Dave Mackall stories, Page 6

Coach Doug Kelly has been waiting for his team to go on a run. Maybe this is the start of something big for the Penn-Trafford boys basketball team. Brayden Stone scored 20 points, including the first 10 of the game, and Penn-Trafford completed a season sweep of its series with...

When he patrols the sideline during game days, Kiski Area boys basketball coach Corey Smith hears voices. They are familiar sounds, a comforting tone. Smith’s dad, above everyone else, has his son’s ear. “My father to this day has been on my staff. He keeps me in line,” Smith said....

Maximus Edwards broke out of a season-long shooting slump for Duquesne in a big way Wednesday night. Edwards came off the bench to convert his first six shots and finished with a season-high 22 points against his former school as Duquesne defeated George Washington, 73-65, in Washington, D.C.. It was...

No matter where North Catholic plays basketball, stress is the name of the game. The Trojans certainly made it stressful for No. 2 Deer Lakes on Tuesday night, turning a tight game early into a commanding 61-46 victory in a Section 1-4A game in Cranberry. “We mixed some things up...

Soon after Dru Joyce III began his first season as men’s basketball coach at Duquesne, the losses began to pile up. Everywhere the Dukes played. But gradually, they’ve begun to master their home-court surroundings, winning four consecutive times and five of their past six outings at cozy UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse....

Five years into its Horizon League journey, Robert Morris has shown signs of stabilizing its men’s basketball program following a rocky transition from the lesser-renowned Northeast Conference, where the Colonials traditionally were among the top teams. On Sunday against Wright State at UPMC Events Center, where four days earlier a...

The 6-foot-9 David Dixon, known more as a shot-blocker than a 3-point shooter, wants everyone to know he can hit that shot when it matters. The Duquesne junior forward connected from long range in overtime Wednesday night against Saint Joseph’s when it mattered most. He wasn’t bad on defense, either....

After a rough start to the season, Duquesne’s basketball fortunes are turning. Jahsean Corbett totaled 13 points and 10 rebounds and three other Dukes scored in double figures as Duquesne opened Atlantic 10 Conference play Tuesday with a 67-55 New Year’s Eve victory over Rhode Island at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse,...

A year ago at this time, Duquesne was feeling pretty good about its men’s basketball season after having just beaten Cleary, a first-year NAIA program, by nearly 50 points to improve to 9-3 heading into Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Dukes stunningly then lost five straight to A-10 opponents. “Last...

While Duquesne was enjoying a double-digit lead Saturday at halftime against UC Irvine, Dru Joyce III insisted he wasn’t nervous about the impending outcome, even though the Dukes’ first-year men’s basketball coach knew all along the Anteaters were renowned for their strong second-half play. Two days earlier, they rallied from...

AKRON, Ohio — Duquesne’s success in Akron continues. Playing at coach Dru Joyce III’s high school alma mater for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in the past seven years, the Dukes on Saturday made it 5 for 5 in victories at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Cam...

One by one, his players emerged from the home locker room at Penn-Trafford and paraded across the gym floor. Most, if not all, of coach Doug Kelly’s crew was in an unusually impulsive mood, laughing and conversing and seemingly feeling as good as can be. In fact, some hardly could...

Burrell has begun the girls basketball season with five lopsided victories, the latest a 51-25 decision behind 12 points each from Casey Brancato and McKenna Miller on Thursday night at Highlands in the WPIAL Section 1-4A opener for both schools. It is the most points scored so far against the...

As the college basketball season sinks lower for the Duquesne Dukes, first-year coach Dru Joyce III reaffirmed Wednesday night a calm, cool and collective commitment to success in the wake of a 61-56 loss to Maine at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. “You’ve got to work through the kinks, learn to trust,”...

Brayden Long sat inside a cramped, makeshift interview room high atop Cal (Pa.)’s Adamson Stadium quietly surveying his surroundings. As Slippery Rock’s record-setting quarterback swigged water from a bottle, his eyes darted back and forth as if to replay the day’s events. Thanks in large part to Long’s masterful approach,...

A week-and-a-half ago, he secured his first college coaching victory at the Cayman Islands Classic. On Friday, Duquesne’s Dru Joyce III won his first game in the United States. Tre Dinkins III scored 18 points to lead five Duquesne players in double figures, and the Dukes, playing for the second...

Robert Morris was looking to match its best 10-game start to a men’s basketball season Wednesday night in a Horizon League opener against Youngstown State. The Penguins, however, had other ideas. With Horizon League commissioner Julie Roe Lach on hand, Juwan Maxey scored 16 points, including five 3-point shots, and...

Seven losses in eight games, and it’s not yet time for the Atlantic 10 schedule to begin. Not before Duquesne plays against five more opponents in what has turned out to be a challenging nonconference men’s basketball schedule. At 1-7, there’s something a bit off with these Dukes. “We’re working...

One by one, the coaching jobs appear. Most times, Shawn Liotta answers the call. The Springdale native is on the move again, this time back to the professional ranks as coach of the expansion Wilkes-Barre franchise of the newly formed Arena Football One indoor league. He leaves Burrell High School...

Latrobe christened its new gymnasium floor Friday night with first-round games of the Greater Latrobe Tipoff Classic, the first time in years that the school district has held the season-opening boys basketball event. The high school gym in September received an unplanned update to the floor after the wood surface...

If there’s one thing Andy Toole does quite often, it’s worry. From the time he wakes up until the time he turns in, Toole’s high-energy motor is running. “I worry about everything all the time,” said the longtime Robert Morris men’s basketball coach. Toole was quite a bit concerned going...

Dru Joyce III waited much longer than he’d have liked for his Gatorade shower. On Tuesday, Duquesne’s first-year men’s basketball coach finally got it. Junior forward Matus Hronsky tied his career high with 13 points to lead four Duquesne players in double figures as the Dukes defeated Old Dominion, 67-54,...

For the past 18 years, Amber Cernuto has been helping little ones get started in life as a kindergarten teacher in the Southmoreland School District. On the basketball court, she continues to be a leader as coach of the high school girls team. You could say Cernuto enjoys teaching others....