Dave Mackall stories, Page 15

One-by-one, they stepped to the free-throw line. Clang! … Swish! … Swish! … Clang! … For every miss by a Duquesne basketball player, there was a chance for everyone to run the floor. A make, of course, bought some extra time. Two days removed from their worst loss of the...

ALTOONA — It didn’t take long for Rune Lawrence to flash the brilliance of his skills in the sport he loves. Frazier’s dominating 189-pound junior showed why he’s a two-time PIAA Class 2A wrestling champion by registering the only fall in the finals of the Southwest Regional championship tournament Saturday...

In three years in the Horizon League since breaking its long union with the Northeast Conference, the Robert Morris men’s basketball team steadily has improved. The Colonials went from four victories in the first year to eight last season to 16 this year, including 10 in the conference. For most...

Michael Green III cherishes his role as sixth man on the Robert Morris men’s basketball team. On Tuesday night, the Colonials senior guard played like No. 1. Green’s 3-point shot with two seconds left lifted Robert Morris to a 67-64 victory over IUPUI in a Horizon League Tournament first-round game...

If you think Craig Thurber, the highly driven wrestling coach at Thiel College, is just blowing smoke by calling Jared Curcio “a tough kid,” think again. If you suspect Curcio, the prosaic former Kiski Area athlete who continues to participate in football and wrestling for the Division III Tomcats, is...

As is often the case this college basketball season, it came down to the final seconds for a result Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, where Duquesne has been dominant, winning 15 of its first 18 games. This time, the Dukes weren’t so fortunate but still left the window open a...

No matter what happens from here, Jimmy Petruska’s 13th season as women’s basketball coach at Saint Vincent just might be his most special. In a reversal from a year ago, when the Bearcats were tabbed as the Presidents’ Athletic Conference preseason favorites but flopped, there was no sign of a...

With his coach crouching against a wall, Joe Reece stood in front of him on the block several feet from the rim at Duquesne’s practice facility at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and watched an entry pass with a spin of English from freshman point guard Kareem Rozier bounce off his hands...

Players and coaches for No. 5 seed Deer Lakes huddled in a locker room Thursday night at Moon High School in the moments after a dominating 59-45 victory over No. 4 Mohawk in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal-round boys basketball game. The message was clear: Two down, two to go....

Three years into its Horizon League voyage, Robert Morris is finally making some noise in men’s basketball. After settling for low seeds that resulted in early exits from the Horizon Tournament in their first two seasons in the league, the Colonials on Tuesday night enhanced their chance of securing a...

Penn-Trafford is hot at the right time. In a playoff atmosphere on the Warriors’ home court Friday night, P-T won its third consecutive boys basketball game and fourth in the past five to clinch a WPIAL playoff spot in its final test of the regular season. Jason Sabol scored 18...

The numbers don’t lie. Hempfield’s track and field program produces some eye-popping figures. On a recent Saturday at the PennWest Edinboro Sports and Recreation Center, three members of the Hempfield girls indoor team produced elite numbers at a Tri-State Track Coaches Association meet. With hundreds of boys and girls from...

There’s a new kid on the mat. Upstart Frazier, whose wrestling program is in its seventh season of PIAA competition, is moving on in the WPIAL Class 2A team tournament in its first season in the playoffs. The Section 2 champion Commodores earned a pair of playoff victories Wednesday night...

It’s been a far-from-perfect scenario since the Latrobe hockey team held a closed-door meeting in early November following a pair of uninspired losses that produced just two goals and dropped the Wildcats’ record to .500 after just four games. Despite his team having outscored its first two opponents by a...

For Robert Morris, reaching the .500 mark in the Horizon League men’s basketball standings this late in the season could be a reason to celebrate. Just don’t tell coach Andy Toole. “When you’re worried about making the right play for the team, you’re not worried about stats,” Toole said Sunday...

The marquee moments have been few since the Robert Morris men’s basketball team joined the Horizon League three years ago. The Colonials are a combined 13-34 since ending their long union with the Northeast Conference, where they won nine tournament championships, the last in 2019, their final year in the...

It was a mere formality Wednesday night for No. 2 Burrell to secure its 20th consecutive WPIAL section wrestling title. On their home mat, the Bucs took advantage of five Greensburg Salem forfeits and claimed all but two matches in a 57-6 rout of the outmanned Golden Lions to win...

Perhaps a new voice is needed in the Duquesne men’s basketball camp — temporarily, at least — after two sluggish offensive showings have led to a pair of losses and derailed the Dukes’ surprising, early-season momentum. Following the latest setback — Saturday’s 65-58 decision to Fordham at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse...

It was a date circled on the calendar at Greensburg Central Catholic, a chance to avenge its only section loss in boys basketball. On Friday night at GCC, the first-place Centurions evened the score with Riverview, erupting in the second half to erase a six-point deficit and beat the Raiders,...

Plum wrestling coach Mike Supak rolled out a few last-minute changes to his lineup Wednesday night and the plan paid off as the visiting Mustangs halted Kiski Area’s dominating run of six WPIAL section titles in impressive fashion. “This win puts us in a better position” a happy Supak said...

Looking the part of an established vet, the swagger of promising swimmer Lily King was evident as she emerged from the Mt. Pleasant locker room and headed toward an exit. Just a sophomore, the 5-foot-11 King already is a Pennsylvania high school champion in three events. “She’s fast, and she...

Freeport trailed host Greensburg Salem by a point at the end of the first quarter Friday night before the Yellowjackets erupted with back-to-back 25-point outbursts in the second and third and went on to bury the Golden Lions, 72-27, in a WPIAL Section 1-4A boys basketball game. A running clock...

Gateway wasted no time setting the ground rules for its fifth consecutive boys basketball victory, racing to a 21-point lead against homestanding Kiski Area and rolling to an overwhelming 65-43 victory Tuesday night. While Gateway coach Alvis Rogers was delighted with the scenario, Kiski Area’s Corey Smith watched helplessly as...

It’s been a lot of fun for the Greensburg Salem hockey team to quite often assemble and break bread. The guys seem to enjoy gathering at the conclusion of a spirited practice. A tight-knit group, with most players having been together since middle school, this dogged bunch has mostly craved...

Kiski Area extended its recent dominance of Armstrong on Wednesday night in a high school wrestling series involving neighboring rivals along the border of Westmoreland and Armstrong counties. The Cavaliers completed their third consecutive no-doubt victory over the visiting River Hawks, handing Armstrong its first loss, 48-21. “It was a...