Don Rebel stories, Page 99

We have less than three weeks remaining in section play in the WPIAL girls basketball regular season. This winter, the district returns to earning a ticket to ride on the Path to the Pete with no “open tournament” and the championships returning to the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center,...

When Dave Sarra, the former football and boys basketball coach at Waynesburg Central, took over as the girls basketball coach four years ago, he began the process of improving a program that finished the 2017 season with a record of 1-21. Last year, the team finished with a winning record...

The saying at Thomas Jefferson High School is “Tradition never graduates.” Star players do, though. Jaguars senior Graci Fairman is one of the leading scorers in the district, averaging more than 21 points per game. The girls basketball coach is Lisa Fairman, Graci’s Mom. It has been another successful season...

Monday could be a historic day around WPIAL basketball with two possible landmark victories. First, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is one win away from tying the WPIAL record for consecutive victories in boys basketball. The Chargers have won 51 straight games since losing to Aliquippa, 73-69, on Jan....

There is a big-time chill in the air as winter high school sports action heats up in the final week of January. We have video and audio coverage of nearly 60 high school boys and girls basketball games from the WPIAL, along with games from District 6 and District 9....

There are three weeks left in the regular season for WPIAL basketball teams. The open district tournament from a year ago is a thing of the past. The WPIAL playoffs will once again be made up of teams that have earned a spot in the postseason brackets. The top four...

Here are the latest PIHL high school hockey standings through Sunday, Jan. 23. Eight teams in each classification qualify for the PIHL playoffs. *- indicates clinched a playoff spot x- indicates eliminated from playoff chase #-Indicated ineligible for Penguins Cup Playoffs Team – Wins – Losses – Overtime/Shootout Loss =...

They are the Fab Five of WPIAL girls basketball. Chartiers Valley has three Division I and two Division II players in its starting lineup who have been together and winning championships their entire scholastic careers. Aislin Malcolm is heading to Pitt, Perri Page to Columbia, Marian Turnbull to Northeastern and...

Now that the WPIAL has the conference alignments for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, teams can start preparing for familiar faces and new foes in the fall. That will be the case for Chartiers Valley. The Colts will return to the Class 4A Parkway Conference with familiar opponents from the...

While Saturday will be busy with one-day high school events (see below), there is one big section matinee contest set in district girls hoops. Two of the top three teams in Section 3-4A collide when Belle Vernon visits Elizabeth Forward at 12:30 p.m. The Leopards lead the section with a...

What better way to begin the second half of section play in WPIAL boys basketball than with two of the top three teams in Class 4A clashing for a second time this season? The showdown for first place in Section 2-4A takes place in Midland as No. 3 Lincoln Park...

The second half of section play in WPIAL girls basketball begins with a busy Thursday around the district. One of the great races shaping up for the final three weeks is in Section 2-5A. The top four teams are separated by only one game. Mars is 5-1 in section play,...

As we hit the midway point of section play in WPIAL basketball, there are fewer and fewer perfect teams in the district. There are six boys and six girls teams that are undefeated in mid-January. While those dozen district teams hit the hardwood with big bull’s-eyes each week, so do...

It is the highest honor an athlete, a coach or a team can achieve: being elected to a Hall of Fame. That honor will come to several folks Wednesday when District 7 officials announce the inductees into the WPIAL Hall of Fame, Class of 2022. The WPIAL will unveil the...

Following the winter storm on Sunday, snowmen made appearances on many landscapes throughout the district. On Tuesday, it was time for the iceman to reappear. Upper St. Clair senior Tanner O’Grady hit his second buzzer-beating shot of the season, this time breaking a tie as time expired as USC defeated...

There were several state ranked girls basketball teams that tasted defeat this past, but only a few slipped out of the Trib HSSN state Top 5. There were several cases of teams losing to teams from out of state or from higher classifications that did not affect their ranking, or...

As the winter storm has come and gone, most of the teams in the weekly Trib HSSN boys basketball state rankings have remained the same. Only two teams fell out of the Top 5 in their respective classifications, one in Class 5A and the other in 3A. Cathedral Prep is...

A lot more eyes than usual will be on the monthly WPIAL board of control meeting Tuesday. The board will finalize the new conference alignment for all fall sports, including football, soccer, golf, cross country, girls volleyball, girls tennis and field hockey. Each sport’s steering committee met after the PIAA...

In 1987, Penn Hills captured its first WPIAL boys basketball championship with a 64-44 win over Central Catholic. Thirty-five years and three more district crowns later, the Indians are starting to look like a team that might be in the hunt for one for the thumb. In his second year...

Two years ago, a freshman at Laurel Highlands burst onto the boys basketball scene as Rodney Gallagher helped lead the Mustangs to a surprise district championship run. Now another ninth grader from a Fayette County school is making headlines as his high school career is off to a Notorious start...

Section 2-6A rivals Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair did not play at all last season due to mask policy. This season, both teams were ranked in the Trib HSSN Top 5 heading into their Monday night showdown for first place. Trailing the entire first half, Mt. Lebanon (6-0, 13-0)...

With the snowstorm sweeping through the area the last 24 hours, many a scholastic event has been postponed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. However, the weather has not canceled all of the games slated for Monday. One of the top girls basketball games is still on and can be...

Here are the latest PIHL high school hockey standings through Sunday, Jan. 16. * — indicates clinched a playoff spot x — indicates eliminated from playoff chase Team – Wins – Losses – Overtime/Shootout Loss = Total Points Class AAA North Allegheny, 12-1-1 = 25 Peters Township, 10-4-1 = 21...

What happens when a team has two bright stars lead it down a path to greatness and one of those guiding lights graduates? In the case of the Rochester girls basketball team, the remaining star is shining brighter than ever. The Rams haven’t missed a beat as they continue to...

Jenn O’Shea made the move from Fox Chapel to the Montour three years ago, taking over a girls basketball team that won only five games in 2019. Montour won seven games two years ago, then improved to 13-10 last year while earning a berth in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals....