Tournament on Friday night. Jack Dunbar led Peters (0-1) with 18 points and Dylan Donovan added 15. Daniel Slizik had...
High school girls basketball roundup for Dec. 1, 2023: Erica Hall beats buzzer for South Fayette
Erica Hall made the game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left to lead South Fayette to a 68-66 girls basketball victory over tip-off tournament host Wheeling Park on Friday night. Haylie Lamonde led the Lions (1-0) with 16 points. Hall and Alexa Ankrum each had 14 and Lainey Yater and Juliette...
Season of first continues as Fort Cherry advances to PIAA Class A final
It’s been a season of firsts for the Fort Cherry Rangers. First WPIAL title, first state playoff game, first state playoff win and now a first trip to the PIAA Class A championship game While Fort Cherry was in uncharted territory, its challenger, the Redbank Valley Bulldogs were in a...
Aliquippa secures 3rd straight state finals appearance with win over Selinsgrove
EBENSBURG — There was some fourth-quarter suspense for Aliquippa as the final minutes ticked away in the state semifinal Friday night. It was felt whenever the stadium’s PA announcer gave updates on the other semifinal 3½ hours away. The Quips’ only question at that point was who’d be waiting for...
Westinghouse returns to PIAA title game after taking down Beaver Falls
Westinghouse is headed back to the PIAA championship game for the second year in a row. Behind a relentless defense, the Bulldogs defeated WPIAL Class 2A champion Beaver Falls, 28-8, in the state semifinals Friday night at West Allegheny. The Bulldogs forced Beaver Falls (9-6) to turn the ball over...
Peters Township defense stands tall, sends Indians to PIAA Class 5A title game
ALTOONA — From the moment the ball was kicked in Friday night’s PIAA Class 5A football semifinal between Peters Township and Cocalico, both defenses smothered much of the hope that both sides had for moving the ball. It would come down to the final two plays where the Eagles had...
Greensburg Salem girls rout Ringgold in opening round of tip-off tournament
Rick Klimchock’s love affair with basketball continues. The veteran high school coach began his 27th season on the bench Friday night with another victory, as host Greensburg Salem routed Ringgold, 71-12, in the opening round of the Lady Lions tip-off tournament. Junior Regan Kerr led four Greensburg Salem players in...
Belle Vernon runs over Hickory, headed back to PIAA title game
Belle Vernon football coach Matt Humbert said he preached to his players not to look ahead. That will change this week. That’s because the Leopards have reached the final game of the season for the second consecutive year by running over Hickory, 42-16, on Friday at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium....
Greensburg Central Catholic boys outlast Penn-Trafford in 2OT for win in opener
While he was far from overweight, Franco Alvarez worked on slimming down in the offseason so he could be faster on the basketball court. Looking fit and trim, the 6-foot-5 senior forward from Greensburg Central Catholic helped his team melt off a fourth-quarter deficit and get past Penn-Trafford, 72-63, in...
Plum girls basketball team starts season with victory over Freeport
Last year’s girls basketball season opener between Plum and Freeport at the Freeport Tip-Off Tournament went down to the wire with Mustangs combo guard/forward Riley Stephans hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer in her freshman varsity debut. Plum didn’t need any late-game heroics in Friday’s rematch with the Yellowjackets at...
Burrell’s 1st girls wrestling team ready to debut
With high school girls wrestling growing at such a rapid rate in Pennsylvania and throughout the country, Burrell didn’t want to be left on the outside looking in. Burrell is the latest area school to give an affirmative vote to sponsor a girls wrestling program, having finalized the decision at...
Riverview boys basketball rolls past Valley in opener behind Jack Loughren’s 18 points
Jack Loughren missed all of last year’s basketball season with a leg injury. The Riverview senior guard felt good in his return to game action Friday at the Freeport Tip-Off at Freeport Middle School. Loughren scored 18 points and added eight rebounds to help pace a balanced effort as the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Nov. 30, 2023
High schools Basketball Boys AHN/Highmark Tip-Off Tournament Friday Altoona at Baldwin, 5 p.m. Chartiers Valley at Peters Township, 7:30 p.m. Saturday Altoona at Peters Township, noon Chartiers Valley at Baldwin, 1:30 p.m. Aquinas Academy Tournament Friday Pittsburgh Christian Academy vs. Portersville Christian, 7 p.m. Cheswick Christian at Aquinas Academy, 8:30...
High school roundup for Nov. 30, 2023: Nolan Murphy nets hat trick in South Fayette win
Nolan Murphy had a hat trick and added an assist to lead South Fayette to a 7-2 victory over Fox Chapel in PIHL Class 2A hockey Thursday night. Robert Chiappetta finished with four assists for South Fayette (4-1-1). Liam Wiseman and Grady Cullen had a goal and assist each for...
Trib HSSN 2023-24 WPIAL Class A girls basketball preseason breakdown
Union enjoyed the best girls basketball season in program history a year ago, winning WPIAL and PIAA Class A championships and building a record of 23-6. Pennsylvania’s Class A coach of the year, Rob Nogay, returns a pair of all-state players as the Scotties will try to defend their titles....
Trib HSSN 2023-24 WPIAL Class A boys basketball preseason breakdown
The Saints came marching into last season with high hopes and ended the campaign with a golden sweep of WPIAL and PIAA championships. However, the offseason saw plenty of changes for an Imani Christian team that started all underclassmen and looked like it would be a lock for several years...
PIAA football semifinal previews for Dec. 1-2, 2023
Final Four weekend is set in all six classifications in the PIAA football playoff — the final stop on the March to Mechanicsburg. For four WPIAL champions, Friday is the first step in the state playoffs as Aliquippa in 4A, Belle Vernon in 3A, Beaver Falls in 2A and Fort...
Starting 5: A primer for 2023-24 boys basketball season in the A-K Valley
The WPIAL boys basketball season opens Friday. Here are some of the top storylines, teams and players to watch this season in the Alle-Kiski Valley 5 Storylines New faces at the top: Four teams — Freeport (Rich Macura), Leechburg (Andrew McDermott), St. Joseph (Logan Acri) and Valley (Ed Jenkins) —...
Starting 5: A primer for 2023-24 girls basketball season in the A-K Valley
The WPIAL girls basketball season opens Friday. Here are some of the top storylines, teams and players to watch this season in the Alle-Kiski Valley” 5 storylines New bench leaders: Apollo-Ridge (Jeff Zelonka), Freeport (Mallory Ketterer), Knoch (Shane McGraw), St. Joseph (Geoff Dutelle) and Springdale (Mike Dudjak) begin the season...
Starting 5: A primer for 2023-24 girls basketball season in Westmoreland County
The WPIAL girls basketball season opens Friday. Here are some of the top storylines, teams and players to watch this season in Westmoreland County: 5 storylines • It could be a long and interesting postseason for at least two area teams. The question is, which one will go farther, Norwin...
