Michael Love stories, Page 106
Despite shortened schedule Gateway football preparing for run at WPIAL title
The WPIAL last Wednesday revealed a plan to populate the football playoff brackets and deal with unbalanced records and schedules in several of the classifications among a wider announcement of postseason strategies for fall sports. With Gateway expected to finish with four games played in the regular season — it...
Gateway boys soccer deals with schedule crunch in quest for playoff berth
The Gateway boys soccer team found itself in a playoff battle in Section 4-4A as it hoped to qualify for the WPIAL postseason for the first time since 2016. The Gators played a compacted, hectic schedule down the stretch — 10 scheduled games in 16 days — after covid-19 issues...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Apollo-Ridge could be at mercy of playoff selection committee
The WPIAL on Wednesday laid out a plan to fill playoff brackets for the six football classifications as covid-19 has canceled games and created unprecedented issues for the organization. Apollo-Ridge had a keen interest in what the WPIAL had to say. The WPIAL’s plan for Class 2A has only the...
New-look roster carries Riverview boys golf to winning season
The Riverview boys golf team capped its 2020 season in the WPIAL Class AA team semifinals at Beaver Valley Golf Club. The Raiders, in the WPIAL team playoffs for the third consecutive year, placed eighth. “We left a lot of shots out there (on the course),” Riverview coach Hal Biehl...
Plum’s Charlotte Jones makes dream of swimming at next level come true
Charlotte Jones has one final year of swimming at Plum, and then she hopes to make her mark at the NCAA Division I level. The Mustangs senior has given a verbal commitment to continue in the sport at Long Island University-Brooklyn in the Northeast Conference. “It is a great feeling...
Leechburg scores 76 in dominating Riverview for 400th winVideo
Leechburg averaged 44 points in wins over Riverview in Eastern Conference matchups the past two seasons. The Blue Devils surpassed that by halftime against the Raiders on Friday. Leechburg led by 41 at the break and cruised to a 76-25 victory on senior night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. “It was...
Montour wraps up WPISL regular-season title
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League regular season concludes this weekend as the focus begins to turn to the playoff tournament. Montour (13-1) wrapped up the regular-season title last Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of Mt Lebanon (6-6). Seneca Valley, which split an early-season doubleheader with Montour, did the same...
A-K Valley football players to watch for Week 6
Lorenzo Jenkins Fox Chapel, jr., WR/DB In wins over Shaler and Kiski Area after an 0-3 start, Jenkins caught a combined 13 passes for 240 yards and six touchdowns. He is averaging 16 yards a catch this season and owns totals of 24 catches, 383 yards and seven touchdowns. On...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for Week 6
Class 5A northeast Fox Chapel (2-3, 2-1) at Penn Hills (2-3, 2-1) 7 p.m. Friday, Yuhas-McGinley Stadium, Penn Hills The winner will get a leg up in the race for a WPIAL Class 5A playoff spot. … Fox Chapel has won two straight after an 0-3 start. Senior starting quarterback Justin...
Winning culture carries over for Kiski Area girls soccer team
The Kiski Area girls soccer team advanced to the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals each of the past two seasons. Coach Mike Spagnolo said he hoped to continue that success this fall with a younger group of players after 11 seniors graduated. While it took time for the team to get...
A-K Valley girls soccer notebook: Fox Chapel wins rugged section
A 2-1 overtime victory over Norwin early in Section 2-AAAA play might turn out to be the difference maker in Fox Chapel’s section championship. The Foxes shut out Allderdice, 5-0, on Tuesday behind two goals from Emma Wecht, single tallies from Lucy Ream and Addie Piper and an own goal...
Leechburg volleyball building to section showdown
The Leechburg girls volleyball team has lost only one match this season. That came at the hands of WPIAL Class A power Greensburg Central Catholic by a 3-1 score on Sept. 24. The Section 4-A rivals meet again next Tuesday on senior night at Leechburg. While the Blue Devils are...
Beaver takes over top spot in Class AAA girls volleyball rankings
Two weeks remain in the 2020 WPIAL girls volleyball regular season, and numerous section races are coming down to the wire. The Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association released its weekly top-10 poll and players of the week Monday, and the leaders of three of the four classifications — Moon (9-0,...
