Bill Beckner stories, Page 51
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Saint Vincent wins hockey title
You can keep your cups. Saint Vincent hockey is playing for belts. For the first time in program history, Saint Vincent won the College Hockey East Division 3 championship belt. It was the program’s first title since the 1976-77 team won the WPIHA championship. The Polar Bearcats skated past IUP...
Worthy challenger awaits No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic in WPIAL finals
Greensburg Central Catholic has won going away in the playoffs. It hasn’t been close. The Centurions have been dominant, trailing only once, for a blink of an eye — Northgate actually led 1-0 in a 77-10 first-round runaway — while winning three playoff games by a combined 124 points. The...
Norwin girls find 2nd wind, top Chartiers Valley to reach WPIAL 6A final
Early on, Chartiers Valley took charges. After some key adjustments, Norwin took charge. Top-seeded Norwin overcame a close first half and scored 39 second-half points to rip past No. 5 Chartiers Valley, 63-47, in a WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball semifinal Monday night at Peters Township’s AHN Arena. The Knights...
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 27, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 2A Semifinals 3-Northgate (18-5) vs. 2-Greensburg Central Catholic (22-2) 6 p.m. Tuesday at Gateway Winner plays: Winner of 3-Fort Cherry (19-5)/2-Aliquippa (19-5) in championship 1 p.m. March 2 at Petersen Events Center Coaches: Cam Williams, Northgate; Christian Hyland, GCC Players to watch: Kaden Kemp, Northgate;...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Mt. Pleasant’s Brunson excelling at plate for Penn State softball
The Penn State softball team is cooking — with a new chef in the kitchen. First-year Nittany Lions outfielder Haylie Brunson, a junior from Mt. Pleasant and a former TribLive Westmoreland player of the year, is hitting a team-best .385 (15 for 39) with two homers and 14 RBIs. She...
Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: GCC’s Western PA Bruins connection
Mya Morgan can see some similarities between her Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team and the AAU Western PA Bruins. Morgan has a good eye for this kind of thing because she plays for both. The Bruins, the premier girls AAU program in the area, have a clear influence on...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Hempfield punter makes all-star roster
Players from Westmoreland County have been selected to the East-West football all-star games before. Quarterbacks, running backs and linebackers are not uncommon picks. But a kicker/punter making the roster? That is something new. Hempfield’s Josh Reilly was chosen for the East team that will play the West in the large-school...
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 26, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A Semifinals 3-Shaler (22-2) vs. 2-Franklin Regional (22-2) 8 p.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon Winner plays: Winner of 4-Thomas Jefferson (21-2)/1-Moon (21-3) in championship 9 p.m. March 1 at Petersen Events Center Coaches: Rob Niederberger, Shaler; Jesse Reed, Franklin Regional Players to watch: Keegan Smetanka,...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Norwin’s Josephine Dollman, Franklin Regional’s Brandon Smith
Josephine Dollman School: Norwin Class: Sophomore Sport: Wrestling Claim to fame: Dollman made history last weekend when she became the first girl from Westmoreland County — and her school — to win a WPIAL individual wrestling title. Dollman, who is 20-3 with 18 pins, won the championship with a fall...
Sophomore Erica Gribble hits milestone as No. 1 Greensburg CC reaches WPIAL finals
She came off a curl and caught the basketball on the wing, in front of her team’s bench, and let it fly with 21.4 seconds left in the third quarter. Erica Gribble, Greensburg Central Catholic’s skilled sophomore, asked for the ball on a weaving give-and-go from senior Avery Davis —...
Yough’s Terek Crosby scores 2,000th point in playoff loss to Shady Side
Standout senior guard Terek Crosby of Yough scored his 2,000th career point Saturday in a 61-47 loss to Shady Side Academy in a WPIAL Class 3A consolation game at Fox Chapel. He hit the milestone with a spinning layup in the lane during the second quarter. He is the 34th...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: New challenge awaits Latrobe after WPIAL realignment
The fall sports landscape will look quite different next year with the WPIAL realigning teams in its latest two-year enrollment cycle. Norwin and Hempfield are back in Class 6A for football and will play in one, eight-team conference that also will include Canon-McMillan, Central Catholic, Mt. Lebanon, Seneca Valley, North...
After strong finish, Franklin Regional girls look toward promising future
A couple more games. Maybe another week of section play would have done the trick. Franklin Regional may have peaked too late, but that’s not exactly a bad thing as coach Bernie Pucka looks back on girls basketball season. The Panthers finished fifth in Section 1-5A, when fourth would have...
