Dave Mackall stories, Page 23
Duquesne shakes off slow start, holds off American in home return
Duquesne’s growing pains continued Sunday in the team’s first basketball game since returning last week from a 1-2 showing at the Paradise Jam tournament. What’s encouraging, at least, for the fresh-faced Dukes is the final result. Mercer transfer Leon Ayers III tied his season-high with 23 points and freshman Primo...
Veteran lineup looking toward big things ahead for Greensburg Salem girls basketball
Rick Klimchock doesn’t need to be reminded of how quickly a basketball season can go south — even with a veteran team. Last year, his Greensburg Salem girls returned four starters, yet the team finished the season under .500. “Last year was a hard year for us,” he said. It...
With bolstered roster, Greensburg Salem boys look to move past difficult season
A year ago, the Greensburg Salem boys basketball team was hit with the “perfect storm” for a winless season with the cancellation of seven games because of covid-19 while moving up to the WPIAL’s highest classification. A year later, coach Mark Zahorchak is hopeful for some calm. “Last year’s struggles...
9th-seeded OLSH knocks off conference rival Rochester in Class A semifinals
For Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a one-point victory goes a long way when you get this far. The Chargers are headed all the way to Heinz Field next week to play in the WPIAL Class A championship game for the second time in four years after edging Rochester,...
Seton Hill men’s basketball looking for turnaround season
Downplaying a last-place prediction by his coaching peers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division, Kendrick Saunders chooses to teach patience to a Seton Hill men’s basketball team that was itching to get back on the court after a season of inactivity. The Griffins, with three games in four...
Seton Hill women’s basketball gets early start on 2021-22 season
When the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference coaches cast their ballots this year for the league’s preseason women’s basketball poll, Seton Hill’s Mark Katarski again was among those with a vote. Not swayed by the predictions that landed Seton Hill fifth among nine teams in the PSAC West Division, Katarski instead...
Saint Vincent’s young lineup prepares for PAC men’s basketball schedule
Shortly after the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball coaches picked Saint Vincent to finish eighth among the league’s 10 teams, the Bearcats proceeded to lose their regular-season opener by 60 points. Mt. Union, which began the season ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division III, made sure of it with a...
Defending PAC champion Saint Vincent again favored to claim women’s basketball title
It appears it could be another typical season in women’s basketball at Saint Vincent. The Bearcats are overwhelming favorites to repeat as Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions after completing an abbreviated 10-0 schedule a year ago, capped by a victory over Washington & Jefferson in the PAC Tournament championship game. “Typical...
Duquesne falls short against Weber State
It was another step in a learning process for a new Duquesne basketball team trying to find a successful formula in the early going. Baby steps. “We’re consistently inconsistent right now,” coach Keith Dambrot said. Koby McEwen scored 21 points and Dillon Jones had 12 points and 13 rebounds to...
Duquesne men fall into early hole, lose at home to Hofstra
After just two college basketball games, Duquesne’s rebuilt men’s team already is finding out a lot of things about itself, and it’s not all bad. “I respect our team’s fight,” freshman guard Primo Spears said. “We have freshman guards who have played two college games. You know what I mean?”...
Ian Syam scores 6 TDs in 1st half as Avonworth runs over Mt. Pleasant
Ian Syam had himself a Friday night, running for the length of nearly 21⁄2 football fields while playing in just half of a WPIAL playoff game. He touched the ball only nine times and was tackled on just three occasions. The Avonworth senior running back electrified the home crowd, rushing...
Duquesne finally gets 2nd shot at Hofstra … 44 years later
The last time Duquesne played in an NCAA Tournament men’s basketball game was during the 1976-77 season, the same year the Dukes played their only game against Hofstra, a 76-70 loss to the Pride in the first round of the Pittsburgh Classic at the former Civic Arena. Duquesne finally gets...
Westmoreland County Community College runners have high expectations for national meet
The Westmoreland County Community College cross country team is headed south to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III meet. For a change this year, it’s the WCCC men’s team, not the women, taking center stage Saturday at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, 80 miles southeast of Atlanta. “The...