Knoch girls tennis team seeking 1st WPIAL team title
After three straight WPIAL Class AA runner-up finishes, the Knoch girls tennis team hopes to break through and claim the program’s first team title. The Section 3 champion Knights, the No. 1 seed in the Class AA bracket, have a first-round bye and will begin play in the quarterfinals at...
Gateway grad Jazlyn Rozier making most of final volleyball season at Point Park
When numerous collegiate athletic conferences cancelled or postponed fall seasons, it got Jazlyn Rozier wondering if the River States Conference, the NAIA home for the Point Park women’s volleyball team, would follow suit. “We weren’t sure that by the time school came we would have the chance to play,” said...
Gateway runners turn focus to postseason invitational success
The Gateway boys and girls cross country teams are in the stretch run to the WPIAL championships in two weeks, and the Gators hope to take advantage of both practices and competition to sharpen their focus. “The kids have the potential to do well,” an optimistic Gateway coach Tom LaBuff...
Experienced Apollo-Ridge football team leans on offensive line
Apollo-Ridge senior quarterback Jake Fello threw for 142 yards and a touchdown in Friday’s 42-7 Eastern Conference victory over Shady Side Academy at Owens Field. Senior Keighton Reese caught the touchdown pass from Fello and finished with four catches for 76 yards, and fellow senior Klay Fitzroy added a pair...
Plum runners look to finish season strong at postseason invitationals
Livia Paoletti understands she doesn’t have many high school cross country races left. So the Plum senior is taking nothing for granted over the final weeks of her final season. “I am so happy we are able to run, especially with all the uncertainty with covid the past couple of...
Junior Dean Cecere, Riverview learn from challenging early season slate
In Riverview’s Eastern Conference football game against Imani Christian on Oct. 2 at Graham Field in Wilkinsburg, Dean Cecere broke free on runs several times and turned in career-best marks on the stat sheet. The Raiders junior running back delivered 208 yards and his first three touchdowns of the season...
No rust for Apollo-Ridge as it cruises past Shady Side AcademyVideo
A week away from game action didn’t slow Apollo-Ridge’s momentum. The Class 2A No. 4 Vikings on Friday got on the scoreboard early and added on from there in a 42-7 victory over Shady Side Academy in an Allegheny Conference matchup at Owens Field in Apollo. “I thought our guys...
WPISL teams hope to finish regular season strong as playoffs loom
Montour and Seneca Valley swept doubleheaders Sunday to remain tied atop the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League standings with two games to play. There is a three-way tie for third with North Allegheny, North Hills and Bethel Park all at 7-3. They have four games remaining. North Hills and Bethel...
Knoch’s Bauer sisters, Peters Township’s defending champs win WPIAL doubles titles
Ally Bauer knew what it felt like to win a WPIAL doubles championship. The Knoch sophomore teamed with the graduated Libby Conlon to claim last year’s Class AA crown. On Thursday, Bauer made it two in a row, and this time, it was a sister act as she and older...
A-K Valley football players to watch in Week 5
Dean Cecere Riverview, jr., RB/LB Cecere broke out last Friday in the Raiders’ loss to Imani Christian. He led the Riverview offense with 208 rushing yards and his first three touchdowns of the season on 17 carries. Cecere added three catches for 28 yards and three kick returns for 60...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for Week 5
Class 5A northeast Kiski Area (1-2, 0-2) at Fox Chapel (1-3, 1-1) 7 p.m. Friday at Fox Chapel Stadium, Fox Chapel Fox Chapel hopes to keep up momentum gained from its first win of the season, a 36-21 triumph over Shaler on Friday. Quarterback Justin Rice threw for five touchdowns, giving...
A-K Valley teams jockey for position as girls soccer playoffs draw near
The section schedules in each of the four WPIAL girls soccer classifications are to conclude Oct. 20. The WPIAL soccer committee will meet the next day to set the playoff field. A lot of games will be played over the next couple of weeks in what has become an unprecedented...
