Jerin Steele stories, Page 17
Deer Lakes boys look for repeat performance against powerful OLSH in Class 3A final
Right before Christmas, Deer Lakes ended the longest winning streak in Pennsylvania boys basketball history at 74 when it traveled to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and won 70-55. Now the Lancers will be tasked with trying to end the Chargers’ WPIAL title streak when they face the four-time...
Blackhawk steps up, drops rival Quaker Valley to return to WPIAL championship game
The last time Blackhawk played Quaker Valley, Quinn Borroni went off for 23 points, so with her out for the season due to injury, everyone else knew they had to step up if they were going to beat their rivals for a third time Tuesday night. Alena Fusetti led the...
‘Power 5 guys’ help Lincoln Park boys race past Highlands and into Class 4A title game
Meleek Thomas is rated by several scouting services as one of the top sophomore boys basketball players in the country. Brandin Cummings is a Pitt commit as a junior. Both showed why they are prized recruits Monday night and helped Lincoln Park make another trip to Petersen Events Center. Thomas...
Early-season opponents Highlands, Deer Lakes boys now face same task of toppling No. 1s
Highlands and Deer Lakes met the first weekend of the 2022-23 season, and though the Golden Rams ended up pulling away for an 88-74 victory, the final score wasn’t indicative of how tight the game was. Both coaches, Highlands’ Corey Dotchin and Deer Lakes’ Albie Fletcher, came away with confidence...
Pine-Richland grad Dan Petcash shares secret to his success at Binghamton
Baking soda, salt, magnesium and water. Those are the ingredients for what Dan Petcash calls his “secret stuff.” The name is a nod to the movie Space Jam and it’s also a formula Petcash, a Pine-Richland grad, credits for his breakout year at Binghamton. “It sounds kind of funny, but...
Pine-Richland notebook: Heckert, Kerns picked for Big 33
Pine-Richland seniors Max Heckert and Isaiah Kerns will get one last game on the football field together and take part in a prestigious event. Heckert and Kerns were selected to play for Pennsylvania in the annual Big 33 Classic high school all-star game. This year’s contest will be held at...
Avonworth knocks off top-seeded Shady Side Academy to reach Class 3A finals
Greta O’Brien has had dreams of playing at the Petersen Events Center since watching her older sister Olivia play there with Vincentian in 2018. Thanks to her big second half on the scoreboard and a strong collective defensive effort, she and her Avonworth teammates will have that opportunity. O’Brien scored...
Highlands dominates Elizabeth Forward in Class 4A first round
The WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball playoffs are chock-full of contenders, and Highlands showed why it is one of them in its first-round game Monday night. The fifth-seeded Golden Rams held No. 12 Elizabeth Forward without a field goal for the first seven minutes and ended up with five players...
Pine-Richland sophomore makes name for herself at WPIAL gymnastics meet
Annamaria Samuels has a unique first name and sometimes it’s accidentally misspelled, which was the case on the WPIAL championship results sheet. Don’t expect to see many misspellings in the future, because Samuels certainly made a name for herself with her performance at WPIALs. Samuels, a sophomore at Pine-Richland, took...
Breakout regular season leads Pine-Richland girls into playoff matchup with rival North Allegheny
The first two meetings with North Allegheny provided lessons for the Pine-Richland girls basketball team. The third meeting yields an opportunity to pull an upset. Pine-Richland received the seventh seed in the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs and will travel to No. 2 North Allegheny for a first-round matchup at 7...
North Hills fends off first-round challenge from Kiski Area
Kiski Area’s valiant effort to pull a major upset ultimately fell short Friday night at North Hills. The No. 14-seeded Cavaliers led after three quarters, but No. 3 North Hills got key baskets from Royce Parham and Eric James down the stretch to escape with a 76-71 win in the...
Freeport boys ready for tall task vs. No. 2 Laurel Highlands
On their senior spotlight questionnaire, most of the Freeport basketball seniors said their favorite moment in their career was going to Uniontown last year and earning a playoff win. If they can go down to Fayette County and pull another playoff stunner Monday, the spotlight pages might need to be...
