Bill Beckner stories, Page 2
Riverview girls persevere to defeat section foe Jeannette
With its star player on crutches, Riverview had to dig deep to earn its latest Section 4-2A girls basketball victory. It took a little extra to earn a split with Jeannette and stay in second place. “We have to play for Isabel,” Raiders freshman guard Mia Murphy said of senior...
Westmoreland County coaches see pros, cons with elimination of overtime for WPIAL soccer games
WPIAL soccer is fit to be tied. The PIAA last week made a major rule change by eliminating overtime in regular-season games, meaning teams will settle on a draw if they are tied after 80 minutes of regulation. A unanimous decision by the PIAA soccer committee led to the game-changing...
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Mt. Pleasant raining 3s
Some teams settle for 3-pointers. Mt. Pleasant uses them as its primary weapon. The Vikings’ offense is thick with them. Through 15 games, they made 121 of 469 3s. That is an average of 31.2 attempts. The message is simple to the players: When ball comes to you, be ready...
Upper St. Clair’s Jacobo Echeverria Lozano commits to Purdue
Jacobo Echeverria Lozano, the big-legged kicker from Upper St. Clair, has found a college destination. Echeverria Lozano is Big Ten-bound after making a verbal commitment to Purdue, which made him a scholarship offer about two weeks ago. Spencer Porath, Purdue’s kicker this season, transferred to Notre Dame. A two-time all-conference...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Penn-Trafford gets on a roll
Penn-Trafford girls basketball ran the table in the regular season last year, taking a spotless 22-0 record going into the WPIAL 5A postseason. The fourth-ranked Warriors (12-3, 8-0) are building another streak this season. Some Class 5A coaches are wondering if they will win out again before the playoffs. They...
Derry alum Kyle Schmitt returning to Maryland football as assistant coach
Kyle Schmitt is circling back to his college alma mater as his coaching career winds into a new chapter. According to the Capital Gazette, the Derry graduate is set to become the tight ends coach at Maryland, where he played from 2001-04 and coached as a graduate assistant for two...
Stanley Rajkovich gets 1,000th point as Derry boys defeat Greensburg Salem
Greensburg Salem slowed down Derry, holding the ball for long possessions before attempting a shot against the visiting Trojans. It turned a 100-yard dash into a 1,600-meter run. But the Golden Lions couldn’t curtail 6-foot-7 junior forward Stanley Rajkovich, who looked the part of a high jumper as he scored...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Saint Vincent women’s basketball team wins 5th in row
The Saint Vincent women’s basketball team ran its winning streak to five with a 66-45 victory over visiting Allegheny on Saturday. The Bearcats (11-4, 6-0) continued to enjoy playing on their home floor, where they are 6-0. Junior Olivia Yancy and sophomore Emerson Peffer combined for 30 points off the...
Hempfield graduate Jasmine Jones selected for 2026 U.S. Olympic bobsled teamVideo
Hempfield alum Jasmine Jones is an Olympian. The former track and field standout, who also ran at Eastern Michigan, was selected Monday for the 2026 U.S. Olympic bobsled and skeleton team that will compete in Cortina, Italy. The Winter Games begin Feb. 6. “It feels surreal,” Jones said. “All of...
Westmoreland high school notebook: PIAA championships have Pittsburgh history
The PIAA boys and girls soccer championships are coming to Highmark Stadium for the next four years. It has been a while since the PIAA brought its trophies west. Next year’s finals will mark the first time a state championship has been played in WPIAL territory since the 1992 PIAA...
Show him the money: Franklin Regional grad enjoys fast-paced career as sports agent
The deal went down at a car dealership, only it didn’t involve a title transfer, financing or a bumper-to-bumper warranty. Sports agent Aidan Sadoski hadn’t heard from a potential client, a basketball player from the SEC with whom he’d been in contact all season, for several weeks. “He went ghost...
Franklin Regional boys turn back Penn-Trafford behind Logan Walter’s 32 points
Logan Walter had zero points in the second quarter as Penn-Trafford concentrated on stopping the Franklin Regional junior shooting guard after he had 10 in the first. The Warriors, however, couldn’t slow him down in the second half. Not with their guards, not with their 2-3 zone, not with their...