Norwin girls wrestlers shine at 1st WPIAL championship meet
In a year of firsts, Norwin doubled up. Two Norwin girls claimed individual championships at the inaugural WPIAL girls wrestling championships held Feb. 17 at North Allegheny, taking their place in program and Westmoreland County history. Sophomore Josephine Dollman and freshman Octavia Walker won championships in their first attempt. Dollman...
Norwin notebook: Gabby Viola, Xander Eddy earn national kickboxing titles
Hungry for Hungary. A pair of local martial artists earned qualification to the U.S. Kickboxing Team that will compete in the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations Junior World Championships in the fall in Budapest. Gabby Viola, 13, and Xander Eddy, 15, won national titles recently at the USA Kickboxing Team...
Greensburg Central Catholic rides hot shooting to WPIAL semis
With seniors Tyree Turner and Franco Alvarez seeing multiple double teams when they had the basketball in the lane, Liam Gallagher saw an opportunity to bail out his teammates and help keep a promising championship run intact. Not that No. 2 seed Greensburg Central Catholic was ever in real danger...
Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: Franklin Regional boys continue storybook run
Jesse Reed was elated after his Franklin Regional boys flattened Gateway, 53-35, in the quarterfinals to keep their title chase on course. After spending a few minutes with family, the third-year boys basketball coach looked around an emptying gym at Norwin on Thursday night and flashed a face-covering smile. It...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games of Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Girls Class 2A Semifinals 12-South Side (15-9) vs. 1-Greensburg Central Catholic (18-5) 2 p.m. Saturday at AHN Arena, Peters Township Winner plays: Winner of 3-Serra Catholic (20-4)/2-Aliquippa (21-3) in championship 7 p.m. Feb. 29 at Petersen Events Center Coaches: Brent Darroch, South Side; Chris Skatell, GCC Players...
Saint Vincent, Geneva to meet for PAC men’s basketball title
Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship Who: No. 2 seed Saint Vincent (23-3) at No. 1 Geneva (23-3) When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Where: Metheny Fieldhouse, Beaver Falls Livestream: www.pacstream.net Coaches: D.P. Harris, Saint Vincent; Jeff Santarsiero, Geneva Players to watch: Dev Ostrowski, Saint Vincent; Trevor Tipton, Geneva Notable: The finalists...
Franklin Regional keeps rolling, beats Gateway in quarters
Cam Rowell caught the basketball on the wing, squared up and fired. His 3-pointer splashed down just before the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter, and the Franklin Regional senior guard held his shooting hand in the air, his body frozen in a shooter’s pose. “I held it up...
Top-seeded Norwin girls sharp in playoff-opening rout of Seneca Valley
Norwin girls basketball coach Brian Brozeski said his team played “challenged” basketball late in the regular season. Things weren’t quite right. While the top-seeded Knights were not as sharp as the coach had hoped for heading into the postseason — they had to sit through a 14-day layoff — the...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games for Friday, Feb. 23, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 2A Quarterfinals 10-Eden Christian (12-10) vs. 2-Greensburg Central Catholic (21-2) 8 p.m. Friday at Fox Chapel Winner plays: Winner of 6-Jeannette (14-7)/3-Northgate (17-5) on Tuesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Coaches: Aaron Smith, Eden Christian; Christian Hyland, GCC Players to watch: Nathan Garrett, Eden Christian;...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls use defense to beat Rochester, move into 2A semifinals
Rochester players tried repeatedly to drive the lane against Greensburg Central Catholic, but the Rams were met with constant resistance. A block here, a deflection and steal there. Denial ruled the paint at Chartiers Valley. Defense is said to win championships. It worked pretty well for the top-seeded Centurions in...
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 22, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 5A Quarterfinals 7-Gateway (17-6) vs. 2-Franklin Regional (21-2) 8 p.m. Thursday at Norwin Winner plays: Winner of 11-Bethel Park (12-11)/3-Shaler (21-2) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Coaches: Alvis Rogers, Gateway; Jesse Reed, Franklin Regional Players to watch: Alex Lowry, Gateway; Cooper Rankin, Franklin...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Greensburg Central Catholic coaching tree blossoms
Dr. Greg Bisignani stepped down at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season as boys basketball coach at Greensburg Central Catholic after eight seasons. When he did, he was essentially passing the torch to his protege and former player, Christian Hyland. Two years later, another one of his former Centurions also...
