High School category, Page 500
Ray Bartha retires after 579 wins as Apollo-Ridge girls basketball coach
Ray Bartha said he knew it was time. “Pretty much at the beginning of the season, I made up my mind that this would be it,” said Bartha, the longtime Apollo-Ridge girls basketball coach who officially retired last week after his second stint leading the Vikings. “At the end of...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games for Feb. 27, 2023
WPIAL basketball playoffs Girls Class 6A Semifinals 3-Norwin (20-3) vs. 2-North Allegheny (18-5) 6 p.m. Monday, Fox Chapel High School, O’Hara Township Winner plays: Winner of 4-Mt. Lebanon (17-6)/1-Upper St. Clair (20-2) at 7 p.m. March 3 in championship at Petersen Events Center Players to watch: Lauren Palangio, Norwin; Jasmine...
A-K Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games for Feb. 27, 2023
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A Semifinals 1-Lincoln Park (23-1) vs. 5-Highlands (21-3) 8 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel High School, Fox Chapel Winner plays: Winner of 2-Laurel Highlands (21-2)/6-North Catholic (18-6) in championship game at 9 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center Players to watch: Meleek Thomas, Lincoln Park;...
Tickets available for Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet
Tickets are now available for the 52nd Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet, set for May 20 at the Pittsburgh Shriners Center in Harmar, near the Route 28 expressway. Tickets are $40 each, and a patron can sit either with an honorees’ following or at a non-affiliated table....
WPIAL releases times, sites for Tuesday’s basketball semifinals
The district basketball playoffs Final Four conclude Tuesday. The final night of WPIAL boys and girls basketball semifinals will help finalize the district basketball championship game puzzle. The WPIAL has released the sites and times for the semifinals in boys 6A and 2A, along with girls 5A and 4A. The...
Gateway’s Hunter Raymer ready to defend gold medal at WPIAL swimming championships
Gateway sophomore Hunter Raymer is the defending WPIAL Class 3A champion in the boys 500-yard freestyle. He raced to the top in a time of 4 minutes, 35.83 seconds last year at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Raymer edged fellow first-year WPIAL competitor, Central Catholic’s Luke Hartman, for the title by two...
Seniors help Quaker Valley girls swim team capture 4th straight section title
Nine seniors were recognized Feb. 16 for their contributions and dedication to the Quaker Valley swim program. Five girls were lauded: Ella Fuener, Zoey Murawski, Emma Smith, Tia Pethel and Hope Linge. On the boys team, Alex Wagner, Spencer Wiehe, Ashton Ragoowansi and John Shillingsburg were the honorees. “The goal...
Playoff defeat displayed how Penn-Trafford boys ‘grew as the season went on’
When Penn-Trafford’s boys basketball team hosted Peters Township in December, the Warriors were embarrassed, losing by 29 points (74-45). When the two teams met Feb. 17 in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, the Indians faced a different Warriors team. Top-seeded Peters Township ended up defeating No....
Penn-Trafford notebook: Hockey team wins as regular season winds down
The Penn-Trafford hockey team had three players score goals in a 3-1 win over Meadville in the next-to-last game of its Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Class 2A schedule Feb. 20. Meadville (3-14-1) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period, but goals by Nate Loughner and Bryce Kropczynski in the...
Penn Hills swimmers go to great lengths to lower times
Clark Leonard, Anthony Sipple, Anthony Collins and Luke Hoolahan were all disappointed they didn’t shave any time off their WPIAL Class 3A 200 freestyle relay qualifying time during a last-chance meet Feb. 18 at Chartiers Valley. But Penn Hills swimming coach Morgan Bush knew there were other opportunities. The meet at...
Penn Hills girls make big strides between 1st and last game
The Penn Hills girls basketball had the misfortune of starting and ending the season against the same team. But the good news for the Indians was that getting a second chance at McKeesport in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs meant that they found a way to...
Pine-Richland notebook: Heckert, Kerns picked for Big 33
Pine-Richland seniors Max Heckert and Isaiah Kerns will get one last game on the football field together and take part in a prestigious event. Heckert and Kerns were selected to play for Pennsylvania in the annual Big 33 Classic high school all-star game. This year’s contest will be held at...
