Bill Beckner stories, Page 130
Penn-Trafford’s win over Hempfield has football feel
Penn-Trafford figured there would come a time this season when it would need to rely on its football players to win basketball games. Its strong, aggressive, championship-level football players. That time was Friday night for juniors Tommy Kalkstein and Conlan Greene. The pair of WPIAL and PIAA 5A football champions...
Derry coach Gene Brisbane hits 400-win milestone
Derry girls basketball coach Gene Brisbane reached a career milestone Thursday night in the Trojans’ 44-41 victory at Burrell. He now has 400 career wins in 26 years of coaching female teams in basketball — 350 at the high school level. Brisbane, in his third season at Derry, coached the...
Greensburg Central Catholic wins back-and-forth tilt vs. Apollo-Ridge
Greensburg Central Catholic sat a few starters midway through the first quarter Thursday night, but the move had nothing to do with their conduct or early play. “Rest,” GCC coach Chris Skatell said. “I wanted to get them some down time because I knew we were going to need them...
Westmoreland high school boys basketball notebook: Latrobe goes young
Part necessity, part rising talent, Latrobe is playing four freshmen this season. The Wildcats (3-7, 1-3 Section 3-5A) have a deep bench that includes ninth-grade guards John Wetzel and Max Butler and freshmen forwards Jack Hamaty and Alex Tatsch. “It’s been over the last two weeks I’d say where we...
Carrying on a family tradition in Latrobe boys basketball? The Butlers did it
The Latrobe basketball roster is like a map of Western Pennsylvania. There is always a Butler. But we’re not talking about a city or county, here. Instead, it’s a last name that seems to be branded into the scorebook — one that has become synonymous with the Wildcats’ program. This...
Westmoreland high school girls basketball notebook: Greensburg Salem’s Mankins is ‘irreplaceable’
The Franklin Regional gymnasium fell silent for about 40 minutes Tuesday night when Greensburg Salem sophomore center Kaitlyn Mankins went down with a grim injury. “The girls were sobbing,” Golden Lions girls basketball coach Rick Klimchock said. “There were tears everywhere.” Mankins was coming off a pick-and-roll late in the...
Belle Vernon junior Kreis leans on WNBA exposure
When she was a freshman, Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis sat courtside at various stops and watched all 12 WNBA teams play, interviewed several players and met her favorite player, Diana Taurasi. The summer tour was part of a project about women’s pro basketball becoming more prominent. Over the passage of...
Pitt-Greensburg announces 1st Athletics Hall of Fame class
A work in progress for some time, the Pitt-Greensburg Athletics Hall of Fame has arrived and has its inaugural class. Five individuals and two teams that helped put the Bobcats on the college map will be enshrined Feb. 18 during a ceremony at the school’s Wagner Dining Hall. The inductees...
2nd-half surge carries No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic over rival Jeannette
A Greensburg Central Catholic student brought a bass drum into the student section, but an official told him it was not permitted, so it was removed from the raucous gymnasium. Instead of a drum, GCC beat Jeannette. With a revved-up second half after a surprisingly slow start, the No. 2...
Patience pays off as Woodland Hills outlasts Greensburg Salem
With offense relegated to half-court sets and fouls piling up, the more patient team was going to have the advantage down the stretch. Woodland Hills played like it had that trait in its back pocket and methodically pulled away from upstart Greensburg Salem, which played its first Section 4-5A girls...
Longtime Washington & Jefferson, Cal coach makes College Football Hall of Fame
John Luckhardt once said, “I’ve never been talented, never been good looking, never been smart.” The former Cal (Pa.) and Washington & Jefferson football coach can say he is a hall of famer. And a member of a pretty good class, at that. Luckhardt will be inducted into the College...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Franklin Regional’s Hannah hits ground running
Kadyn Hannah did not need much adjustment time as a freshman on the La Roche men’s basketball team. The Franklin Regional alum stepped into the starting five from Day 1 and has helped push the Redhawks (5-5) to four straight wins. The statement game for the 6-foot-5 forward came Saturday...
High school notebook: Belle Vernon football won’t play up to 4A
Belle Vernon has been one of the top football teams in WPIAL Class 4A for nearly half a decade. The Leopards have reached the semifinals four straight years and made the finals at Heinz Field in 2019 and ‘21. Class 3A, brace yourself because here come the Leopards. Belle Vernon...
