Bill Beckner stories, Page 57
2024 WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball championship breakdown: Aliquippa vs. Greensburg C.C.
WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball championship No. 1 Aliquippa vs. No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic 1 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center On the air: Video livestream: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: GCC 0; Aliquippa 13 (2023, ’16, ’15, ’07, ’06, ’04, ’03, ’00, 1998, ’94, ’88, ’87, ’49) Aliquippa (20-5)...
WPIAL title worth the wait for Greensburg Central Catholic girls
WPIAL champion Greensburg Central Catholic had concerns it might not be sharp for the district final after sitting idle for four days following a semifinal win. That’s not a very long time to wait by most playoff standards, but remember, GCC is a team that played back-to-back-to-back games in January....
Erica Gribble sparks Greensburg Central Catholic past Serra Catholic for 6th WPIAL titleVideo
Erica Gribble had played on the court at Petersen Events Center only one time before, as an innocent third grader. “It was like a youth game where we got to play at halftime,” the sophomore from Greensburg Central Catholic said. “We were there to watch my sister play.” Alayna Gribble,...
2024 WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball championship breakdown: Norwin vs. North Allegheny
WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball championship No. 1 Norwin vs. No. 3 North Allegheny 7 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center On the air: Video livestream: NFHS; Audio broadcast: North Allegheny Sports Network WPIAL titles: North Allegheny 6 (2023, ’21, ’20, ’18, ’17, 1972); Norwin 2 (2016, ’15) Norwin (20-3) Coach:...
2024 WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball championship breakdown: Moon vs. Franklin Regional
WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball championship No. 1 Moon vs. No. 2 Franklin Regional 9 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh On the air: Audio broadcast: Trib HSSN; Video livestream: NFHS WPIAL titles: Franklin Regional 0; Moon 4 (2017, ’06, ’05, ’04) Moon (22-3) Coach: Gino Palmosina Projected starting lineup...
After semifinal celebration for the ages, Greensburg Central Catholic eyes program’s 1st WPIAL title
Water splashed around the locker room and puddled on the floor at Gateway on Tuesday night as Christian Hyland walked into a dousing after a semifinal victory over Northgate. The fifth-year boys basketball coach of Greensburg Central Catholic had nowhere to go as streams from players’ water bottles soaked him,...
For WPIAL finals-bound Franklin Regional, it’s always basketball season
Franklin Regional specializes in basketball. Maybe that best explains why the Panthers will play for their first WPIAL boys basketball championship Friday night at Petersen Events Center. It will be No. 2 seed Franklin Regional (23-2) and No. 1 Moon (22-3) vying for the Class 5A title at 9 p.m....
Ellwood City boys punch ticket to PIAA playoffs by eliminating Yough
In addition to being a 2,000-point scorer in his basketball career, Ellwood City senior Joe Roth is a high-level swimmer who competes for WPIAL and PIAA titles. He swims for Riverside, which co-ops with Ellwood City. On Wednesday night, he sent Yough’s season to the bottom of the pool. In...
Norwin coach Brozeski brings big-picture perspective to title game
After he left the court to visit with his parents and family on the concourse at Peters Township’s AHN Arena on Monday night, Norwin coach Brian Brozeski was asked a question. What was the first thing that popped into your head as the final buzzer sounded? Brozeski didn’t pause: “Thank...
Former GCC track star Corinn Brewer working to bring women’s decathlon to the Olympics
Decathlete Corinn Brewer is working to change the Olympics. A lofty sounding goal? Yes. But not to the former Greensburg Central Catholic track and field standout who is a first-year multi-event athlete and pole vaulter at Lehigh. Brewer is pushing for the games to add the women’s decathlon, an event...
2024 WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball championship breakdown: Serra Catholic vs. Greensburg C.C.
WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball championship No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic vs. No. 3 Serra Catholic 7 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center On the air: Audio broadcast: Trib HSSN; Video livestream: NFHS WPIAL titles: Serra Catholic 4 (2005, ’03, 1999, ’92); GCC 5 (2007, ’06, ’03, 1997, ’91) Serra...
Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: The Pete to be packed with county teams
Five Westmoreland County teams are headed to Petersen Events Center this weekend to compete for WPIAL basketball championships. That is a county record for finalists in one year. But there is a lot more in common for the teams than a trip to the “Pete.” The Franklin Regional (5A), Burrell...
Oh, baby: Hyland attends birth of daughter, then guides GCC boys to WPIAL title game
It was a hectic but incredibly rewarding Tuesday for Greensburg Central Catholic boys basketball coach Christian Hyland. The fifth-year coach became a dad for the first time, and now his team will get to play for its first WPIAL championship. Less than an hour after Hyland and his wife, Kellie,...
Westmoreland high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 28, 2024
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 3A Consolation tournament Derry (15-7) vs. Shady Side Academy (17-8) 6 p.m. Wednesday at Fox Chapel Winner: Earns fifth place in the WPIAL for the PIAA tournament Players to watch: Stanley Rajkovich, Derry; Seamus Riordan, Shady Side Academy Layup lines: Derry secured a state playoff...
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...
