Bill Beckner stories, Page 53
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Gardner moves to top spot in Westmoreland record book
Gardner points are usually reserved for WPIAL football tiebreakers. On Friday night, Gardner points went into basketball record books. Monessen senior guard Lorenzo Gardner made history as he scored 64 points to set the Westmoreland County single-game scoring mark, breaking the previous record of 61 by Eric Roslonski of Southmoreland...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Former East Allegheny football coach joins Penn-Trafford staff
Dom Pecora, who served as the head football coach at East Allegheny for the past 11 seasons, is joining Penn-Trafford’s staff as a volunteer assistant. Pecora resigned in January after guiding East Allegheny to eight consecutive playoff appearances. He had a record of 67-48. The Wildcats went 9-3 this season...
Norwin notebook: Wrestlers hit roadblock in WPIAL quarterfinals
Norwin pushed its way into the WPIAL Class 3A team wrestling quarterfinals before running into top-seeded Trinity. The Knights, seeded No. 8 in the 19-team bracket, defeated Plum in the first round, 39-27, before falling to Trinity, 43-19. Jack White (152 pounds) opened the Trinity match with a major decision...
Norwin girls ramp up fun factor while racking up wins
Norwin leads the league in smiles. Watch the girls play basketball and you see an infinite loop of happy moments. High-fives and fist-bumps interrupted by hugs and pats on the back. It looks like fun to play for this team. Senior guard Ava Kobus makes a high-arcing 3-pointer that seems...
Resurgent Franklin Regional girls stay in playoff chase to the end
Franklin Regional picked up a big 45-42 win over Penn Hills on Jan. 26 to stay afloat in the WPIAL Class 5A playoff race. But the Panthers weren’t finished. With senior point guard Angelina Brush back and healthy, they dispatched of Kiski Area, 53-38, to move to 5-5 in Section...
Gateway boys edge Latrobe as Wildcats fall short of playoffs
With the outcome of another game that had a direct effect on theirs already decided, the Latrobe boys basketball team took the court and played for pride. Despite shutting out Gateway in the second quarter, the Wildcats couldn’t earn a season sweep of the visiting Gators and fell 55-53 on...
Norwin girls pass test against Seneca Valley to finish unbeaten in section
When the fourth quarter came around, upset-hungry Seneca Valley stopped attacking. Norwin, in turn, went into full attack mode and never took its eye off the prize. The prize was an undefeated section championship, the first for the Lady Knights since 2015-16, the year they won their most recent WPIAL...
Young Jeannette roster climbs toward top of section ahead of schedule
Adrian Batts never has missed the WPIAL playoffs as coach of the Jeannette boys basketball team. He’s 14 for 14, including, of course, the 2020-21 season when the WPIAL had an open tournament because of the covid pandemic. But he thought this year might challenge his streak. Not end it,...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Teams plan fundraiser for late referee’s family
Yough and Mt. Pleasant are doing their best to remember late basketball referee Michael Roebuck. Yough set up a collection this week to raise money for the family of Roebuck, who collapsed and died last Friday while working the Yough at Mt. Pleasant junior varsity game. Roebuck, 45, was a...
Relentless rebounder flying high for Monessen girls
There is something about looking to the sky that fascinates Hailey Johnson. A Monessen senior basketball player, Johnson wants to be a pilot and plans to go to flight school at Bowling Green next year. Until then, she will continue to rip rebounds down as they bounce off the rim....
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Teams keeping playoff hopes alive
Three Westmoreland County girls basketball teams — Franklin Regional, Latrobe and Yough — are on the playoff bubble heading into the final night of section play. The top four teams and ties for fourth place in each section make the playoffs. Franklin Regional (7-14, 6-6) has done all it can...
Franklin Regional boys clinch section title with gritty victory over Gateway
If Franklin Regional needed a pick-me-up in a section-clinching victory, junior Drew Devola was ready to deliver. The 6-foot-1, 255-pound reserve forward scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds, came up with a late steal and made a 3-pointer as No. 2 Franklin Regional celebrated its first section championship since 2018...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Latrobe grad among Duquesne’s best high jumpers
Duquesne senior Sadie Wetzel (Latrobe) moved into a tie for second place on the Dukes’ all-time performance list in the the high jump with a third-place leap of 1.72 meters at the Akron Invitational. She tied Shannon Taub, who is an assistant coach for the Dukes. Wetzel has set a...
