Chris Harlan stories, Page 47
Bethel Park hires offensive coordinator Phil Peckich as football coach
Bethel Park promoted offensive coordinator Phil Peckich to head coach Tuesday night, giving the Black Hawks football program some continuity under a coach who’s among the youngest in the WPIAL. The 31-year-old is a first-time head coach but brings eight years of experience to the job. Peckich spent five seasons...
WPIAL boys basketball rankings: Week ending Jan. 22, 2023
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 13-2, 3 2. Central Catholic, 8-7, 1 3. Mt. Lebanon, 10-5, 2 4. Butler, 12-3, 4 5. Upper St. Clair, 9-7, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn Hills, 10-2, 1 2. North Hills, 12-3, 2 3....
WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Jan. 22, 2023
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 14-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 11-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 12-4, 3 4. North Allegheny, 10-4, 4 5. Chartiers Valley, 7-6, 5 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. South Fayette, 14-2, 2 2. Oakland Catholic, 11-2, 3 3....
WPIAL Hall of Fame inductee Don Rebel reflects on 35 years calling games
A tree in the middle of a grassy field in Sheraden served as the first press box for a 7- or 8-year-old Don Rebel, who climbed the branches and offered play-by-play for his older brother’s Wiffle ball games. He called it as he saw it. “They got a big kick...
North Allegheny wrestling great Ray Brinzer to join WPIAL Hall of Fame
Ray Brinzer writes software and manages databases as a computer programmer, which seems a world away from a wrestling mat for one of the WPIAL’s all-time greats, but the former North Allegheny star can see similarities. “The common thing for me is complexity,” said Brinzer, a 1990 graduate who’ll be...
With Pitt coach watching, Aliquippa football stars hit basketball stride to defeat Shenango
Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi was sitting among the home fans in Aliquippa’s gym Wednesday night, there with dozens of others to watch a group of football players throw around a basketball. Sometimes there’s a linebacker, a safety, a running back, a tight end and maybe a lineman on the...
Valley great Tom Pipkins highlights 2023 WPIAL Hall of Fame class
Tom Pipkins jokes that he might already be retired from working if high school athletes could’ve signed endorsement deals back in his day. That’s how much interest there was around the former Valley basketball star when he broke the WPIAL career scoring record 30 years ago this month. As part...
Peters Township creates 3-way section tie with narrow win over Bethel Park
Peters Township broke a tie on the scoreboard to create a tie in the standings. Locked at 66 with 70 seconds left, Peters Township used its defense, some clutch free throws and a disputed technical foul to clinch a 75-67 victory over host Bethel Park, a win that created a...
Central Catholic’s Anthony Speca commits to Penn State
Central Catholic linebacker Anthony Speca, one of the state’s top college football recruits, committed Tuesday to Penn State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior announced his decision on Twitter. He chose the Nittany Lions from a list of scholarship offers that included national semifinalists Michigan and Ohio State, along with Pitt, West...
WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Jan. 15, 2023
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 12-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 10-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 9-4, 3 4. North Allegheny, 7-3, 4 5. Chartiers Valley, 7-4, NR Out: Peters Township (8-6, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 12-1, 1 2. South Fayette, 12-2,...
WPIAL boys basketball rankings: Week ending Jan. 15, 2023
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 6-5, NR 2. Mt. Lebanon, 9-4, 2 3. New Castle, 11-1, 1 4. Butler, 10-3, 3 5. Upper St. Clair, 8-6, 4 Out: Norwin (7-5, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn Hills, 8-2, 2 2. North Hills, 10-2,...
North Allegheny inline hockey team thrives outside spotlight
North Allegheny has a high school sports team that’s undefeated this winter, a motivated roster that’s trying to avenge a second-place finish from last year. Yet, most folks probably know little about the program, said inline hockey coach Dom Manz, who hopes the team’s success might spark renewed interest in...
Mars aces midterm test with 37-point win over No. 1 Chartiers Valley
After a week of big tests in the classroom, the Mars boys basketball team passed another on the court Friday night. Mars senior Tasso Sfanos scored a game-high 31 points and the Planets used their size advantage to rout No. 1 Chartiers Valley, 71-34, in a one-sided section win that...