After slow start, Pine-Richland hockey team rights ship, roars into playoffs
Every year there are teams that surge late in the season and are dubbed a team nobody wants to meet in the playoffs. The Pine-Richland hockey team certainly fits into that category. The Rams started 2-7-1 in the basement of the Class 3A standings but have won eight straight to...
Pine-Richland’s Joey Perry catches on with Seton Hall
Joey Perry has had a connection with former Pittsburgh Pirates closer Jason Grilli, and that helped him find the right college to continue his baseball career. Grilli is a family friend and has helped Perry as a mentor on the mental side of baseball. He’s also a Seton Hall graduate...
Deer Lakes boys must beat rival to win title outright
As the Deer Lakes boys basketball team was celebrating senior night following its game Tuesday, word came in that Shady Side Academy had been upset by Derry. That meant the Lancers were guaranteed a split of the Section 3-3A title regardless of their outcome with the Bulldogs on Friday. That...
Riverview slows Cleveland to top Leechburg but loses out on playoff spot
Riverview coach Phil McGivney said when his team is balanced on the score sheet, it normally comes out on the right side. The Raiders were balanced Tuesday night with four players in double figures, and, combined with a defensive adjustment intended to slow down Leechburg standout Marcus Cleveland, it was...
Freeport pitcher Rape uses showcase to catch eye of Penn State, commits to Nittany Lions
A showcase in New Jersey in July changed the landscape of Freeport sophomore Dustin Rape’s baseball career. It is where the left-handed pitcher hit 90 mph on a radar gun for the first time, and he caught the eye of some major Division-I baseball coaches, including Penn State assistant Dallas...
Pine-Richland notebook: Rams wrestlers gear up for postseason tournaments
The Pine-Richland wrestling team was eliminated in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A tournament, falling 44-19 to West Allegheny on Wednesday night. Now the Rams will turn their attention to the individual postseason and have several wrestlers in good form. Prior to the WPIAL team playoffs, the Rams...
Pine-Richland’s Ryan Palmieri joins teammate in committing to Sacred Heart
The majority of high school athletes post their college commitment on social media as a way to celebrate the accomplishment and let everyone know where they are headed. When Pine-Richland senior Ryan Palmieri found the right school to continue his football career, he didn’t follow that trend. Instead, he quietly...
Penn Hills girls use strong defense to complete section sweep of Plum
Penn Hills girls basketball coach Robert Cash didn’t tell his team that a win would keep them alive in the postseason race. He didn’t want to put any undue pressure on them and just wanted them to go out and play. “We just talked about going out and getting a...
Highlands boys battling to be among contenders for WPIAL Class 4A title
Highlands boys basketball coach Corey Dotchin sensed that Class 4A was going to be a dogfight when he first got a look at the new section alignments in July. That certainly has come to fruition, and the Golden Rams are in the thick of the fight. The top two teams...
Pine-Richland grad Kyle Polce provides glue for top-ranked IUP men’s basketball
Every team needs a glue guy and Kyle Polce has embraced that role with IUP men’s basketball. Someone that is willing to come off the bench, play tough defense, dive for a loose ball and take a charge when necessary. “Those things add up slowly,” said Polce, a Pine-Richland grad....
Pine-Richland makes statement at Allegheny County wrestling tournament
Pine-Richland wrestling left the Allegheny County wrestling championships with some gold, silver and more proof of a program on the rise. The Rams had three county champions, a pair of runners-up and placed second overall in the team standings at the annual tournament at Fox Chapel. Anthony Ferraro (133) and...
Mars outduels North Hills on Tasso Sfanos buzzer-beating 3-pointer
Tasso Sfanos knew it was in as soon as the ball left his hand. Considering what he had accomplished already, his confidence was understandable, but the degree of difficulty he pulled off to hit a buzzer beater can’t be understated. Sfanos had three defenders on him and had to adjust...
Sharpened by tough early schedule, Kiski Area boys heating up
Kiski Area boys basketball coach Corey Smith senses that everything is coming together. Not just because the team is on a four-game winning streak. It’s more about how the Cavaliers are winning. Smith called it “buy-in” to committing to winning as a group. “They see my energy every day at...
