Bill Beckner stories, Page 56
Gateway boys use defense to get past Franklin Regional in section showdown
This Gateway boys basketball team is inherently defensive and plays a halfcourt style with goals steeped in fundamentals and a touch of grit. The idea is to grind opponents down and make them work, then run lengthy sets and take care of the ball on the other end of the...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls right ship vs. Clairton
Down one of their best players and facing the top scorer in the WPIAL, Greensburg Central Catholic was sure not to ignore the signs when Clairton came to town in a 1 vs. 2 girls basketball matchup. Watch out for tired legs. Trap game ahead. Beware of Wade. Junior point...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Franklin Regional rises in rankings
Surging Franklin Regional found its way into the TribLive HSSN Class 5A rankings this week. The Panthers (11-1, 3-0), who have won six straight following a two-point loss to Class 6A Butler, took over the No. 4 spot. They are tied for first place in Section 3 with No. 1...
Belle Vernon scoring sensation Zion Moore looking to add more elements to his game
Zion Moore doesn’t consider himself one of the best basketball players in WPIAL Class 4A. “I’m the best player,” Belle Vernon’s leading man said with a stern look on his face that grew into a grin. With his high-tops tied tight, Moore clearly plays with confidence and carries a swagger...
Drake D’Angelo set to take reins of Greensburg Salem athletic programs
A family man with a positive attitude, familiarity of the area and high expectations is primed to oversee athletics at Greensburg Salem. Drake D’Angelo, the current athletic director at Burrell, was hired Wednesday night and will stay closer to home to lead Golden Lions’ sports. He takes over for Dave...
3 Jeannette legends to be inducted into National High School Football Hall of Fame
With 10 WPIAL championships and two PIAA titles, Jeannette is renowned as one of the top football programs in Pennsylvania. But the Jayhawks’ reputation has made its way to the game’s promised land — Canton, Ohio. Three Jeannette legends who made their mark in the program and beyond will be...
Behind ‘defense first and team ball’ mantra, Monessen girls among Class A’s top squads
From Dec. 2-15, Monessen’s girls basketball team scrimmaged each other so much they started to reach low levels of apathy. Three teams canceled games against them. The thumb-twiddling commenced. Stale practices needed creativity. “We were getting bored only having practices,” coach Janine Vertacnik said. “I tried some fun challenge things...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Greensburg Central Catholic awaits word on injured star Mya Morgan
Greensburg Central Catholic is awaiting word on the playing status of senior leader Mya Morgan. The shooting guard and Cal (Pa.) commit injured her knee during the second quarter of Saturday’s 58-42 nonsection loss at North Catholic. She is expected to miss Wednesday’s game at Oakland Catholic and Thursday’s Section...
Colin Masten breaks out of slump, leads Franklin Regional past Latrobe
Colin Masten said he had been in a mini-slump of late. In basketball terms, that means he wasn’t making shots or producing much on the offensive end. “I didn’t play great,” he said. The Franklin Regional senior swingman, who was the team’s sixth man last year, picked a good time...
Greensburg Salem set to hire Drake D’Angelo as athletic director
Greensburg Salem will vote to hire Drake D’Angelo as its athletic director, according to board agenda for Wednesday night’s meeting. D’Angelo is the current athletic director at Burrell and would take over at Greensburg Salem upon his release from the other Westmoreland County school. Dave Zilli, the retiring principal at...
Battle-tested Norwin girls roll past Hempfield
Norwin has yet to lose to a WPIAL team this girls basketball season. Eight up, eight down. But no matter how much potential the Knights have, this collection of talent is a work in progress. A nonsection schedule that is as thorny as it is taxing has kept them sharp...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Adam Bilinsky to join brother Ty at UPJ
It wasn’t exactly a brotherly shove, but Adam Bilinsky admits having a chance to play basketball with his older sibling again played a key role in his decision on where to transfer. Bilinsky, who decided to exit Mercyhurst after playing in just nine games as a freshman, will join his...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Latrobe’s Elle Snyder, Derry’s Anthony Mucci
Elle Snyder School: Latrobe Class: Senior Sport: Basketball Claim to fame: Snyder, a 5-foot-9 guard, announced last week her college commitment to Division I Evansville. She has helped lead the Wildcats to three straight wins, including 54-42 over Penn Hills and 55-24 over Connellsville. Against Penn Hills, she registered 29...