Narrow section losses proved costly for Riverview boys basketball
Riverview boys basketball coach Phil McGivney hoped to be involved in on-court playoff activities instead of recalling what could’ve been from the regular season. The Raiders set themselves up for a run to the WPIAL postseason, but some tough outcomes down the stretch foiled their plans for the playoffs. “I...
Plum swimmers ready to contend at WPIAL championship meet
The Plum girls swim team will be taking one of its largest groups to the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Nine swimmers — seven individuals and two others who will swim only relays — hope to make a splash Thursday and Friday. “From a coaching standpoint, this...
Oakland Catholic’s Alexa Washington aims to cap high school career on high note
Alexa Washington felt a tinge of emotion rise to the surface last week when talking about the inevitable conclusion of her high school basketball career levied against the excitement of her Oakland Catholic team’s opportunities in the WPIAL playoffs. “I know it’s coming, but right now, all I am thinking...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 25, 2023
High schools WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Semifinals Tuesday’s schedule New Castle (21-2) vs. Mt. Lebanon (16-7) at North Allegheny, 8 p.m.; Upper St. Clair (15-8) vs. Central Catholic (14-9) at Peters Township, 8 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Saturday’s results Penn Hills 67, North Hills 51 Peters Township 62, Gateway...
Fencing develops into tight-knit community for high school athletes
Sophomore Jake Burgos scored a big victory in the Allderdice boys fencing team’s 5-4 victory over rival Fox Chapel on Feb. 10 at Allderdice High School. The defending Pittsburgh Interscholastic Fencing Association champion Dragons clinched a spot in the league playoffs with that win and a victory later in the...
Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans tops rival to win Class 3A wrestling section title
Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans won the latest chapter in one of the WPIAL’s hottest rivalries this season, defeating West Allegheny’s Shawn Taylor in the 160-pound finals of the Class 3A Southern Sectional tournament Saturday. Evans defeated Taylor, 3-2. Taylor beat Evans, 2-1 in the second tiebreaker at Powerade on Dec....
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Hempfield’s Grace Iwig, Franklin Regional’s Matt Knizner
Grace Iwig School: Hempfield Sport: Indoor track & field Year: Junior Claim to fame: Iwig capped a strong indoor regular season with a victory in the pole vault at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championship at Edinboro. Her winning height was 11 feet, which was a foot better than second...
Peters Township boys oust Gateway from WPIAL playoffs
Doing the little things can decide who wins or loses. That was certainly the case in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal matchup between Peters Township and Gateway. In a game that was tied at half, the No. 1-seed Indians outscored the No. 4 Gators by eight points in...
High school roundup for Feb. 25, 2023: Freedom girls end Aliquippa’s Cinderella run
Julia Mohrbacher scored 33 points to lead second-seeded Freedom to a 47-44 victory over 11th-seeded Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball semifinals Saturday afternoon at Beaver Falls. Freedom (20-4) will face top-seeded Shenango in the finals at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Petersen Events Center. Aunesty Johnson led...
Penn Hills baffles North Hills with 3-pointers, alley-oops in WPIAL semifinal win
Penn Hills teammates Daemar Kelly and Julian Dugger have perfected their high-flying alley-oop this winter, mastering a play that shows their rare athleticism. Five times they connected Saturday. But it was a 6-foot junior who stayed far away from the rim who left North Hills coaches shaking their heads. Lamire...
North Allegheny’s Shi wins 4th straight WPIAL diving gold
One day after North Catholic’s Maggie Foley became the first girls diver in eight years to win four straight WPIAL gold medals, North Allegheny senior Christina Shi matched the feat, capturing her fourth with a score of 540.75. “It definitely feels amazing,” Shi said. “But it was a hard one...
Avonworth knocks off top-seeded Shady Side Academy to reach Class 3A finals
Greta O’Brien has had dreams of playing at the Petersen Events Center since watching her older sister Olivia play there with Vincentian in 2018. Thanks to her big second half on the scoreboard and a strong collective defensive effort, she and her Avonworth teammates will have that opportunity. O’Brien scored...
Imani Christian boys start fast, defeat Geibel in WPIAL Class A semifinals
For three of the four quarters in Saturday afternoon’s WPIAL Class A semifinal between Geibel and Imani Christian Academy, the fourth-seeded Gators proved they could go toe-to-toe with the top-seeded Saints. However, the one quarter that doomed Geibel was the first, as Imani Christian bolted to a 31-4 lead en...
