High School category, Page 925
Monessen girls basketball looks to maintain momentum after playoff season
After struggling for several seasons, the Monessen girls basketball program blossomed last year, going 8-4 in section play and 15-8 overall. The 15 victories were more than the four previous seasons combined. Also, coach Janine Vertacnik recorded her 300th career victory Feb. 6 at Mapletown. “I didn’t know what to...
Monessen boys basketball sets sights on 40th straight playoff berth
Many people express concerns when approaching 40. But for the Monessen boys basketball program, reaching 40 is an admirable goal. The Greyhounds secured their WPIAL-record 39th consecutive playoff appearance last season, and the team is relishing its chances to hit the 40 mark this season. “It’s an expectation at Monessen,”...
Trib HSSN WPIAL girls soccer all-stars: Ellie Coffield led Mars to new heights
Player of the year Ellie Coffield Mars, Sr., MF With both arms raised high, Ellie Coffield stretched the PIAA championship trophy toward the sky, her face framed in pure joy on a cold November night in Hershey. The Mars senior standout and her teammates reveled in winning another state title,...
Trib HSSN WPIAL boys soccer all-stars: Dane Beller came through in clutch for Mars
Player of the Year Dane Beller Mars, Sr., F The Mars Fightin’ Planets were pressing. They were down a goal in a physical PIAA championship game with a state title at their fingertips. Senior forward Dane Beller was issued a yellow card midway through the second half, and while his...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Dec. 1, 2020
Hockey Tuesday’s results Class AA Penn-Trafford 6, Latrobe 5 (OT) Shaler 6, Armstrong 4 Mars 3, Meadville 2 West Allegheny at Franklin Regional, (n) Class A North Hills 7, Fox Chapel 0 Class B Wilmington at Neshannock, (n) Ringgold 6, Avonworth 0 To report scores, email ptrsports@triblive.com. Visit TribHSSN.triblive.com/scores for...
High school roundup for Dec. 1, 2020: Penn-Trafford hockey wins OT thriller
Xavier Solomon scored the game-winning goal to lead Penn-Trafford to a 6-5 overtime victory over Latrobe in a PIHL thriller Tuesday night. Fletcher Harvey scored his first goal of the season with less than 10 seconds left in regulation to tie it for Latrobe (2-2-1). Nico Martucci had two goals...
Beloved Jeannette football coach Joe Mucci dies of coronavirus at age 86
Joseph G. Mucci was a legendary football coach in Westmoreland County. But he was much more than that, according to his former assistant coaches, players and people in the community. The beloved coach and administrator at Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic influenced a lot of people whose lives he touched....
Girls basketball preview: Coaching hire coming soon for improving Ligonier Valley
When Tim Gustin became the Ligonier Valley boys basketball coach a month ago, he hoped the district’s school board picked the right person to replace him as girls coach. The Ligonier Valley School Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday and on the agenda is hiring a new girls coach. Athletic...
Boys basketball preview: Ligonier Valley readies for WPIAL
A little more than a month ago, Tim Gustin was preparing the Ligonier Valley girls for their return to the WPIAL after 40 years. Then Ligonier Valley boys coach John Berger decided his regular job, Chief of Police in Ligonier Valley, was too demanding during the pandemic. So Berger stepped...
Trib HSSN state football rankings for Dec. 1, 2020
The 2020 high school football campaign is complete, and it goes in the record books as a season like no other. Right when most teams would be preparing for a Week Zero contest in late August, there were major concerns that there would not even be high school football this...
Girls basketball preview: With top scorers back, excitement grows at Knoch
It’s a new year for the Knoch girls basketball team, and the Knights have a lot to be excited about. After going 17-7 a year ago and making a trip to the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals, the Knights return four of their top six scorers and have a ton of...
Trib HSSN Football Team of the Week: Central Valley
Mark Lyons had been to the top of the WPIAL mountain top four times, including each of the last two years. But as time expired in the 2020 PIAA Class 3A championship game, the only coach in the 11-year history of Central Valley football felt something completely different. “You’re in...
Boys basketball preview: With new head coach, Knoch might look a little different
The Knoch boys basketball team will look a lot different in 2020. After former coach Ron McNabb stepped down in the offseason, Freeport grad Alan Bauman took over the program for his first varsity head coaching job and is looking to continue the success Knoch has had in recent years....
