Michael Love stories

Reese Hasley is off to a strong start for the Grove City women’s basketball team. The Deer Lakes graduate and Wolverines senior guard is averaging 10 points, 7.5 rebounds and three assists through four games. She collected a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three...

There is a great deal of optimism surrounding the Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team, which returns four starters and several other key contributors after a trip to the WPIAL playoffs last season. “I think the group of girls that we have gets along really well from top to bottom,” Vikings second-year...

The Apollo-Ridge boys basketball team has endured some lean years recently in terms of wins and losses, but coach Greg Fox sees a program on the rise with experience throughout the lineup this season. “The summer and offseason were very productive for the players who put in the time,” said...

The Burrell girls soccer team members had a bittersweet feeling in their hearts and in the pits of their stomachs hours after the end of Friday’s PIAA Class 2A championship game against Archbishop Wood at Northeastern York High School. The bitter came from a battle that ended in heartbreak in...

MANCHESTER — Intensity, physicality, dangerous scoring chances, high-level defensive plays. That is what one would expect from two high school girls soccer teams going after a PIAA championship. Burrell and Archbishop Wood delivered on all of those Friday night as both came to Northeastern York High School seeking their first...

The Burrell girls soccer team received a police escort for the final few miles back to the high school after Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over section rival Freeport in a PIAA Class 2A semifinal clash at Fox Chapel High School. The Bucs didn’t let a seven-game losing streak to the Yellowjackets,...

Fourth time’s the charm? The Burrell girls soccer team hoped so. But Freeport wanted to get out the brooms. The section rival Bucs and Yellowjackets met for the fourth time this season Tuesday evening in a PIAA Class 2A semifinal in frigid temperatures at Fox Chapel. Freeport won the first...

Hailey Marchlewski made many offensive runs during the 110 minutes of regulation and overtime in Saturday’s PIAA Class A quarterfinal against Sewickley Academy at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadum. The Springdale senior forward, with tired legs but a heart and mind full of confidence, then was the second one to go...

Piper Munyon made history in her debut run at the PIAA Class 3A cross country championships Nov. 1 on the Parkview Course in Hershey. The Gateway sophomore took seventh overall in a time of 18 minutes, 56 seconds. It was the best-ever PIAA finish by a Gators girls cross country...

The Gateway football team edged Latrobe, 27-24, in its Big East Conference finale Oct. 17. The Gators finished in a three-way tie for third place with Armstrong and Kiski Area at 3-3. A 42-35 loss to Class 6A Hempfield in what ended up being the team’s final game of the...

Eleven days had passed between Springdale and Sewickley Academy’s WPIAL Class A girls soccer semifinal Oct. 28 and their PIAA quarterfinal contest at North Allegheny. The possibility of a rematch of the tight Panthers’ victory was there with some speculating on what would transpire in the rematch. Postulation turned into...

Ashton Saunders enjoyed the view from the medal stand at last year’s PIAA Class A cross country championships in Hershey. The goal in his return Nov. 1 was to not only get back to that position but also stand a little closer to the top. Both were achieved as the...

After a 14-13 Northeast Conference loss to North Hills in Week 6, the Plum football team stood at 2-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play. Some thought the Mustangs were dead in the water. But Plum coach Matt Morgan, his coaching staff, and his players carried on, taking one game...

Highlands and Central Valley were separated by just four points in the early stages of the third quarter of their WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Friday at Central Valley’s Sarge Albert Stadium. That is when things changed. Spurred on by a couple of key special teams plays, the No. 3 Warriors...

Player of the week Jaden McCray Apollo-Ridge, Sr., RB/WR/DB McCray has been a dual threat in the Vikings’ offense all season, especially in a WPIAL Class 2A first-round win over Riverside last Friday at Owens Field. McCray ran the ball just eight times, but he totaled 63 yards and all...

Jackson Babinsack has been a well-known special teams name among Highlands football faithful since his freshman year in 2023. The Golden Rams junior, the team’s punter and kickoff specialist who also handles extra points and field goals, has delivered the goods in some big games the past three years and...

There was no PIAA hangover for the WPIAL champion Freeport girls soccer team. The Yellowjackets fought off an expected strong challenge from District 10 runner-up Fort LeBoeuf on Tuesday evening at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. Freeport scored twice in the first half and once in the second to complete a...

The We Serve First Foundation has released the list of senior girls volleyball players who will compete in the fourth annual all-star classic Dec. 6 at Kiski Area High School. The evening of volleyball will highlight the skills of 40 high school seniors from 30 schools in the Alle-Kiski Valley...

The Freeport and Burrell girls soccer teams knew so much about each other from many intense, hard-fought section matchups, including the pair of Section 2 clashes this year. So it came as no surprise that neither team gave an inch Saturday in their rematch for the WPIAL Class 2A championship...

It is often said that it is hard to beat a team three times in a single season. Fox Chapel boys soccer attempted to meet that challenge against Seneca Valley on Friday evening as the section rivals battled for WPIAL Class 4A gold at Highmark Stadium. The No. 2 Foxes,...

Saturday’s PIAA cross country championships in Hershey again will feature a cross section of experience over the six races. Several from the Alle-Kiski Valley are making return trips seeking medals and top finishes while other are making their debuts at the state’s climactic high school event. While Fox Chapel junior...

Burrell hopes the third time’s the charm. Freeport hopes to get out the brooms. A new chapter in one of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s most intense girls soccer rivalries will be written Saturday at Highmark Stadium. The No. 2 Yellowjackets, who won both games against the Bucs in the Section 2...

The South Fayette girls soccer team came into Wednesday’s Class 3A championship game at Highmark Stadium seeking its third consecutive WPIAL title. Fox Chapel hoped to prevent that in the rematch of last year’s championship clash won by the Lions. The Foxes also were gunning for their second WPIAL crown...

Player of the week Antonio Perkins Burrell, So., QB/DB It was a school-record night for Perkins in last Friday’s 48-41 victory over Deer Lakes. He set team marks for rushing yards (360) and touchdowns (seven) in a game. Of the 360 rushing yards, 303 came in the second half. Perkins...

The Kiski Area football team is hoping to break a long playoff-win drought when it travels to Shaler on Friday for a WPIAL Class 5A first-round game. The Cavaliers have dropped 12 postseason games in a row since defeating Armstrong Central, 29-13, in 1990. First-year Kiski coach Colyn Haugh said...