High School category, Page 362
PIAA reveals sites, dates, times for football semifinals
The March to Mechanicsburg has hit Final Four weekend. There are four teams remaining in each classification in the hunt for state gold and seven of the 24 teams left in the PIAA playoffs are from the WPIAL and City League. Freshly minted District 7 champions Aliquippa in 4A, Belle...
Franklin Regional notebook: Honors keep coming for former Panthers swimmer
A college freshman now, Aiden Bunker is still reaping the rewards of a terrific career as a student-athlete at Franklin Regional. A 2023 graduate who currently is a swimmer at Villanova, Bunker was named to the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American list, a notable accomplishment for the former WPIAL standout. The...
Talented senior class ushered in golden era for Hampton volleyball
The journey began innocently enough, at a spring-time middle school volleyball tournament at Montour. A team of seventh-grade Hampton girls, competing together for the first time, surprised everyone by winning the title. “We were brand new to volleyball,” said senior Avery Koontz, who would develop into an all-WPIAL libero. “I...
Hampton looks for balance behind top scorer Peter Kramer
Hampton boys basketball coach Joe Lafko called it the “X factor” this season. Coming off a 24-win season, the Talbots are looking for complementary scorers behind star senior guard Peter Kramer. Hampton lost first-team all-section guard Eric Weeks, the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.1 points per game, and three-year starting...
Fox Chapel graduate Katie Livingstone makes college conference’s all-decade team
Gail Murphy watched Katie Livingston battle through a back injury during her senior season to play for the Denison women’s soccer program. When Livingston, a Fox Chapel graduate, was named to the North Coast Athletic Conference All-Decade team, it was a fact that made Murphy proud. “Those coaches for her...
Deep, balanced lineup gives Fox Chapel confidence heading into season
There will be plenty of decisions for Michael Frank and the Fox Chapel wrestling program to make this season. Frank has a wrestling room with plenty of available bodies to help the Foxes’ program continue to show improvement. Fox Chapel has 45 boys out for the team this year from...
Gateway wrestling team bolstered by deep collection of athletes
When Ryan Sula looked out on the mat in the Gateway wrestling room during an early-season workout, he saw more than two dozen wrestlers taking part in drills, the most in his eight years as the Gators’ coach. The numbers and the enthusiasm for Gateway wrestling encourages Sula who hopes...
With Hunter Raymer out to regain WPIAL crown, Gateway swimmers look to reach goals
Last year, Hunter Raymer was hoping to successfully defend his title in the 500-yard freestyle at the WPIAL Class 3A championships. However, Raymer finished in third place, making him hungry to reclaim the title this year. The Gateway junior finished with a time of 4:40.48, which was behind a pair...
Playoff season builds excitement for future of Quaker Valley girls soccer
Quaker Valley’s girls soccer team finished as a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinalist this season. The Quakers ended up 11-6-1 overall after going 6-5-1 in Section 1. “Rachel and I couldn’t be prouder,” said Maggie Behun, QV’s co-head coach with Rachel Loudermilk. “These girls stepped to the plate and exceeded our...
Quaker Valley boys add to school’s soccer legacy with WPIAL, PIAA championship appearances
Quaker Valley boys soccer is one of the most renowned programs in WPIAL history, thanks to 10 WPIAL and nine PIAA championships. The Quakers have won the most state titles in soccer among WPIAL schools. And the program’s irrefutable reputation wasn’t tainted a bit in 2023 as the Panthers advanced...
Penn Hills girls look to keep the ball rolling after playoff season
Robert Cash doesn’t want the Penn Hills girls basketball team to take its foot off the gas. Last season, the Indians found a way to turn around their fortunes. Penn Hills returned to the postseason after batting through a ferocious race in Section 1-5A. The Indians lost in the first...
Penn Hills boys focus on fundamentals while reloading after WPIAL championship run
Chris Giles doesn’t need to look at the returning players or incoming freshmen to know what the plan is. The veteran Penn Hills boys basketball coach is going to focus on the fundamentals. While this year’s version of the Indians will be missing key pieces from their WPIAL Class 5A...
With top line clicking, Pine-Richland hockey gets off to strong start
There’s a lot to like about Pine-Richland hockey’s start to the season. The Rams were 5-2 entering the Thanksgiving break and have been a strong team closing out games, allowing only two goals in the third period. That’s put them in a logjam near the top of the uber competitive...
