TribLive stories, Page 483

Trinity crowned a WPIAL-best four section champs at the Class 3A Southern Sectional on Saturday at South Fayette. Dom Canali (121), Blake Reihner (139), Bode Morgan (172) and Robbie Allison (189) were the champs for the Hillers, who sent nine wrestlers through to next weekend’s WPIAL tournament. Bethel Park led...

Jonathan Bertovich had 20 points, and Mark Rachic added 18 off the bench to lift host Geneva to an 83-63 victory over Saint Vincent in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship game Saturday night. Bertovich knocked down 4 of 5 shots from behind the 3-point arc and was 8...

Seneca Valley’s Isaiah Clerkley turned in a dominant performance and Lola Malarky extended North Allegheny’s stranglehold on girls gold at the WPIAL Class 3A diving championships Saturday. Clerkley defended his boys championship with a score of 583.35, the best score in the boys competition since 2019. Fox Chapel’s Jackson Hagler...

RJ Sledge hit five 3-pointers and scored 28 points as top-seeded Imani Christian won a rematch of last year’s WPIAL championship game, defeating No. 5 Union, 101-67, in the Class A boys basketball semifinals Saturday at Montour. Nate Brazil added 26 points for the Saints (13-10), who will meet No....

Jordan Marks has spent plenty of time at the Petersen Events Center. Before becoming the head coach at Neighborhood Academy, Marks cut his teeth as a video coordinator under former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon. So, Marks is pretty familiar with where he will be next Thursday night. Behind 18 points...

Tributes poured in Saturday for Flaco, the beloved Eurasian eagle-owl that became a feel-good New York story after escaping its Central Park Zoo enclosure and flying free around Manhattan. Flaco was found dead on a New York City sidewalk Friday night after apparently flying into a building. It was a...

Israel’s war cabinet is expected to convene Saturday night for a briefing on efforts advancing in Paris toward a deal to pause the fighting in Gaza and return hostages held there. Israeli media, citing people familiar with the situation, reported talks on Friday involving the Israeli delegation and representatives from...

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — In his state budget pitch, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro called for the Pennsylvania legislature to legalize recreational marijuana. Shapiro is not breaking new...

Giavonie Schipani’s personality takes on a different form when he steps on the mat. Off of it, the senior North Hills wrestler is a mild-mannered kid who enjoys quiet time hunting in the woods or fishing on the lake. But when he goes face-to-face with another wrestler? A different side...

When Tony Grenek took over the North Hills girls basketball program before the 2022-2023 season, he did so assuming that, in time, he’d be able to pull the program out of the continual depths it had resided for for years. What he perhaps didn’t fully expect was that the time...

It was a day of firsts at the WPIAL girls wrestling championships Feb. 17, at North Allegheny. Not only was this the inaugural season for girls wrestling across the state, the 13 winners are part of history. Canon-McMillan senior Valarie Solorio always will be known as the first girls WPIAL...

As the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country to its west passes and the latest aid package for Ukraine stalls in Congress, we must be clear-eyed about the future: There is no path for Ukraine to win this war. American support will not change this reality. Two...

Ten years into Russia’s long war against Ukraine, far too many Americans are falling prey to a destructive idea. They needlessly believe that Ukraine’s defeat is unavoidable. These Americans have lost their bearings. Defeat is never inevitable so long as a nation is willing to fight. George Washington proved this...

The National Commission on Correctional Health Care mandates that a clinical mortality review be done within 30 days of a death at a county jail, and it found in an investigation of the Allegheny County Jail that “Allegheny County doesn’t do clinical mortality reviews.” Completing mortality reviews is essential to...

I respond to the latest offering in the series of impassioned “abortion is good for the environment” rants by the same writer (“Backward steps on abortion,” Feb. 19, TribLive). Says he: “We have too many people in this world, and there’s no better place to start than those who aren’t...

Lincoln has final word on cause of Civil War Let’s finally kill that myth that several letter-writers are attempting to perpetuate regarding the cause of the Civil War. And we can let Abraham Lincoln settle it with his own words from his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865 (emphasis mine):...

All these small river towns outside of Pittsburgh, or some may call it the suburbs, should merge into bigger school districts, such as Oakmont and Springdale/Cheswick, Lower Burrell and New Ken/Arnold, Kiski and Lower Burrell, just to name a few examples. It’s not like I am asking the United States...

Penn State is doing a lot of cost cutting lately. Under President Neeli Bendapudi, there has been a real campaign to slash what many might see as a bloated budget. The 2023-24 budget is $9.5 billion. Educating on the scale Penn State does is expensive. In addition to the sprawling...

Lenten programs planned across the A-K Valley Apollo • The Apollo Ministerium will sponsor a Lenten lunch series at noon Wednesdays at various churches through March 20. The Feb. 28 service will be at Quality Life Services, 151 Goodview Drive, Washington Township. The Rev. Niki Atkinson of Apollo and Boiling...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Free Black History Month presentation planned in New Kensington The New...

High schools Basketball WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals Friday’s results Mt. Lebanon 51, Pine-Richland 40 Baldwin 55, North Allegheny 49 Central Catholic 53, Canon-McMillan 27 Upper St. Clair 78, Butler 71 Semifinals Tuesday’s schedule Mt. Lebanon (20-4) vs. Baldwin (17-6); Central Catholic (15-8) vs. Upper St. Clair (18-5) Class...

Mt. Lebanon rode a strong defensive effort to a 51-40 win over Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball quarterfinals Friday night. Both teams started slow as the Blue Devils only led 18-13 at the half. “We were a bit rusty,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joe David said. “We didn’t...

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Madame Secretary? Forget the jockeying to be Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said at a stop in Greenville ahead of Saturday’s GOP primary there that she has her eye on a key Cabinet position if the former president wins in November....

Josh Pratt scored 24 points and Cameron Lindsey added 17 as top-seeded Aliquippa flexed its muscles in a 76-50 victory over No. 8 Serra Catholic in the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinals Friday night. Quentin Goode added 10 for the Quips (19-5), who will meet No. 4 Fort Cherry...

Elizabeth Forward got downright defensive Friday night, switching from man defense to a zone to stifle No. 6 Knoch and cruise into Tuesday’s WPIAL semifinals. The Warriors forced 25 turnovers, many leading to easy layups in transition, to pick up a 43-31 win over the visiting Knights (14-10). Elizabeth Forward...