Former Pitt assistant Marion joins Texas staff, immediately offers WPIAL stars Gallagher and Martin
Brennan Marion has been on the Texas football staff for less than two weeks and he already has tossed a lasso at WPIAL recruiting territory. Marion, a Greensburg Salem alum who coached wide receivers at Pitt this season before taking the same job with the Longhorns, extended scholarship offers to...
Latrobe steels nerves for section victory vs. Franklin Regional
Landon Butler said he practiced free throws a few hours before game time Friday night. “I made like 25 of 35,” the Latrobe junior guard said. He said he and his teammates sometimes attempt 50 free throws a day in practice. It’s a good thing. The Wildcats needed accuracy from...
Guard Snyder leads way in Latrobe girls basketball team’s win over Franklin Regional
Sophomore guard Elle Snyder knows her role on the Latrobe girls basketball team. “I am a shooter,” Snyder said with stern confidence. She was a pace-setter Thursday night, showing her shooting touch in the Wildcats’ 57-29 victory over visiting Franklin Regional in a Section 4-5A game. Snyder did her damage...
Jeannette rallies around newcomer Thompson
Basketball has been the center of Nasheed “Nas” Thompson’s universe for a long time. From his youth days in his birthplace of Philadelphia, to his time on the high school team at Clearfield in Pennsylvania District 9, to now being a senior at Jeannette, he has grown to love the...
Westmoreland high school boys basketball notebook: GCC disrupted by covid again
The Greensburg Central Catholic boys basketball team didn’t play a home game in 2020. Because of covid cancellations and schedule-shuffling, the Centurions had to wait until Jan. 8 last season, after the calendar flipped to 2021, to play on their home floor. Now the team is letting out a collective...
Lindeman, Boyd picked for ECNL all-star showcase
A pair of WPIAL girls soccer standouts and Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy players were selected to play in a national showcase. Franklin Regional senior Sydney Lindeman and Pine-Richland junior Ava Boyd made the cut for the Elite Clubs National League Florida National Selection Games, set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Premier...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Southmoreland-Greensburg Salem lives up to billing
It was a girls game played on night when the spotlight shined on the top boys basketball action in the WPIAL. But Greensburg Salem at Southmoreland still lived up to its billing Tuesday. There weren’t a lot of points, possessions were precious and defense was the order of the day...
Southmoreland girls will forge ahead rather than dwell on early section loss
For Southmoreland, it’s not as much about the loss as it is what happens after it. The Scotties, who were ranked No. 1 in WPIAL Class 4A, were upset Monday at Belle Vernon, 52-40. Belle Vernon (6-2) is no slouch. Everything went the Leopards’ way, and they seemingly couldn’t miss...
Mike Arone pegged to fill football coaching vacancy at Derry
Derry is on the verge of hiring a new football coach. According to the agenda for its Thursday meeting, the district will recommend Mike Arone to take over the program. Arone is an associate principal at Derry Area High School. He was an assistant coach for 20 years at Homer-Center....
Belle Vernon native Joe Rudolph joins football staff at Virginia Tech
Veteran college football assistant coach Joe Rudolph, a Belle Vernon native, is leaving Wisconsin to join the staff at Virginia Tech. Rudolph, a former offensive coordinator at Pitt, had two stints at Wisconsin and also coached at Nebraska. He will serve as the Hokies’ run game coordinator and offensive line...
Shady Side Academy alum Skyy Moore declaring for NFL Draft
Skyy’s the limit. Western Michigan big-play wide receiver Skyy Moore, a sophomore with two years of eligibility left, will declare for the NFL Draft. Moore, a Shady Side Academy graduate from New Kensington, was a catch-everything threat this season for the Broncos, pulling in 95 receptions for 1,292 yards and...
High-scoring Hempfield boys hold off Norwin in section opener
On two previous occasions this season, Hempfield scored 77 points — and lost. The Spartans are playing an exciting brand of basketball with kickout 3-pointers, quick passes and transition layups, but they haven’t been getting the results they’ve wanted. They had seen enough Tuesday night in the Section 3-6A opener....
