Josh Rizzo stories, Page 11
Penn Hills sprinter continues to make great strides during indoor track season
Mackenzie McIntyre has continued to inch toward her goal of being one of the best sprinters in the state. The Penn Hills senior earned her opportunity to showcase what she can do in front of the whole state at the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association indoor state championships March...
Penn Hills notebook: 3 seniors chosen for East-West all-star game
Donovan Burnett, Naytel Mitchell and Ron Porter III were all selected to play in the Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West Large School All-Star game. The three Indians senior football players are all moving on to play at the next level. Mitchell, a Sacramento State signee, rushed for over 1,000...
Fox Chapel’s D’Angelo Hamilton earns spot at PIAA West Region tournament
Fox Chapel wrestling coach Michael Frank said before the WPIAL Class 3A championships that he wasn’t sure how he felt about the PIAA adding a West Regional this season. All WPIAL wrestlers would now have an extra step to qualifying for the state tournament. The Foxes had one wrestler break...
Indoor season sets Fox Chapel track up for strong spring
The Fox Chapel indoor track team didn’t send any athletes to the state indoor track championships this season, but Foxes coach Tom Moul was pleased with the dedication of his roster. Michael Costello came to the Tri-State Track Coaches Association meet at Edinboro following a 3 1/2 hour drive following...
South Allegheny stuns 2-time defending champion Aliquippa to win 1st WPIAL title
Josh Jackowski wanted to roll the dice. The rest of the South Allegheny boys basketball team came to a similar conclusion. When the Gladiators pressed, they were able to force a bad pass from Aliquippa’s Marques Council. Jackowski picked up the loose ball and scored on a layup with 29...
Unflappable Peters Township ends South Fayette’s reign in WPIAL Class 5A title gameVideo
Brianna Morreale turned to her teammates at the podium, looking for help. The junior guard for the Peters Township girls basketball team wasn’t exactly sure what the play call was for her go-ahead 3-pointer during the final minute of the WPIAL Class 5A championship game Friday. But the Indians guard...
At full strength, Oakland Catholic rolls past North Catholic into Class 4A finals
Oakland Catholic junior forward Josie Fontana plans to soak up the experience at Petersen Events Center this weekend. Fontana made a two-minute cameo her freshman season during the Eagles’ loss to South Fayette. Second-seeded Oakland Catholic earned a trip to the WPIAL Class 4A title game by smothering North Catholic,...
Pair of Penn Hills wrestlers earn spots in WPIAL tournament
Daemon Phipps flashed potential as a freshman for the Penn Hills wrestling team. The now-114-pound junior wrestler earned his spot at the WPIAL Class 3A championships for the first time by placing fourth at the Northern Section. Phipps is one away from equaling his career high in wins. He was...
Penn Hills notebook: Boys basketball team bows out at Peters Township
The Penn Hills boys basketball team saw its season come to an end on the road at Peters Township. The Indians, who were the No. 11 seed, had a hard time scoring consistently during a 63-30 first-round loss Feb. 18. Calix Clark and Amon Hawthorne tied for a team-high six...
Postseason grind tests mettle of Fox Chapel wrestlers
The path to qualifying for the PIAA Class 3A wrestling championships has an extra step to the process this season. For the first time in the larger classification, wrestlers must qualify for a regional instead of going straight from the WPIAL tournament to states. Fox Chapel wrestling coach Michael Frank...
Fox Chapel girls set new standards during playoff season
The Fox Chapel girls basketball team made its return to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs after a three-year absence. The Foxes weren’t able to upend potential title hopeful Peters Township, but Fox Chapel coach Marty Matvey was happy with the progress. The Foxes lost 66-58 and hope they have the...
Mohawk jumps out fast, defeats undermanned Southmoreland in boys 3A quarterfinals
Mohawk boys basketball junior guard Bobby Fadden sat back and waited for Vinny Pezzuolo, Blake Logan and Joey Nail to cause chaos. The Warriors wanted to make life difficult on an undermanned Southmoreland squad during a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Friday night at North Catholic High School. Mohawk took advantage...