Norwin notebook: Freshman Landon Sidun bursts onto wrestling scene
The Landon Sidun era is underway at Norwin. The highly touted freshman wrestler had his “hello, world” moment at one of the toughest tournaments in the country. Sidun won a championship at 114 pounds at the Powerade Tournament. He was named the event’s outstanding wrestler. Sidun (25-1) was carrying the...
Franklin Regional notebook: Hockey team builds momentum
Franklin Regional hockey took momentum in the form of a two-game winning streak into the holiday break. The Panthers followed a 5-3 victory over Bishop McCort with a 6-3 win against Armstrong to move to 6-3-0-1 on the season. Matt Rutkowski had a hat trick and an assist against Armstrong,...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Jeannette legends up for national football hall of fame honors
Three Jeannette football legends are among 60 nominees for the National High School Football Hall of Class of 2024. Former coach Joe Mucci and star players Dick Hoak and Terrelle Pryor are on the ballot for the second hall class. Mucci also was nominated last year. They are among impressive...
Greensburg Central Catholic dominates Jeannette behind Tyree Turner’s 25 points
Greensburg Central Catholic players and coaches were stranded after the game at Jeannette on Friday night because their bus arrived late. About 30 minutes went by as the team waited in an empty gym. Some players practiced a tip drill, and others played 1-on-1. “Most of them just sat in...
North Catholic wins top-5 showdown with Greensburg Salem
“North is North,” Greensburg Salem girls basketball coach Rick Klimchock said in a back hallway at North Catholic after his team fell behind early and dropped a 62-35 decision to the host Trojanettes in a matchup of Class 4A top-five girls basketball teams Thursday night on Barth & Graham Court....
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Penn-Trafford plays at coach’s alma mater
Doug Kelly was feeling nostalgic and sentimental as he was time-warped back to his high school days at Elkins (W.Va.) during a recent visit to his old stomping grounds. Kelly, the boys basketball coach at Penn-Trafford, took his team south to play Elkins, a 2A school that plays in the...
Groundbreaking coach working to build confidence, culture with Mt. Pleasant boys
Because of some injuries, first-year boys basketball coach Annie Malkowiak said her Mt. Pleasant team had to take a next-man-up approach. That is an advisory from the first woman up. Malkowiak is adjusting to life as the first woman to coach a boys varsity basketball team in Westmoreland County and...
Belle Vernon boys get off to fast start then hang on to hand Southmoreland its 1st loss
From its worst start of the season to nearly its best finish, Southmoreland had an up and down kind of night. Then again, so did Belle Vernon, which basically experienced the opposite by opening with a flash and then sputtering to the finish line in the Section 3-4A boys basketball...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Franklin Regional hoping for good injury news
Franklin Regional girls basketball coach Bernie Pucka and his players are being kept in suspense. On Jan. 15, doctors may determine if senior point guard Angelina Brush can come back to the lineup. Brush has yet to play a game this season, and her absence has weighed heavily on a...
Hard-working Hempfield girls buy in on defense, get off to promising start
Girls basketball practice is over — so says the clock — but parents sit idle in their vehicles outside of the Hempfield Spartan Field House, waiting to fill their backseats with tired daughters. Ten minutes go by. Then 15. Then 20. Finally, players begin filing out. “I don’t make them...
Franklin Regional pulls away after Penn-Trafford shrinks Panthers’ big lead
Franklin Regional has a pilot light that burns brightly and ignites the Panthers’ fast-paced attack. Coach Jesse Reed never wants to see that light burn out, but he wants to temper it. Why? Because he loves his team’s fire. It’s just a matter of when to crank up the heat....
Westmoreland high school notebook: Latrobe becoming hot spot for Division I athletes
An assistant football coach from Southern Cal flew across the country recently to meet with coveted Latrobe prospect Alex Tatsch. The coach covered 4,916 miles round trip, just to meet with the junior four-star linebacker. “Schools really like him,” Latrobe football coach Ron Prady said. “We have more coming in,...