Retooled Duquesne opens season by beating Rider at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
Programs here! If you attended Duquesne’s first season-opening men’s basketball game Tuesday night at the new UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse — a come-from-behind, 73-61 victory over Rider — chances are you found yourself staring at your game program as much as you were watching the court. Everything appeared new, including an...
Hempfield football maintains message, builds for future
Mike Brown isn’t budging. Doesn’t matter what day it is, what month or who’s listening. His message isn’t changing. Not one bit. “I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could win here,” he said. “We’ve just got to really develop physically and mentally. The kids understand...
Robert Morris men’s basketball preview: Colonials set to embark on 2nd season in Horizon League after tough debut
Robert Morris enters its second season of men’s basketball in the Horizon League with the idea of concentrating on … basketball. The other stuff that seemingly got in the way last year — covid-19, dissension, defections — shouldn’t be a distraction again this season. Except, sometimes, when you least expect...
Emotional Bishop Canevin beats GCC to win 5th consecutive WPIAL Class A volleyball title
A year ago, Angela Wyman stepped into some big shoes, and she’s been walking the sideline since. Different coach, same result for the Bishop Canevin girls volleyball team. “It’s been a transition year, a hard year, an emotional year,” Wyman said Saturday after top-seeded Bishop Canevin rallied from a first-set...
Early surge pushes South Side past Ligonier Valley in Class 2A
From one end of the WPIAL to the other, Ligonier Valley traveled to South Side Beaver on Friday — a span of 83 miles — for its first appearance in the WPIAL football playoffs. When the Class 2A first-round game was over, the Rams were on top, 34-14 — the...
Senior-led Hempfield relishes run to WPIAL field hockey playoffs
You could say Hempfield’s early exit from the WPIAL field hockey playoffs has cast a persistent pall of doubt over a program that, until this year, hadn’t even sniffed a postseason opportunity. But it did little to break the Spartans’ spirit. Not that the coaches and players were dwelling on...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls best Freedom in semifinals
Back in September, the Greensburg Central Catholic and Freedom girls soccer teams went on a scoring frenzy, combining for 14 goals in a two-goal GCC win. When the teams met again Monday night in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at West Mifflin, it started to look like a repeat of...
Leechburg tops Greensburg Central Catholic in thrilling playoff tune-up
Two playoff-bound high school football teams, eager to flex their muscles one last time during the regular season, waged a heavyweight battle Friday night in the WPIAL Class A Eastern League. In the “someone-wins-and-someone-loses” category, Leechburg came out on top in a wild, 31-27 decision at No. 4 Greensburg Central...
Goalkeepers take center stage as South Fayette tops Franklin Regional in Class 3A shootout
South Fayette goalkeeper Kaylee Hendricks met her counterpart, Aris Lamanna of Franklin Regional, face-to-face, eye-to-eye. And in that moment, all Hendricks could think was, “Make the save and win the game.” A marathon of two halves, two overtimes and a total of nine shootout goals came down to Lamanna, Franklin...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls volleyball takes aim at long playoff run
Over the past decade, two teams, including one from Westmoreland County, have dominated the WPIAL Class A girls volleyball playoffs. Allegheny County’s Bishop Canevin has won six championships since 2012, and the Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions gathered up the remaining three. Could there be another title run in store this...
Group effort leads Latrobe girls volleyball to WPIAL playoffs for 4th straight season
The Latrobe girls volleyball team has met its first preseason goal of finishing in the top three in its section to secure a spot in the WPIAL playoff brackets for a fourth consecutive season. Everything else, following its final two scheduled regular-season matches this week, is to be determined. “The...
Cody Rubrecht does it all in Greensburg Salem’s victory over Mars
Cody Rubrecht was everywhere Friday night for Greensburg Salem’s football team. Need a rushing touchdown, a pass reception for a score, a hustling tackle to thwart a long run, an interception to stop a last-ditch drive? Cody’s your man. “He’s amazing. He’s really good,” Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer said...