Bishop Canevin girls shut down Springdale in WPIAL Class A quarterfinals
Isabella Sysak patrolled the top of the 3-point line with great interest in procuring the ball. The Bishop Canevin junior guard created chaos Monday night at Donald McGhee Fieldhouse. Sysak produced two steals and scored four points in the first 90 seconds to help spark the Crusaders to a 45-12...
Allderdice captures 4th straight City League boys basketball championship
Allderdice boys basketball coach Devin Crummie knew the shootaround wouldn’t be a picnic at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse the day before the City League championship game. The Dragons needed to be sharp for their battle with a worthy challenger in Obama Academy. “Everybody calls it a shootaround,” Dragons coach Devin Crummie...
Allderdice girls top Obama Academy to defend City League title
Bailey White sported a wide smile as she grabbed the City League championship trophy Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, White and the Allderdice girls basketball team left no doubt to their spot in the district’s hierarchy. The Dragons’ 52-45 win over Obama Academy was their second straight...
Shaler swimmers set big goals for postseason meets
Grace Melocchi has been swimming year-round since she was little. One of the long-term goals of the Shaler senior swimmer surfaced when she made it to middle school. With Melocchi’s form in the pool, a coach mentioned that she would have a realistic shot at setting the school’s record in...
Shaler girls ‘play for each other’ en route to section championship
Tony Grenek was ready with the justification before his wife, Megan, approached him about the promise he made before taking the job as Shaler girls basketball coach. Grenek, who coached collegiately at Seton Hill and Point Park before spending the previous two years as North Hills’ varsity coach, said he...
Redeemer Lutheran basketball teams savor playoff experience
The Redeemer Lutheran girls basketball team is conditioned to play all 32 minutes if necessary. But the Rams are happy the program has grown enough so they can all get a rest. Redeemer opened the Southwestern Pennsylvania Athletic Association playoffs Feb. 10 by beating Neighborhood Academy, 51-25, on the road...
1st-year Penn Hills diver qualifies for WPIAL meet
Mikael Epperson had to retrain his thought process if he was going to become an effective diver for the Penn Hills swim team. The Indians sophomore chose to come out for swimming for the first time this year after previously competing in track and field. “About halfway through the season...
Pieces in place for Shady Side Academy girls as postseason run begins
The Shady Side Academy girls basketball team is in a strong position to defend its WPIAL Class 3A crown. The Bulldogs turned in an impressive regular season, compiling a 22-0 record with an average margin of victory of 31.6 points per game. While Shady Side Academy players settled comfortably into...
Confidence grows for Fox Chapel girls wrestlers in program’s 2nd season
The Fox Chapel girls wrestling team has spent less time focusing on learning the basics. In the Foxes’ second full season as a varsity wrestling program, Fox Chapel felt much more prepared for the second WPIAL wrestling championships. “Last year, I felt like I was wide-eyed walking into the tournament,”...
Resilient Obama Academy, powerful Allderdice to meet in 4th straight City League girls final
The Obama Academy girls basketball team was forced to use many different lineups throughout the regular season. The Eagles were limited by injuries and had to send many underclassmen onto the floor. Obama Academy (10-10) opened the season with six straight losses but found its footing in league play. The...
Seeking 5th straight City League title, Allderdice boys to be tested by tough Obama Academy defense
Allderdice boys basketball coach Devin Crummie would prefer to see his team on the move during the City League championship game Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. But the Dragons likely will need to be more methodical against Obama Academy. The Eagles, who are attempting to halt Allderdice’s streak of four...
Fox Chapel junior breaks through in shot put
Claire Conti set the Fox Chapel indoor track and field record in the shot put during her freshman season. Now a junior, Conti spent the past two seasons attempting to find a way to hit the 33-foot mark. During Tri-State Track Coaches Association meet No. 4 on Feb. 1 at...
Penn Hills swimmer puts in work in pursuit of goals
Penn Hills junior swimmer Sydney Smith doesn’t want to take her mind off what she is working toward. Smith has inched closer to earning a berth in the WPIAL Class 3A championships in the 100 breaststroke. Smith has a personal best time of 1 minute, 15.20 seconds, which is behind...