Penn-Trafford graduate, former Wisconsin RB Cade Yacamelli transfers to Miami (Ohio)
Not long after he locked his name into the NCAA transfer portal, Cade Yacamelli made a commitment to a new college football program, with little fanfare or attention. Just the way he liked it. The running back didn’t even post anything on social media when he verbally pledged to Miami...
Path that started at Norwin carries Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan to brink of national title
A former high school lacrosse coach turned millionaire playcaller for the No. 1 college football team in the country is a win away from a national championship. If Norwin alum Mike Shanahan tells you he is living the dream, he means it. The second-year offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach...
Jeannette girls lock in, defeat Riverview with defense
Jeannette’s plan was to curb high-scoring senior guard Isabel Chaparro as much as it could and shut down her Riverview teammates. Jayhawks coach Jenna Lusby can call the strategy a success. Jeannette disarmed Riverview with a 1-3-1 zone, getting a game-high 22 points from senior Navarah Smith in a 43-26...
Final score of District 9 boys basketball game: 9-5
Pennsylvania high school basketball is crying out for a shot clock. Case in point? A boys game that ended with a final score of 9-5. Johnsonburg slogged past St Marys in District 9 on Wednesday night. St Marys led 3-2 at halftime. Jude Schreiber scored a game-high six points for...
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Ligonier Valley makes habit of playing close games
Ligonier Valley did it again. Once more, the Rams not only showed a propensity for playing in tight games, but also how to win one. Noah Knupp made a 30-foot jumper to lift the Rams to a 51-49 win Friday over Waynesburg in Section 4-3A. Two games prior, Michael Wisniewski’s...
Jeannette alum Marcus Barnes headed to UFL
Jeannette alum Marcus Barnes will continue his football career in the United Football League. Barnes was selected by the Columbus Aviators on the second day of the UFL Draft. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound safety was a two-time All-Continental Athletic Association player who had nine career interceptions and made 69 tackles in...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Norwin fighting through injury to key senior
Like most teams, Norwin has the normal aches and pains associated with play at the halfway mark of section schedule. Rest and recovery are valued more as teams aim for the stretch run. But the Class 6A No. 1-ranked Knights (11-2) have been patiently awaiting the return of a key...
Versatile Seton Hill junior fills stats sheets at furious pace
Rebounding and getting steals are an art form, not a chore, to Mia Kalich. And while the versatile Seton Hill basketball standout piles up both, she doesn’t exactly try to get double- and triple-doubles. Call those an aside to effort. A player signing her work. “I don’t think about stats,”...
Hempfield boys give coach best birthday present: a win over Norwin
Austin Butler walked into the locker room to greet his team after a big section win, only to find his players had locked themselves behind a fenced-in area. The Hempfield coach looked perplexed and proceeded with caution. Suddenly, the Spartans burst into song — a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday”...
Diminutive Giuliana Giannikas plays big for Norwin girls in win over Hempfield
At 5-foot-2, Giuliana Giannikas is often out-sized on the basketball court. But the budding point guard uses her skill and cool temperament to overcome mismatches. Well, that and something else. “You just have to be physical and be a dog,” the Norwin freshman said. Giannikas was nipping at Hempfield’s heels...
‘She’s a natural’: Greensburg Central Catholic’s Erica Gribble hits 2,000-point mark
She caught the ball at the top of the key, pump-faked and dribbled once to her right. Then, with a sidestep backward, Erica Gribble launched a high-arcing 3-pointer that splashed down. It was a crafty move by a crafty scorer, one that few prep girls basketball players can make. It...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Penn-Trafford product Enick transferring to IUP
A mean pass-rusher coming out of Penn-Trafford and the WPIAL’s top two-way lineman as a senior, Joe Enick is set to join his third college football program. He began his college career at Central Michigan, but the 6-foot-2, 288-pounder became antsy after one season and transferred to Saint Francis. He...
Former Penn-Trafford football standout Greene transferring to YSU
The defensive line is calling his name again, and Conlan Greene can’t wait to get back in the trenches. The former Penn-Trafford football standout, who played three years at Temple, announced Saturday he has committed to play at Youngstown State. He entered the NCAA transfer portal with one year of...
