Josh Rizzo stories, Page 29
Fox Chapel baseball hopes offseason adjustments lead to section success
Dom Cassol enjoyed that the Fox Chapel baseball team took a different approach to training for the 2023 season. With an inexperienced group of pitchers returning, the Foxes wanted to make sure that they were able to help everyone grow together. “We switched things up,” said Cassol, who is a...
Imani Christian slams Farrell, setting up anticipated rematch with Union
Imani Christian boys basketball coach Omar Foster valued seeing his program take the next step. The Saints fought through early foul trouble and poor shooting Friday night, but they ultimately overwhelmed District 10 champion Farrell, 80-50, in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals. “Last year, we lost in the quarterfinals to...
Penn Hills boys learn from past losses to climb all the way to top of WPIAL mountain
Make no mistake, Penn Hills senior guard Noah Barren appreciated the pomp and circumstance. The Indians boys basketball team was treated to the full cycle of congratulations after winning its sixth WPIAL title. Penn Hills, which beat Peters Township, 70-65, on March 2 at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center to win...
Penn Hills baseball sets simple goal: Playoffs
Rodney Stubbs made the goal for the Penn Hills baseball team a succinct one. “I better get in the playoffs this year,” Stubbs said. Stubbs, who stated the goal with a laugh, believes some of the upgrades the program was able to make will help the Indians out. Penn Hills,...
Fox Chapel swimmer leaves seed time in dust in dominant performance at WPIAL meet
Fox Chapel swimming coach Dan Taylor was more than pleased with how sophomore Christian Dantey attacked the 200 freestyle at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Trees Pool. Coming in seeded fifth with a qualifying time of 1 minute, 44.54 seconds, Dantey blew away the field and won his first...
Fox Chapel boys battle their way into PIAA tournament field
Asher White knew that Fox Chapel basketball wasn’t going to be the same before this season started. The 6-foot-3 sophomore forward would need to be one of many players who needed to step into roles to make sure the Foxes were on the right track. “Last year, I played very...
Penn Hills enjoys home-court advantage, routs DuBois in state playoff opener
Noah Barren was happy to be comfortable on a snowy night in Penn Hills. During the Indians’ run through the state playoffs last season, Penn Hills scored a first-round upset on the other side of the state, then got stranded on the side of the road on their way home...
Developmental season for Penn Hills wrestling ends with near-misses for WPIAL hopefuls
Penn Hills wrestling spent the season in a developmental phase, trying to build self-confidence on the roster and give kids a chance to qualify for the WPIAL Class 3A championship tournament. The Indians, though, faced a daunting task by seeing its inexperienced roster having to navigate through a sectional field...
New aggressive style leads to success on mat for Fox Chapel junior
Alexander Kaufmann started having fun with wrestling again when he decided to change things up. The 152-pound Fox Chapel junior spent this season trying to press the pace and make opponents match his tempo. Kaufmann, who says he spends a lot of time reflecting on matches, was the lone Foxes...
Fox Chapel notebook: Boys basketball battles back to make PIAA playoffs
Getting punched in the gut several times hasn’t deterred the Fox Chapel boys basketball team. The Foxes closed the season on a three-game losing streak and backed into the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. After opening the playoffs with a win over Thomas Jefferson, the Foxes lost 67-62 to North Hills...
With love of swimming rekindled at Edinboro, Penn Hills grad heads to nationals
Stephanie Sipple didn’t make the move from the NCAA Division I level at Cleveland State to Division II at Edinboro would because it might make it easier for her to qualify for nationals. After years of high-level training, Sipple went to Cleveland and saw her enjoyment for the sport fade....
Penn Hills swimmers go to great lengths to lower times
Clark Leonard, Anthony Sipple, Anthony Collins and Luke Hoolahan were all disappointed they didn’t shave any time off their WPIAL Class 3A 200 freestyle relay qualifying time during a last-chance meet Feb. 18 at Chartiers Valley. But Penn Hills swimming coach Morgan Bush knew there were other opportunities. The meet at...