North Allegheny’s Mia Tuman repeats as Gatorade Pa. Volleyball Player of the Year
North Allegheny senior Mia Tuman was recognized as the state’s top girls volleyball player for the second year in a row Friday when she was named Gatorade Pennsylvania Volleyball Player of the Year. This is the fifth time in nine years that a North Allegheny athlete has won the award,...
Pine-Richland football coach Jon LeDonne among 32 nominees for NFL’s Don Shula Award
Pine-Richland football coach Jon LeDonne, who led the Rams to a state title this season, was one of 32 coaches nationwide nominated for the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year award. The NFL announced the full list Thursday. Each NFL franchise nominated one high school coach from...
Mt. Lebanon matches rival Upper St. Clair shot for shot in double-overtime win
Two dozen 3-pointers made the score higher than a typical Mt. Lebanon-Upper St. Clair grind, but the dramatic finish still fit this gritty rivalry’s history. The teams answered shot after shot from beyond the arc Tuesday night, until Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 90 seconds left...
Penn Township’s Brian Sakowski ready to officiate national championship game
Sixteen years ago, as Brian Sakowski remembers, he worked his first varsity football game, a WPIAL rivalry between Trinity and Canon-McMillan. That game almost was his last, he says now, with a laugh. “There was a blocked punt, and I called this absolutely horrible holding call when the ball was...
Trib HSSN girls basketball rankings for week of Jan. 8, 2023
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 10-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 8-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 7-4, 5 4. North Allegheny, 5-3, 3 5. Peters Township, 8-4, 4 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 10-1, 1 2. South Fayette, 10-2, 2 3. Penn-Trafford,...
Trib HSSN boys basketball rankings for week of Jan. 8, 2023
Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 10-0, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 7-4, 4 3. Butler, 9-2, 2 4. Upper St. Clair, 7-5, NR 5. Norwin, 7-3, 5 Out: Central Catholic (4-5, 3) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Chartiers Valley, 12-0, 1 2. Penn Hills, 6-2,...
Jonathan Anderson leads No. 1 New Castle past No. 2 Butler in renewed rivalry
New Castle’s Jonathan Anderson already knew all about his school’s old rivalry with Butler, even though the senior hadn’t faced the Tornado in his playing days. “I’ve been hearing about it all week in school,” he said. “They’ve been saying we haven’t seen Butler and New Castle play in so...
WPIAL clears 6-9 basketball player Ama Sow after transfer to Montour
Montour sophomore Ama Sow kept asking boys basketball coach Bill Minear the same question. “He would ask, ‘When can I play? When can I play?’” said Minear, who finally could answer his question Friday, after the WPIAL held an eligibility hearing and fully cleared Sow to play this season for...
Bob Palko, 9-time WPIAL champion, resigns as Mt. Lebanon football coach
Thirteen months after celebrating a state championship with the Blue Devils, Bob Palko has resigned as Mt. Lebanon’s football coach to focus attention on concerns away from the field. “I’ve got some personal health issues I need to deal with,” he said Friday. “It’s nothing like I’m going to die,...
PIHL mourns death of commissioner John Mucha
PIHL commissioner John Mucha, the top administrator for high school hockey in Western Pennsylvania, has died. League president Jack Kukan, who described him as a strong leader with a business-like approach to finances, said Mucha died Thursday while traveling to New York City. Mucha, 63, was hired four years ago...
Rosters announced for 2023 PIHL all-star games
Hempfield’s Nick Bruno and Bishop Canevin’s Ryan Saginaw, two of the PIHL’s top scorers, are among 210 players selected for the league’s all-star games. The five games are Jan. 29 at RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island. The D2 game starts at noon, with Class A Gold at 1:40...
Hampton’s Peter Kramer scores 37 in key section win over Highlands
Hampton’s Peter Kramer shushed the Highlands crowd after one of his seven 3-pointers, a celebration he downplayed later, but nobody was able to quiet the Talbots’ newest star on this night. “I was in the moment,” said the 6-foot-4 junior, who scored a game-high 37 points as No. 4 Hampton...
