Bill Beckner stories, Page 193
Off to fast start, Norwin boys ready to be tested
Fast starts in basketball are like a big explosion in the first five minutes of a movie. While the scene engages the audience and might even pique their interest, it quickly is forgotten as the rest of the film plays out. Norwin’s boys basketball team has set the tone with...
Hempfield’s Liberatore wrapping up notable career in leadership role
Hempfield’s Sarah Liberatore is one of those high school basketball players who seems to have been playing forever. It’s easy to picture her in Spartans blue and white. The talented, 5-foot-10 guard has been a starter since her freshman season and has become a fixture in the rotation. Michelle Burns,...
Elizabeth Forward softball pitcher Kailey Larcinese verbals to Towson
Growing up around the travel softball circuit and coming up in the WPIAL, Kailey Larcinese heard about the intricacies of the recruiting process. But she has been dealing with them firsthand since she had a breakthrough sophomore season last spring pitching for Elizabeth Forward. “Everyone tells you, ‘You’ll just know...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Norwin takes tune-up trip
Norwin used a pre-holiday trip south to work out some early kinks in its game. Not that the girls basketball team has many. The Lady Knights (3-2) played in the She Got Game Classic last weekend in Springfield, Va., and came home with a 1-1 record. After handling Frederick Douglass...
Linemen highlight numerous early football signings in Westmoreland County
One of the best recruiting years for linemen in Westmoreland County reached its high point Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA Division I early signing period for college prospects. A number of brawny frontmen made their verbal commitments official as they signed national letters of intent to block and...
Norwin boys use defense to get past JeannetteVideo
Unbeaten Norwin probably will have better shooting performances as the season wears on. But the Knights prided themselves on defense to win their home opener — the first game for new boys basketball coach Buddy Valinsky in North Huntingdon. Norwin helped on switches, packed neatly into a zone and pressured...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Suitors lining up for Robert Kennedy
Robert “Poogie” Kennedy has one more semester left at Lackawanna before, conceivably, he embarks on the next chapter of his football career. The former Jeannette star who has shined as a safety at the junior college level continues to draw Division I interest. Lackawanna (10-1) finished runner-up in the NJCAA...
GCC grad Collin Liberatore named preseason All-American pitcher for Indiana State
After a breakthrough redshirt junior season, Indiana State pitcher Collin Liberatore has been tabbed a second-team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball. The Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year, Liberatore (Greensburg Central Catholic) went 10-2 last season in 16 starts with a 2.96 ERA and 80 strikeouts. Opponents hit just...
Career night for Ashleigh Connor carries Mt. Lebanon past Hempfield
Pressure — lots of it — came at Hempfield from all angles early in Monday night’s Section 2-6A girls basketball game. The badgering defense snarled the Spartans before they even got to the halfcourt line, and the duress-inducing strategy gave shine to No. 5 Mt. Lebanon, which piggybacked a career...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Mastovich earns another soccer honor
Andrew Mastovich made his mark in the Penn State Behrend men’s soccer program. The senior defender from Franklin Regional added another postseason accolade Wednesday when he was named to the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III All-Star First Team. Mastovich, the AMCC Defensive Player of the Year, is a two-time...
Hempfield girls basketball team raises money for Mt. Lebanon junior battling cancer
Hempfield senior basketball player Sarah Liberatore wanted to surprise two of her AAU teammates and, as an extension, help out a friend of theirs who is battling cancer. Liberatore had her teammates purchase T-shirts to raise money for Lexi Ribstein, a Mt. Lebanon junior who has been diagnosed with Hodgkins...
Yough grad Scott Houseman, lineman at Lackawanna, makes Division I commitment
An official visit to Albany over the weekend solidified Scott Houseman’s impressions of the football program and reassured him that it is the place for him. The big redshirt freshman lineman who plays at Lackawanna announced Monday night his commitment to Albany, which is coached by former Duquesne coach Greg...
