High School category, Page 690
Highlands girls find rhythm, shake off West Mifflin in WPIAL Class 4A 1st round
It’s a difficult task to try to trace the history of the Highlands girls basketball team. But it didn’t matter. These Golden Rams are making history of their own. After playing a tense first three quarters, Highlands settled down and play true to form in the final eight minutes. Backed...
Trib HSSN Girls Basketball State Rankings for Feb. 22, 2022
Wash, rinse, repeat. Well, it wasn’t that simple, but thanks to the combination of early district playoff wins and district byes for some, there was little change to the latest edition of the Trib HSSN girls basketball state rankings. Only West Middlesex slipped out of the rankings, as they were...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsules for Feb. 23, 2022
Wednesday’s games Boys Quarterfinals Class 4A 7-Burrell (14-8) at 2-Montour (18-4) 7 p.m. Wednesday Winner plays: Winner of 11-Freeport (13-9)/3-Belle Vernon (18-3) in semifinals on Saturday (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Burrell kicked off the WPIAL playoffs in successful fashion Friday with a 63-42 victory over No. 10 Elizabeth...
Trib HSSN Boys Basketball State Rankings for Feb. 22, 2022
This past week was the quiet before the ranking storm. While the waters were still and steady this week, that should change as we go deeper into the district playoffs and begin the state playoffs in the next few weeks. For the time being though, only one school lost its...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsules for Feb. 23, 2022
Wednesday’ games Girls Quarterfinals Class 6A 5-Bethel Park (10-9) at 4-Norwin (15-5) 7 p.m. Wednesday Winner plays: Winner of 8-Peters Township (13-10)/1-Mt Lebanon (20-1) on Saturday in semifinals Layup lines: Bethel Park finished third in Section 2 behind Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair. There are only two sections in...
Apollo-Ridge boys basketball hopes rebuild is quick
Greg Fox figured it might go like this. The Apollo-Ridge boys basketball coach saw the writing of a bridge year on the wall after a successful 2020-21 season that included a trip to the WPIAL playoffs. “No one lost as much as we did as far as graduation,” said Fox,...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 22, 2022: First round ends with appealing matchups
Welcome to the final day of the first round in the 2022 WPIAL basketball playoffs. Five years ago, Pine-Richland (11-11) won the first WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball championship with a 72-61 victory over Butler. The title run was the second in a row for the Rams, who captured the...
Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 21, 2022
When Journey Thompson started her high school career at Peters Township, she was a starter on a perfect team. The Indians finished 30-0 in winning both the 2019 WPIAL and PIAA championships. The scholastic journey is almost over for Thompson, who has finally guided Peters Township (13-10) back on the...
Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 21, 2022
Lincoln Park sophomore Brandin Cummings has always been close with his older brother Nelly, who starred with the Leopards and graduated in 2017 before playing his college ball at Bowling Green and Colgate. Both won WPIAL championships as a freshman at Lincoln Park. That was Nelly’s only district title. Brandin...
Logan Bernesser powers Shaler past South Fayette in overtime win
Shaler senior Logan Bernesser registered a double-double in a dominating first-round performance. The 6-foot-6 forward scored a game-high 26 points, had 14 rebounds and seven blocked shots in leading Shaler past host South Fayette, 68-64, in overtime in an opening-round game Monday night. On defense, Bernesser not only blocked shots,...
Steel Valley knocks out No. 4 Seton LaSalle with 1-2 punch in WPIAL playoff upset
Steel Valley’s Makhai Valentine wears No. 1 and teammate Cruce Brookins is No. 2, fitting for a combination that delivered a knockout punch Monday night. Fourth-seeded Seton LaSalle was the heavyweight that fell. Brookins scored 30 points, Valentine had 23 and No. 13 seed Steel Valley pulled off a first-round...
High school roundup for Feb. 21, 2022: Laurel Highlands, other top seeds cruise in 5A 1st round
Rodney Gallagher scored 22 points and Keondre DeSheids followed with 21 to lead No. 1 Laurel Highlands to a 74-44 victory over Woodland Hills in a first-round game in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball playoffs Monday night. Brandon Davis added 15 and Joe Chambers chipped in with 11 for...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 21, 2022
High schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A First round Tuesday’s schedule North Hills (22-0) bye; Baldwin (12-10) at North Allegheny (14-8), 7 p.m.; Hempfield (7-15) at Mt. Lebanon (14-8), 7 p.m.; Penn-Trafford (9-12) at Upper St. Clair (15-7), 7 p.m.; Fox Chapel (21-1) bye; Bethel Park (16-6) at Pine-Richland...