7 players named all-conference for both offense, defense on Big 8 football team
Belle Vernon’s Devin Whitlock and McKeesport’s Colin Lyons were among seven players who earned first-team all-conference honors on both sides of the football in the Class 4A Big Eight. Along with first-team honors, Whitlock was named as the conference’s top offensive player and Lyons earned the defensive award in a...
Aliquippa, Chartiers Valley lead all-conference football team in Parkway
Aliquippa’s Vernon Redd and Chartiers Valley’s Anthony Collura earned all-conference honors on both sides of the football in the Class 4A Parkway. Along with first-team honors, Redd was named the conference’s offensive MVP and Collura earned the defensive award in a vote of coaches. Aliquippa and Chartiers Valley claimed eight...
Plum earns 10 all-conference picks after undefeated record in Greater Allegheny
Plum celebrated its first undefeated regular season since 1977, an accomplishment that was rewarded in the all-conference voting by Greater Allegheny coaches. The Mustangs had 10 players earn first-team honors, and Matt Morgan was named the conference’s top coach. Plum’s list of first-team players included Rocco Caprara, Evan Azzara, Ryan...
Legendary 1959 Braddock football team to be featured on big screen
One of the WPIAL’s most storied football teams will soon have a cinematic presence. Plans are in the works for a movie about the 1959 Braddock Tigers, who won their sixth consecutive WPIAL football title with the backdrop of a four-month, nationwide steelworkers strike that affected the small town and...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Nov. 30, 2020
Hockey Monday’s results Class AAA Seneca Valley at Pine-Richland, ppd. Class AA Baldwin 8, Moon 0 Montour 6, Meadville 4 Class A Chartiers Valley 4, North Hills 3 Class B Bishop Canevin 5, Avonworth 0 Carrick 10, Elizabeth Forward 5 Tuesday’s schedule Class AA Latrobe at Penn-Trafford at Center Ice...
High school roundup for Nov. 30, 2020: Chartiers Valley hockey rallies past North Hills
Jackson Fodor, Greg Kraemer and Ryan Kantner scored in the final seven minutes of the game to lead Chartiers Valley to a 4-3 comeback win over North Hills in a PIHL Class A Southwest game Monday night. Roman Rennebeck had a goal and an assist as North Hills (2-1-0) took...
Girls basketball preview: Latrobe loaded with veteran talent
The 2021 senior class at Latrobe includes four girls basketball players who represent the first group to play the sport at the seventh-grade level when the current coaching staff, led by sixth-year coach Mark Burkhardt, took over the program in 2015. As a result, Latrobe’s varsity roster is loaded with...
PIAA savors fall season completed against all odds
There was cause to celebrate, but PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi probably didn’t spike the football or exchange high-fives after the state championships finished Saturday night. A high school football season that seemed doomed from the start, a season opposed by no less than the governor himself, made it all...
Boys basketball preview: Kiski Area hopes preseason competition leads to in-season success
Opportunity was a main theme as the Kiski Area boys basketball team began preseason practices Nov. 23. Three starters from last season — 6-foot-7 forward Jason Baker (Legacy Early College charter school in South Carolina), and guards Kyrell Hutcherson (North Allegheny) and Joe Lukas (Kiski Prep) — transferred in the...
Girls basketball preview: Kiski Area forced to adapt after injury sidelines top sophomore
Lexi Colaianni made the most of her freshman season with the Kiski Area varsity girls basketball team. Colaianni averaged 8.5 points through 22 games last year, tops among all underclassmen on the team. Cavaliers coach Nick Dizon said she worked hard in the offseason with hopes of raising her game...
Boys basketball preview: Latrobe looks for return to winning ways
Latrobe boys basketball has seen its share of success under longtime coach Brad Wetzel, who has experienced just four losing seasons since taking over the program in 2002-03. The Wildcats enter the current campaign, though, hoping to erase the memory of one of those off years that resulted in a...
Penn-Trafford leads all-conference picks on Big East football team
Penn-Trafford quarterback Ethan Carr was among 10 teammates who earned first-team all-conference honors, and Warriors coach John Ruane earned Coach of the Year honors in the Class 5A Big East this season. Carr was joined by Penn-Trafford players Joe Spadaro, Declan Ochendowski, Cole Darragh, Cade Yacamelli, Chase Vecchio, Tom Wilkie,...