McKeesport girls rout Penn-Trafford to stay unbeaten since coaching change
A coaching change has not deterred the McKeesport girls basketball team from its ultimate goal. “We want to win a championship — that comes first,” senior 6-foot forward Rachael Manfredo said Monday night after the No. 2-ranked Tigers had their way with Penn-Trafford, 64-37, in a Section 3-5A game in...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Southmoreland’s Brandon Stone turning pro
Former Southmoreland standout Brandon Stone has left the men’s basketball team at Delaware State and has set a course for the professional level. The 6-foot-11 forward hired an agent and will pursue potential opportunities overseas. He graduated in December. Stone played two seasons at Delaware State after transferring from Robert...
Latrobe 4-star linebacker Alex Tatsch commits to Penn State
The post on “X” came out just before 6 p.m. Sunday from Penn State football coach James Franklin. “#WeAre … Better,” it read. That meant a high school commitment was on its way. And this one turned out to be a big get for the Nittany Lions. PSU snagged one...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: P-T’s Olivia Pepple, Ligonier Valley’s Parker Hollick
Olivia Pepple School: Penn-Trafford Class: Senior Sport: Basketball Claim to fame: A recent 1,000-point career scorer, Pepple poured in a personal-best 29 points in a 58-50 victory over Montour. She made four 3-pointers in the victory. Pepple added 12 points later in the week in a loss to Oakland Catholic....
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Roundball Classic finds new home
The Roundball Classic is changing locations. Allen Deep, who has been running the event for decades, said the 20th installment of the all-star basketball weekend will move to North Allegheny. Games traditionally have been played at Geneva College. This year’s event will be May 9-12. “The nice thing is that...
Yough scoring sensation Terek Crosby’s grand plan includes 2k run
The thought of scoring 2,000 career points brings a smile to Terek Crosby’s face. It makes him daydream and drift off course for a minute before he quickly snaps back to the present. It’s like he’s hypnotized and someone snaps their fingers and brings him back. Reaching the coveted milestone...
Norwin notebook: Alex Thomas shines at PIHL all-star game
Alex Thomas delivered two goals and two assists as the Blue team tied the Gold team, 6-6, in the PIHL Class 2A all-star game on Jan. 28 at the Robert Morris Island Sports Center. Norwin’s Aaron Varrati added two assists for the Blue. Thomas recently returned to Norwin’s team after...
Norwin girls soccer coach steps down
Citing personal reasons, Norwin girls soccer coach Diane Metzger resigned after three seasons with the program. Metzger, a former PIAA champion with Norwin as a player in 1996, had a record of 22-20-2 with one playoff appearance and one postseason win. “I hope to be back in the soccer world...
Murrysville Star notebook: Ex-Franklin Regional lineman getting Division I offers
Lineman Max Leven left Franklin Regional last year and decided to play football at Bridgton Academy (Maine) to sharpen his skills and better prepare to play at a higher level. The plan is working out for the 6-foot-8, 285-pound tackle. Leven received offers to play at Division I-FCS programs Monmouth,...
Referee collapses during basketball game at Mt. Pleasant, dies
A referee collapsed during halftime of a junior varsity boys basketball game at Mt. Pleasant and died Friday night. Michael Roebuck, 45, a first-year official from New Stanton, was about to take the court for the second half of a game between Yough and Mt. Pleasant when he dropped to...
Franklin Regional boys dig deep to beat Latrobe with strong 2nd half
Halftime talks are like sales pitches. Some work, and some don’t. When Franklin Regional took a six-point deficit into the break Friday night at Latrobe, coach Jesse Reed only dipped a toe into the conversation. “I put in my two cents, then I left it up to the seniors,” Reed...
Mt. Pleasant’s Jackson Hutter makes college decision
An opportunity to play Division I college football has driven Jackson Hutter since he first realized he had the ability to invade opposing backfields and keep teams behind the sticks. A wrecker at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, the senior linebacker from Mt. Pleasant continues to be motivated by the chance...
