Bill Beckner stories, Page 2

Goalkeeper Aris Lamanna played the entire women’s soccer season for Coastal Carolina — all 1,440 minutes — with a torn labrum. The former Franklin Regional standout put off surgery until mid-November, and she announced the procedure went well. If she had any discomfort or restraints this fall, she didn’t show...

Trib HSSN Girls Soccer All-Stars Player of the Year Emily McKee, Jr., F, Fox Chapel With six- and seven-goal games this season — the seven came in a playoff game — Emily McKee was a volume scorer for Fox Chapel. She had 49 goals for the year and put more...

Trib HSSN Boys Soccer All-Stars Player of the Year Ryan Moessner, Sr., F, Bentworth Perfection is attainable. Just ask Ryan Moessner. The standout from Bentworth and his teammates put together an unscratched season, finishing 25-0 after winning their third consecutive WPIAL Class A boys soccer championship and first PIAA title....

Greensburg native Brandon Martin has his first Power Four college basketball scholarship offer. Penn State offered the 6-foot-7 sophomore during his visit to University Park this weekend. Martin, a wing-forward who plays at the Phelps School in Malvern, Chester County, has seven Division I offers, none as eminent as the...

Norwin already proved itself to the state by winning its first PIAA Class 3A cross country championship. The mighty girls team also made a mark nationally. Norwin competed at the Nike Cross Country Northeast Regional on Nov. 22 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. The top two high school-affiliated...

It wasn’t a tip-off tournament game or a section game, but the boys basketball season opener between North Allegheny and Norwin had all the feels of a playoff tussle. There were lead swings and tense possessions, plenty of fouls and whistles and physical play on both ends of the floor....

Jackson Mickens demonstrated his versatility this season for Southmoreland, playing running back and outside linebacker and also returning kicks and punts for the Scotties. The sophomore Division I college prospect was lauded for his efforts as he was named the WPIAL Class 3A Interstate Conference All- Purpose Player of the...

A dozen of the WPIAL’s best girls soccer players were named to the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state list, which was announced Saturday. The list includes: • Fox Chapel junior forward Emily McKee • Latrobe senior midfielder Annalyse Bauer • Mars senior defender Addison Orehowsky • Moon senior midfielder Kendall...

The Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-star games for the WPIAL’s top boys players will be Saturday at Pine-Richland. There are two games on the schedule. Class A plays Class 2A at 10 a.m., followed by Class 3A vs. Class 4A at noon. Here are the all-star rosters: Class A...

Jeannette trailed Indiana by four points after a sticky first quarter in its season opener. But then the Jayhawks found an extra gear — like the one that propelled them to a WPIAL 2A championship last season — and it was game over. Jeannette clamped down defensively and kicked up...

When Southmoreland plays its first home girls basketball game, new coach Barry Collins will put his entire varsity team in the junior varsity book. “We’re a team, and we’re going to start the season as a team,” Collins said. “Everybody has a shot to dress varsity.” Southmoreland hasn’t had a...

After winning its first section championship since 1992, Southmoreland cranked up its nonsection boys basketball schedule as it takes aim at a repeat. The Scotties, who swept through section play at 10-0 and finished 18-8 overall, will play a lineup of playoff contenders from different classifications in Quaker Valley, Uniontown,...

One unique thing about Norwin’s senior basketball players is that all of them specialize in one sport. They are basketball junkies. Hoop enthusiasts. Gym rats. “All basketball dudes,” Knights alum and second-year coach Cam Auld said. “It’s nice to have them all year round. At some smaller schools, you only...

Ava Christopher was called on to be a defensive specialist the last two years for Norwin, a role she embraced while putting her offensive skills on the shelf. As the only returning starter, she will have much more freedom to create shots and score for the Knights, who won the...

Jeannette girls basketball coach Jenna Lusby and her husband/assistant coach, Arnold Lusby, had their first child in August. Baby Zayvia is doing well. “We joke that she is our other assistant,” Jenna Lusby said. “The girls love her.” Now, to their other baby: the Jayhawks program. Jeannette didn’t win a...

With four of five starters still playing football in early November, Jeannette had to wait to have full basketball practices. The only difference this year for veteran coach Adrian Batts was he was waiting to get his WPIAL champions back into basketball shape. The Jayhawks may not be in prime...

Previewing high school girls basketball season in Westmoreland County: 5 players to watch Aubrey Brown So., F, Belle Vernon Promising big with guard skills, the 6-foot-1 Brown averaged 10.9 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 2.7 assists and 2.2 blocks, registering 10 double-doubles. Has an offer from Kent State. Torrie DeStefano...

Previewing high school boys basketball season in Westmoreland County: 5 players to watch Kymon’e Brown Sr., G, Jeannette Floor leader and one of area’s top all-around players averaged 12.5 points, 6.8 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.4 rebounds a game for the WPIAL 2A champs. Ian DeCerb Sr., F, Latrobe Athletic...

Asked what he will miss most about the Norwin boys soccer program, Scott Schuchert said, “The players and the traditions.” A successful 14-year run had plenty of both. Schuchert resigned this week after leading the Knights since 2012. He said he wants to spend more time with his family: his...

Seton Hill has been hatching plans to change the way it defends. The personnel the talented Griffins have allows them to guard straight up. How they shield against opposing teams could dictate how far they go this college basketball season. “We’re trying to play more man-to-man,” Griffins coach Ben Wilkins...

Hempfield had to do some shuffling before official practice even began. Senior point guard Madalyn Pevarnik, who would have been the top returning scorer, suffered a torn ACL in the summer while playing AAU basketball and will miss her final high school season. Pevarnik is a Marietta commit. “She was...

Austin Butler had a keen eye for detail when he played basketball at a high level and now is applying similar attentiveness to coaching. The first-year Hempfield boys coach makes sure each practice is filmed so he can circle teaching moments. He doesn’t want to waste a second trying to...

Erica Gribble and Jayla Peterson are a championship-winning backcourt combo, seasoned and skilled, partners in crime. The college-bound seniors at Greensburg Central Catholic have won two straight WPIAL titles together — Class 3A last year and 2A the previous season — and are talented enough to win a third. But...

A whiteboard in the boys basketball coach’s office at Greensburg Central Catholic was erased in the offseason. Old concepts, plays and names were wiped away and soon the squeak of markers could be heard writing new ones. New coach Tim O’Rourke was doing the writing as he began to take...

Norwin junior Landon Sidun is considered the top 120-pound high school wrestler in the nation. The Penn State commit was named to the first Nike Wrestling Preseason All-American Team, announced Monday night by FloWrestling.com. He was the only WPIAL wrestler to make the list. Sidun, who is back to 100...