Penn Hills girls make big strides between 1st and last game
The Penn Hills girls basketball had the misfortune of starting and ending the season against the same team. But the good news for the Indians was that getting a second chance at McKeesport in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs meant that they found a way to...
Fox Chapel notebook: Troutman sets stage for outdoor track season
Fox Chapel’s Anna Troutman is setting the table well for her outdoor track season. The Foxes picked up a number of medals at the final Tri-State Track Coaches Association Indoor Championship meet. Troutman was the only athlete headed to State College for the state indoor track championship. She set the...
In-your-face style carries Fox Chapel hockey into Penguins Cup playoffs
Fox Chapel goalie Joe Rattner believes the Foxes have a reputation among PIHL Class A hockey teams: Fox Chapel is willing to dig in and do the dirty work when games get tough. The goal for the Foxes, who will play in the PIHL quarterfinals when the playoffs begin in...
Allderdice boys slam Obama Academy for City League championship
Major Rainey’s dunk that put an exclamation point on Allderdice’s City League boys basketball championship victory Sunday fit the game’s flow perfectly. Rainey’s alley-oop slam off a pass from Ethan Anish came a possession after a Rainey dunk attempt went rattling off the back iron and back to center court....
Obama Academy girls stifle Allderdice for another City League championship
Allderdice’s plan to outlast and tire out Obama Academy’s larger lineup sputtered at the same roadblock. The Dragons’ attempts to reach the rim Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse during the City League girls basketball championship game were snuffed out by 5-foot-8 Eagles forward Kimaya Williams. She finished with 12 points,...
Shaler girls grab hard-earned playoff spot in season to remember
Awards from youth basketball camps aren’t items that Hanna DeJidas will likely be submitting with college applications. But the junior guard on the Shaler girls basketball team likely won’t forget winning them either. The foundation for the Titans program was laid with tokens of appreciation from varsity coach Cornelious Nesbit....
Penn Hills wrestlers make strides during nontraditional season
Penn Hills wrestling coach Jeremy Packer enjoyed having a different type of schedule this season. Due to what the Indians thought were going to be low numbers, Penn Hills focused on competing in individual tournaments and building up the skills of wrestlers in a program filled with inexperienced grapplers. Entering...
Penn Hills notebook: Indoor track team looks to build speed, stamina
While Penn Hills indoor track coach Lee Zelkowitz like to use the winter season as a program builder for the fall outdoor season, the Indians would like to build some momentum by sending a few athletes to the state meet. But first, the Indians had to have athletes qualify for...
Shaler notebook: Titans make themselves at home in playoffs
This winter, making the playoffs was standard operating procedure for the Shaler athletic department. The Titans saw plenty of teams earn a chance to move on to the next level of competition. The Shaler boys basketball, girls basketball, boys bowling, girls bowling and two unified bocce teams all earned spots...
Powerful Obama Academy ready for challenge from scrappy Allderdice in City League girls title game
Obama Academy girls basketball coach Monique McCoy has stressed to her team nothing will be easy against Allderdice in the City League championship game Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Eagles have dominated the Dragons over the past three seasons, winning seven consecutive games, six of which were by double...
Family motivates Fox Chapel junior in quest for postseason wrestling success
Josh Alexander had one of his brothers work on lighting a fire underneath him. With the Alexander family, there is a lot of successful family history on the wrestling mat. Both of Alexander’s brothers wrestled at Maryland, and his father competed at Clarion. The 139-pound Fox Chapel junior who is...
Fox Chapel swimmers stay motivated to collect more medals
Fox Chapel swimming coach Dan Taylor wants to make sure every year that the swimming team finds different ways to challenge its athletes. Fox Chapel has a high percentage of kids who seldom leave the pool, taking part in club competition as well as high school events, so it is...
Allderdice, Obama Academy gear up for City League title game at Duquesne’s Cooper Fieldhouse
Ethan Anish always enjoyed the thought of being able to play a game at Duquesne University’s gymnasium. When Anish takes the court for Allderdice at 2 p.m Sunday UPMC’s Cooper Fieldhouse for the City League boys basketball championship game against Obama Academy, he will add more roots to his deep...
