Bill Beckner stories, Page 2
Westmoreland County PIAA basketball playoff preview capsule for March 10, 2026
PIAA basketball playoffs Girls Class 3A Second round Greensburg Central Catholic (20-7) vs. Northwestern (22-3) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Sharon District seeds: Greensburg Central Catholic 7-2; Northwestern 10-1 Winner plays: Winner of 4-3 Troy Area (24-4)/3-1 Trinity (22-2) Friday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Erica Gribble, GCC;...
Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: Greensburg Central Catholic’s Gribble meets familiar face
When Greensburg Central Catholic point guard Erica Gribble attended a showcase last summer at IMG Academy in Florida, she roomed with another Pennsylvania star. Gribble and Makayla Presser-Palmer of Northwestern were roommates at the Elite 40 event. Who knew the Division I players would meet in the state playoffs? Gribble...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Hempfield’s Brandon Rapp honored by athletic directors association
Hempfield’s Brandon Rapp said the award he will soon receive is more about his profession — and colleagues who know the behind-the-scenes grind of managing high school athletics — than it is about himself. Rapp will be named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association Region IV Athletic Director of the...
Norwin sports notebook: Knights girls wrestlers advance to state tournament
Three Norwin girls qualified for the PIAA girls wrestling championships March 5-7 at the Giant Center in Hershey. Josephine Dollman, a 142-pounder, advanced with a second-place finish at the West Regional tournament at Mt. Lebanon. Dollman lost to Kiski Area’s Ava Golding, 2-0, as Goulding scored a third-period reversal. Two...
Franklin Regional’s Ceana Copeland makes college decision
Franklin Regional junior Ceana “CC” Copeland committed to play Division II college softball at IUP of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Copeland is a third baseman and utility player for the Panthers. She also had an offer from Seton Hill. “I picked IUP because it really felt like home, and...
McGowan paces Jeannette to opening PIAA victory
One play after another, Markus McGowan welcomed Jeannette back to the basketball court. First, he turned a couple of steals into layups. Then, he made a smooth fadeaway jumper from just off the low block. By the time he delivered consecutive assists to Noah Sunder and Noah Clary — the...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls take out frustrations from WPIAL loss, roll in PIAA opener
And Greensburg Central Catholic thought section play was over. In 14 WPIAL section games this season, GCC had a winning margin of 44 points. Running clocks were a regular occurrence. The Centurions’ PIAA opener had the feel of one of those games as they coasted into the second round with...
Westmoreland County PIAA basketball playoff preview capsules for March 7, 2026
Girls Class 5A First round West York (16-10) at Penn-Trafford (20-6) 1 p.m. Saturday District/place: West York 3-6; Penn-Trafford 7-3 Winner plays: Winner of 3-8 Milton Hershey (17-9)/7-1 South Fayette (25-1) Wednesday in second round (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Cam Forsythe, West York; Hanna Weishaar, Penn-Trafford Layup lines:...
Two tabbed PIHL players of the month for February
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League announced its players of the month for February. Hempfield junior forward Colby Herron was the recipient in Class 2A. Herron, who has helped the Spartans reach the Penguins Cup semifinals, had four goals and four assists in three games last month. He plays a key...
Seton Hill men’s basketball team overcomes spate of injuries to reach PSAC semis
The math doesn’t add up on how this conundrum of a college basketball team made the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference semifinals for the first time in program history. How a rash of injuries and corresponding tailspin dumped off Seton Hill in Afterthought City, only for the Griffins to hitchhike their...
Mt. Pleasant hires Katarski as athletic director; will remain as boys basketball coach
Mark Katarski already reunited with his high school alma mater when he became the boys basketball at Mt. Pleasant. Now, he will oversee all of the sports there. Katarski was hired Wednesday night by a 9-0 vote to be the Vikings’ athletic director. He replaces JJ Eckels, who left to...
Westmoreland County PIAA basketball playoff preview capsules for March 6, 2026
Girls Class 6A First round Norwin (19-5) at Altoona (19-4) 6 p.m. Friday District/place: Norwin 7-2; Altoona 6-1 Winner plays: Winner of 3-6 Mechanicsburg (20-5)/1-2 Pennsbury (20-5) in second round Tuesday (time, site TBD). Players to watch: Ava Christopher, Norwin; Brionna Hudson, Altoona Layup lines: Norwin made the WPIAL finals...