Seton Hill’s Courtney Cecere earns PSAC dual-honor
Seton Hill junior Courtney Cecere pulled off a rare sweep in the PSAC West weekly basketball awards. The 5-foot-9 guard from Windber was named both the athlete and defensive player of the week in the division. Cecere’s performance against Salem was an impressive one and it swayed the voters: She...
Former Jeannette football star Anthony Johnson entering transfer portal
Bowling Green freshman football player Anthony Johnson, who spent time at Jeannette before transferring to Cleveland Heights (Ohio) for his senior year of high school, announced he now plans to change colleges. Johnson said on Twitter that he will enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and that his “recruitment is now...
Jeannette’s Jackson Pruitt gets first Division I football offer
For the past month or so, Jackson Pruitt has been in contact with football coaches at Youngstown State. Those around the Jeannette senior knew something was up, that something had to be in the works. On Saturday, they found out what the back-and-forth was all about. Pruitt skipped Jeannette’s basketball...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Dedo, Kindelberger named to all-state volleyball team
Thirty-six players from the WPIAL were named to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association All-State Teams. Two hail from Westmoreland County: Hempfield senior Mekayla Dedo and Franklin Regional junior Aly Kindelberger. Dedo, an outside hitter, made the Class AAAA team, and Kindelberger, a middle hitter, was a Class AAA selection. Both...
Fast start fuels Hempfield boys to win over Kiski AreaVideo
Hempfield had been on the wrong end of fast starts this season. After a 75-53 victory over Kiski Area on Saturday that was predicated on a white-hot first quarter, the Spartans could bask in seeing how the other half lives. “We’ve been down 17-6, 15-6 and 7-0 the last three...
Mt. Pleasant softball standout Smithnosky commits to Western Michigan
Junior Mary Smithnosky is a hit with Western Michigan. The Mt. Pleasant softball player, known for her hitting power, made a verbal commitment this week to the Broncos of the Mid-American Conference. Smithnosky not only was one of the Vikings’ top hitters (.494 average, 14 RBIs, 12 runs scored) last...
GCC’s Nate Ward makes most of All-American Game experience
Greensburg Central Catholic senior Nate Ward not only was selected to play in the High School All-American Soccer Game last weekend in Winter Park, Fla., he also made the most of the trip by finding the back of the net. The Indiana recruit scored a goal for the East all-stars...
Southmoreland girls stop West Mifflin, continue promising start to seasonVideo
With long arms and long legs, Southmoreland is not the longshot it once was in WPIAL girls basketball. One of the tallest teams in Class 4A from guard to forward and head to toe, the budding Scotties used their size and athleticism to take care of visiting West Mifflin, 63-34,...
Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: Greensburg Salem boys moving up to Class 6A
When the PIAA last week released a list of schools that plan to play up in classification for the 2020-21 and 2012-22 school years, one team stood out. Greensburg Salem was one of the 10 WPIAL schools among the “voluntary upgrades” for the next two-year cycle. The Golden Lions are...
Zach Rocco helping Penn-Trafford boys basketball be all it can be
Zach Rocco is an Army of one. Not in terms of his role on the Penn-Trafford basketball team this season — although he is the only returning starter and senior — but rather in the way he goes about his business. The way he deals with an always regimented, always...
Thirty-six from WPIAL make all-state volleyball teams
North Allegheny made it a PIAA Class AAAA three-peat this season in girls volleyball, while North Catholic won its first Class A state title in the sport. The best teams in the state usually produce the best players and each school had multiple players selected to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches...
Hempfield lineman Cole Graham commits to St. Francis (Pa.)
Cole Graham was a late-bloomer in the recruiting game, but that did not stop the Hempfield football lineman from finding his way to a Division-I program. Graham, who saw an uptick in interest in recent weeks, announced Wednesday his commitment to play at St. Francis (Pa.). The Red Flash offered...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Penn-Trafford savors dramatic victory
Penn-Trafford showed a flair for the dramatic Tuesday night against a quality opponent. Sophomore Maura Suman ignited a celebration when she made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the wing to lift the Warriors to a 59-58 upset of No. 2 Gateway in a Class 5A nonsection game in Harrison City. Suman...