Hampton coach Lafko gets career win No. 499 as Talbots defeat Kiski Area
Joe Lafko has been coaching boys basketball for a long time, and he’s won his share of games during a 32-year high school career. Hampton provided Lafko with win No. 499 on Monday night as the Talbots, behind Eric Weeks’ 19 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers during an explosive third-quarter burst,...
Kuhns, Morgan lead Greensburg Central Catholic past Chartiers-Houston
The more patient Greensburg Central Catholic became with Chartiers-Houston’s 2-1-2 press, the wider the margin got in the teams’ playoff opener. Fourth-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic found ways around the defense and threaded the ball to Bailey Kuhns and Mya Morgan for backdoor layups and turnaround jumpers. Then, it turned up...
High-octane Highlands roars past Albert Gallatin in Class 5A first round
Backed by junior guard Jimmy Kunst’s 24 points and a 32-point second quarter, fifth-seeded Highlands made quick work of No. 12 Albert Gallatin, 76-44, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs Monday night. “We know the sky is the limit for this team and we said that...
Avonworth uses speed on defense, offensive spurts to take down Ligonier Valley
It took Avonworth a little more than a quarter to hit its stride Monday in its WPIAL Class 3A first-round game, but when it did, Ligonier Valley couldn’t keep up. That’s because the visiting Rams, other than a four-minute stretch in the third quarter, never found their groove and they...
St. Joseph girls halt playoff losing streak
The St. Joseph girls basketball team is back in the WPIAL postseason win column. The youthful Spartans, with just one senior on their roster, halted a three-game playoff losing streak dating to 2018 with a 45-37 victory over Mapletown on Monday in a Class A first-round game at Gateway High...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsules for Feb. 22, 2022
Boys First round Class 2A 9-Sto-Rox (11-7) at 8-Springdale (11-11) 7 p.m. Tuesday Winner plays: Winner of 1-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (19-0)/16-Chartiers-Houston (9-13) on Friday in quarterfinals (site, time TBD) Layup lines: Sto-Rox finished in third place in Section 2 behind co-champions Fort Cherry and Carlynton. The Vikings...
WPIAL suspends former Greensburg Central Catholic assistant football coach for recruiting
The WPIAL has suspended a former Greensburg Central Catholic assistant football coach for violating PIAA rules against recruiting. Shane Goydich is banned from coaching at any PIAA school for one year for attempting to “influence or persuade one or more students to enroll in Greensburg Central Catholic,” WPIAL executive director...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsules for Feb. 22, 2022
Tuesday’s games Girls First round Class 5A 15-Greensburg Salem (15-7) at 2-South Fayette (18-4) 8 p.m. Winner plays: Winner of 10-Mars (17-5)/7-Latrobe (17-3) 7 p.m. Friday in quarterfinals Layup lines: Greensburg Salem is back in the postseason after losing in the first round last year. The Golden Lions are seeking...
Knoch wrestlers look to rebound in individual tournament
The Knoch wrestling team has experienced the ups and downs of the WPIAL season. A 5-1 mark in section matches gave reason for optimism, but some key injuries heading into the section and WPIAL team tournaments left the Knights and first-year coach Bob Waldron wondering what might have been. “We...
Westmoreland Senior Spotlight: Ligonier Valley’s James Brown
Last season, Ligonier Valley senior James Brown broke his leg in the third practice of the season. “I tried to wrestle through it for a little bit and soon realized that it was going to be a challenge to do so,” Brown said. “I chose to take that time and...
A-K Valley Senior Spotlight: Plum’s Sam Pine
Sam Pine likes being busy when he’s on the ice. He prefers being engaged in the action in front of his net, rather than watching play develop at the other end of the rink. The past two games, he certainly has had his share of work, and he’s been up...
Allderdice fends off Brashear to win City League boys title
Coming off an upset win over Obama Academy in the City League semifinals, the Brashear boys entered Sunday’s championship game with designs on their first title since 1989. Instead, Allderdice scored the first 13 points of the game, and the Dragons were on their way to their 16th City championship...