Monessen boys team ready to bounce back at PIAAsVideo
Monessen ran into a buzzsaw in the WPIAL boys basketball semifinals but bounced back to finish third in WPIAL Class A. Though a 51-20 loss to eventual champion Neighborhood Academy taught the Greyhounds a few things about themselves and served as a measuring stick for their standing in the postseason,...
Longtime Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball coach Rukavina retires
Legendary Pitt-Johnstown men’s basketball coach Bob Rukavina, who has ties to the Alle-Kiski Valley, has retired after 37 seasons, 47 overall in coaching. “Coach Ruk,” a longtime Lower Burrell resident, registered 577 wins and a .580 winning percentage while guiding the Mountain Cats to five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances...
Ligonier Valley boys ready for 1st PIAA basketball tournament in 6 years
The last time Ligonier Valley made the PIAA boys basketball playoffs, assistant coach Michael Marinchak was a star player for the Rams. It was 2019-20, and Marinchak was a goggle-eyed sharpshooter who led Ligonier Valley to a 23-4 season the year before the school rejoined the WPIAL. The Rams lost...
Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Greensburg CC’s Erica Gribble still has goals to strive for
Erica Gribble’s checklist still has a few empty boxes, a couple of which have been added late in the season. So far, the standout senior point guard from Greensburg Central Catholic has: • Broken the GCC girls and boys all-time scoring records. • Scored more than 2,000 career points. •...
PIAA tournament gives Penn-Trafford girls a chance to atone for rare stumble
Minus one quarter, Penn-Trafford played sharp basketball in four WPIAL playoff games, first-year coach Chuck Fontana said. The outlier? “The fourth quarter of the (Thomas Jefferson) game,” Fontana said. “We had too many turnovers and didn’t make shots when we needed to that quarter. We need to take care of...
Westmoreland County campus clips: Latrobe grad stunned when Marshall drops swimming
Like her teammates and coaches, freshman Lauren Bell was blindsided by the news. In a cost-cutting move, Marshall Univerity opted to cut the women’s swimming team, effective at the end of this season. Bell, a Latrobe alum and former WPIAL standout, is suddenly faced with a tough decision: stay or...
Westmoreland, A-K Valley teams learn PIAA playoff foes
Greensburg Central Catholic is hitting the road again for a playoff game. The girls basketball team earned a home game for the start of the state playoffs, but since their gymnasium does not meet PIAA requirements for seating capacity for Class 3A (750), the Centurions will play at a neutral...
Norwin girls find silver lining in latest WPIAL finals appearance, prepare for states
A gold medal and two silvers hang proudly around Ava Christopher’s neck. But the Norwin senior guard will take more than material mementos from three straight WPIAL basketball finals. “We fought through a lot of adversity this year,” Christopher said. “I am so proud of these girls for that and...
Canon-McMillan starts fast, finishes strong to topple Norwin, win 1st WPIAL championshipVideo
Canon-McMillan went from the edge of despair to the doorstep of a championship. Norwin made an improbable comeback to reverse an impending blowout. In the end, the top-seeded Big Macs finished the job and made school history. Canon-McMillan built a 19-point lead and saw it shrink to four before finally...
Starters from Franklin Regional ’24 team making mark in college basketball
The starting five from Franklin Regional’s PIAA boys basketball runner-up team from 2023-24 merged directly into college basketball. All five are playing this season at the NCAA Division III level. Here is a look at where they are now and how they are doing: Cam Rowell, So., G, Washington &...
After emotional loss in WPIAL finals, Jeannette regroups for state playoffs
Jeannette is trying have a short memory after losing the WPIAL championship. The boys basketball team was scheduled to take a day off to regroup before preparing for its next venture, the PIAA tournament. The Jayhawks (22-2) dropped a 52-38 decision to Sewickley Academy (25-1) on Friday night at Petersen...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: 7 picked for East-West football all-star games
Seven local football players were selected to play in the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West senior all-star games. The small-school game kicks off at noon May 17 at Cumberland Valley in Mechanicsburg. The big-school game follows at 5. Hempfield and Norwin each had two players make the big-school game....
Norwin notebook: Girls track team takes indoor title
Norwin and Hempfield went back and forth at the Tri-State Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor Championship on Feb. 21 at Edinboro’s Mike Zafirovsku Sports and Recreation Center. Norwin won the girls championship by 2.5 points over Hempfield, while the Hempfield boys also took second. Norwin’s highlights included: • The...
