Ray Fisher stories, Page 35

Bethel Park athletics is a top-level organization. I have been covering high school sports for more than 40 years, mainly in South Hills communities, but one of the schools outside my coverage area was Bethel Park. Not anymore. The Bethel Park monthly is in its rookie season, and I’ve been...

Bethel Park’s Mason Kernan kept his sensational sophomore season intact at the Allegheny County championships held Jan. 14-15 at Fox Chapel. Kernan, competing at 120 pounds, captured a county title with a 6-5 win against Pine-Richland’s Dominic Ferraro in the championship bout. With the victory, Kernan extended his record this...

Bethel Park’s tall and talented boys basketball team made noise on the court early and often in the first half of the 2021-22 season. The Black Hawks won 10 of their first 11 games, including a 48-44 section victory Jan. 11 at home against Upper St. Clair. “Our greatest strength...

The Burrell swim teams still are recovering from last year’s pandemic. “We are just happy to have a full season,” coach Samantha Callen said. “Last year was quite challenging. Our swimmers have been working extra hard to achieve the goals that were not met last year. This season is going...

Desirae Nance and Rinnie Jardini have something in common. Both lead by example. The two talented hoopsters led the Sewickley Academy girls basketball team to a successful 2-1 start in Section 1-2A this season. Sewickley coach Mark Gaither is highly appreciative of having Nance and Jardini in leadership roles on...

Quaker Valley dominated the 16-team field at this year’s Ed Driscoll MAC wrestling tournament. The Quakers took first place with 223 team points, well ahead of their closest challengers, West Allegheny (176), Laurel (169.5), Montour (162) and Central Valley (98). It was QV’s first team championship in the MAC event....

The Apollo-Ridge bowlers enjoyed the holiday break thanks to their five wins in six decisions in December. The boys team, coached by George Galo, stood in first place in WPIBL Northeast Section 5 with a 3-0 record. The girls, coached Michelle Cominos, were in second place at 2-1. “Both teams...

Quaker Valley finished with a 6-11 record in the PIHL Varsity A Southwest Division last season. That didn’t sit well with the Quakers. The postseason absence provided QV with the impetus for a comeback this year. Through nine games, QV was undefeated and comfortably atop the Varsity A Northwest Division....

Dreams, whether big or small, do come true. Just ask Leetsdale’s Isabella DeGori. “Playing college softball has been a dream of mine,” DeGori said. “Due to the pandemic, college recruiting for the class of 2022 was cut short. I’ve ran into a lot of dead ends with the recruiting and...

The date will be etched into Kiski Area bowling annals. On Dec. 15, the Kiski Area girls team defeated host Butler at Family-Bowl-A-Way, 7-0, to log the program’s first-ever win against a full-squad opponent. The Cavaliers were led by the fivesome of Veronica Flanagan, Alyssa Leya, Savannah Renwick, Haley Zeller...

The trip has been in the planning stages since the summer months. Now, it is a reality. Burrell freshman Miley Kariotis and middle schooler McKenna Miller earned positions on Futsal USA National teams currently competing in an international soccer tournament in Madrid, Spain. Miley Kariotis, 14, is an all-section midfielder...

Freeport bowling is synonymous with winning, as both the girls and boys teams captured section titles last year. The girls posted a 10-0 record in 2020-21, placed fourth at the WPIBL championships, won the regional team championship and finished fourth at the state tournament. The Yellowjackets are 3-0 this season...

Slippery Rock’s Chad Kuhn fit the mold. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound high-energy defensive end was one of eight national finalists for the 2021 Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award, presented annually by the Manheim Touchdown Club. Kuhn’s strength, speed, mobility and ruggedness on the gridiron, along with a...

Quaker Valley’s wrestling goals for 2021-22 are three-fold. The Quakers aim to win another section title, qualify for the PIAA team tournament and have multiple individual state qualifiers. With 11 returning starters and four Division I prospects, coach Mike Heinl believes all three are attainable. “We want to stay healthy,...

The 2020-21 season proved to be a banner year for the Quaker Valley swimming and diving program. The QV girls team won its second consecutive section title and finished 7-0 overall, breaking several team records in the process. And coach John Nemeth is looking for matching results in 2021-22. “We...

Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller capped her successful cross country season with a bold exclamation point. The talented sophomore athlete placed eighth at the Nike New York/Northeast Regional Championships held Nov. 27 at Bowdoin Park, Wappingers Falls. “This was my first year running at Nike for high school,” Miller said. “I...

Sewickley Academy’s road gear is firmly in place. The SA boys basketball team is not slated to play its first home game until Jan. 7 in a section test with Springdale. It’s the exact opposite of last year when SA did not compete in an away game until mid-January. Of...

Last season, the Quaker Valley girls basketball team, seeded No. 2, qualified for the WPIAL finals for the first time before losing to No. 1 Beaver, 44-29. Will the Quakers be able to take that next step forward in 2021-22? Well, first things first. Quaker Valley is aiming for a...

Lizzy Groetsch and Paige Morningstar led North Allegheny’s girls basketball team to a season for the ages in 2020-21. It easily could be labeled the best girls basketball season in school history. The Tigers captured their first PIAA championship, won a fourth WPIAL title in five years, stormed through Section...

Hempfield’s competitive cheerleading team appears to be a heavy favorite to repeat as WPIAL Class 3A Large Division champion in 2021-22. The Spartans have participated in four events this season with spectacular results — four first-place finishes — and are looking forward to the WPIAL championships set for Jan. 8...

Brayden Thimons has been a stalwart in his short time in the Westminster football program, culminating in a sensational 2021 fall season. A rock-solid 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior lineman, Thimons was named Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. “I am shocked and honored to...

Sewickley Academy girls basketball advanced to the WPIAL semifinal round the past two seasons. Although the Panthers may be hard-pressed to replace five senior starters from a year ago, they do have a talented group of athletes looking to make some noise this season. This year’s team is built around...

The Quaker Valley boys basketball team has two important characteristics: The Quakers are talented and experienced. That should lead to some difficult times for opponents this winter. Adou Thiero, Markus Frank, Jack Gardinier and Wil Dunda are returning senior starters. All are 6-feet tall or taller. “We return four seniors...

Thomas Jefferson captured the Section 3-3A championship with an unblemished 12-0 record this season. Nine members of the TJ squad were lauded as section all-stars. Junior OH Delaney Concannon, junior libero Cate Galioto, senior setter Caitlyn Chalovich and sophomore outside hitter Mia Fox were voted to the first team. The...

The turnaround began last year and continued into the 2021 season. After sitting out the WPIAL playoffs from 2015-18, Bethel Park’s girls soccer team qualified last year with a 6-4-2 section record, then continued its upswing this year. The Black Hawks went 5-1-1 in the home stretch of their schedule...