Norwin notebook: Knights coach picked for all-star game
Norwin boys soccer coach Scott Schuchert led a banner season for the Knights as they won their first WPIAL championship and advanced to the PIAA Class 4A semifinals. For his achievements, Schuchert was selected as the Class 4A coach for the 2023 Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association boys all-star games...
Trib HSSN 2023-24 WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball preseason breakdown
Will there be a history-making repeat for Central Catholic as WPIAL champion, and can a district team finally win an elusive PIAA Class 6A state crown? These are just a couple of questions facing the 12 boys basketball teams heading into a new season of Class 6A hoops. Here is...
Trib HSSN 2023-24 WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball preseason breakdown
While there are dozens of top players grabbing the attention of college scouts and more than a few teams capable of hoisting the the trophy at Petersen Events Center in March, it’s probably fair to say the road to a WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball championship goes through Wexford. North...
WPIAL playoff recap: 3 repeats, 2 first-time champs and a Cinderella
The 2023 WPIAL football playoffs are in the books, and when the dust settled, three district teams repeated, two struck gold for the first time in school history and a No. 10 seed took home a title for the second straight season. North Allegheny and Belle Vernon are still kings...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Nov. 25, 2023
High schools Football PIAA playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Saturday’s result St. Joseph Prep 59, Nazareth 21 Semifinals Dec. 1 or 2 Central Bucks South (13-1) vs. St. Joseph Prep (11-1); Harrisburg (12-1) vs. North Allegheny (12-1) Class 5A Quarterfinals Saturday’s results Imhotep Charter 31, Delaware Valley 7 Strath Haven 28,...
Springdale boys loaded with senior talent to make run at playoff spot
Every time a player or coach enters the Springdale boys basketball locker room, they get a glimpse of what their Dynamos team could be. Situated on the wall is an homage to the 1989 Springdale team that won the program’s lone WPIAL championship. Thirty-five years later, the Dynamos are utilizing...
North Allegheny’s Abigail Stager, Avonworth’s Fiona Mahan earn All-America honors
Abigail Stager and Fiona Mahan led their girls soccer teams on lengthy playoff runs this season, but their accomplishments stretched beyond the scope of the WPIAL and PIAA. Stager, a senior forward at North Allegheny, and Mahan, a junior midfielder for Avonworth, received the highest honor by the United Soccer...
Riverview’s Lola Abraham named Valley News Dispatch girls soccer player of year
Player of the year Lola Abraham Riverview, senior, forward Not often during the 2023 season did an opposing team slow down Riverview senior forward Lola Abraham. Teams thought they had the Pitt soccer commit contained, but she then would erupt and damage their chances at victory. Abraham finished her final...
Springdale’s Billy Lawrence wins Valley News Dispatch boys soccer player of year honors
Player of the year Billy Lawrence Springdale, Sr., Forward Billy Lawrence was used to being man-marked by opponents as Springdale’s striker, but this year, he received even more attention. Lawrence saw junk defenses and, at times was harassed by opponents hoping to distract him and get him off kilter. “It’s...
Franklin Regional goalkeeper Aris Lamanna named TribLive Westmoreland girls soccer player of the year
Player of the Year Aris Lamanna Sr., Goalkeeper, Franklin Regional Not many goalkeepers in the WPIAL have stood guard like Aris Lamanna has over her prodigious four-year career at Franklin Regional. Consider: She posted a shutout in 50% of her starts — 31 clean sheets in 62 games — and...
WPIAL champ Owen Christopher of Norwin claims TribLive Westmoreland boys soccer player of year award
Player of the Year Owen Christopher Sr., Midfielder, Norwin Call him the cornerstone, the building block, the pillar. Whatever the case, Owen Christopher held the Norwin boys soccer team up as the Knights made history. Norwin’s world was more interesting with Christopher in it. The Knights won their first WPIAL...
‘Team’ is the word for WPIAL champion Belle Vernon
As a postgame press conference wound into its final question and answer Friday night at Acrisure Stadium, Braden Laux grabbed the microphone. “I’d like to say one more thing,” the senior quarterback from Belle Vernon said. “Our line … Without them, we wouldn’t be at this table with this trophy....
