2025 WPIAL 4A football championship breakdown: McKeesport vs. Aliquippa
WPIAL Class 4A football championship No. 1 McKeesport vs. No. 7 Aliquippa 12:05 p.m. Saturday, Pine-Richland Audio stream: TribLive HSSN Video stream: NFHS Network Radio: KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM) Winner plays: District 10 champion Oil City (9-1) or District 9 champion Punxsutawney (10-1) in a PIAA quarterfinal Nov. 21...
Fort Cherry QB Matt Sieg nears another WPIAL record — 5 Things to Watch in Week 7
Airliners often fly at 35,000 feet, but that’s also just about the height senior Matt Sieg has lifted the Fort Cherry football program in his four years. Combined rushing and passing, Sieg has gained 11,528 yards of offense for the Rangers, leaving the quarterback on the doorstep of breaking another...
2nd-half rallies spark Friday night comebacks — 5 Things We Learned in Week 6
There was no fiery halftime speech in Trinity’s locker room when the Hillers found themselves down by 15 points on Friday night. Coach Dan Knause said he didn’t see a need for one. “Honestly, the longer you coach, you learn the less you say the better it is sometimes,” Knause...
5 things we learned in high school football Week 1: Sophomore passers show big-time growth
James “Booboo” Armstrong isn’t one of Hopewell’s team captains this season, but that’s only because the sophomore quarterback declined the honor. He had the votes. “I called him into my office and said, ‘Look, Booboo, you were voted a captain,’ and he got this big smile on his face,” Hopewell...
Summit Academy building team chemistry amid annual roster turnover
Anthony Becoate is no stranger to roster turnover entering his fourth season at Summit Academy. This constant reshuffling has become routine for the private, residential school for at-risk young men in Butler that must reconstruct its roster before every season. “The biggest challenge every year is the roster turnover and...
2025 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Peters Township’s Lucas Shanafelt
So, what makes the Peters Township football team one of the favorites to win the WPIAL Class 5A title? Having three NCAA Division I prospects is a good place to start. Senior tight end/outside linebacker Lucas Shanafelt is the third Indians senior to be selected to the 2025 Trib 25...
2025 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Central Valley’s Brendan Alexander
Entering his junior season, Central Valley lineman Brendan Alexander was focused on becoming a better team leader. Although that might seem like a minor detail, it is all the more meaningful on the offensive and defensive lines. A 6-foot-4, 290-pound lineman, Alexander is looked to by his teammates to lead....
PIAA board supports adding shot clock to high school basketball for 2028-29 season
The PIAA has endorsed adding a shot clock to Pennsylvania high school basketball, a move supported by a majority of WPIAL schools. The PIAA board took a big step Wednesday and voted 22-9 to adopt the 35-second clock for the 2028-29 season. However, the motion was approved only on a...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Jon Dobrinski takes over as Greensburg CC boys soccer coach
Newly hired coach Jon Dobrinski is primed to lead the Greensburg Central Catholic boys soccer team this fall. An assistant last season, he replaces Ryan Kanner, who resigned in the spring after two seasons. Kanner went 14-19-1 and led the Centurions to the playoffs both years. Dobrinski has coached for...
Westmoreland County PIAA baseball/softball playoff preview capsules for June 5, 2025
Baseball Class A quarterfinals Greensburg Central Catholic (19-4) vs. Clarion (15-6) 2 p.m. Thursday at Slippery Rock University District-place: Greensburg Central Catholic 7-4; Clarion 9-2 Winner plays: Winner of 7-3 Eden Christian (17-5)/Homer Center (20-5) in semifinals Monday Players to watch: Tyler Samide, Greensburg Central Catholic; Derek Smail, Clarion Extra...
Sicily’s Mount Etna erupts in a fiery show of smoke and ash miles high
MILAN — Sicily’s Mount Etna put on a fiery show Monday, sending a cloud of smoke and ash several miles into the air, but officials said the activity posed no danger to the population. The level of alert due to the volcanic activity was raised at the Catania airport, but...
‘One foot in front of the other’: Canon-McMillan football coach Mike Evans on leave amid 2nd battle with cancer
Mike Evans felt a 15-inch needle stab into his liver three times to biopsy a cancerous tumor. The Canon-McMillan football coach also endured chemotherapy for weeks and recently battled a case of pneumonia. He’ll have surgery soon. But with all of that in mind, Evans is adamant that facing a...
2025 WPIAL Class 2A softball championship breakdown: Neshannock vs. Chartiers-Houston
WPIAL Class 2A softball final No. 1 Neshannock vs. No. 2 Chartiers-Houston 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Neshannock 5 (2024, ’23, ’22, ’14, ’13), Chartiers-Houston 9 (’24, ’12, ’11, ’07, ’06, ’05, 1999, ’88, ’87) Neshannock (21-0)...
2025 WPIAL Class A softball championship breakdown: Union vs. Carmichaels
WPIAL Class A softball final No. 1 Union vs. No. 2 Carmichaels 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.) On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Union 2 (2023, ’22), Carmichaels 2 (1998, ’97) Union (18-2) Coach: Doug Fisher Projected starting lineup 21, Olivia Williams, SS,...
Riverside’s Zach Hare no-hits Burrell as short-handed Panthers advance to Class 3A semis
It takes more than rain to mess up Riverside’s Hare. Riverside senior Zach Hare ignored the dismal weather and threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts Tuesday night as the top-seeded Panthers defeated No. 8 Burrell, 11-0, in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at North Allegheny. The rain-soaked game ended under...
Israeli strikes kill 14 in Gaza and destroy heavy equipment needed to clear rubble
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip killed at least 14 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and destroyed bulldozers and other heavy equipment that had been supplied by mediators to clear rubble. A separate strike in Lebanon on Tuesday killed a member of a local Islamist...
2025 PIAA Class 6A girls basketball championship breakdown: Upper St. Clair vs. Perkiomen Valley
PIAA Class 6A girls basketball final Upper St. Clair vs. Perkiomen Valley 6 p.m. Friday, Giant Center, Hershey On the air: NFHS Network PIAA titles: Upper St. Clair 1 (1999), Perkiomen Valley 0 Upper St. Clair (23-6) Coach: Pete Serio Projected starting lineup No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos. 3, Rylee...
Westmoreland County basketball notebook: GCC’s Erica Gribble proves to be comfortable on big stage
Greensburg Central Catholic junior point guard Erica Gribble has the uncanny ability to treat any place she plays basketball as “just another court.” Just like she can make any date on the schedule “just another game.” Whether it’s the compressed confines of her team’s home floor, an obscure road game...
2025 WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball championship breakdown: Union vs. Jeannette
WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball championship No. 8 Union vs. No. 3 Jeannette 5 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center On the air: Video livestream: NFHS Network WPIAL titles: Union 1 (2003); Jeannette 1 (2008) Union (19-6) Coach: Mark Stanley Projected starting lineup No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos. 1, Maddox Thompson,...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Tyler Caterino to lead Belle Vernon boys soccer
Belle Vernon’s new boys soccer coach is a former Mon Valley standout. Tyler Caterino was hired last week to lead the Leopards. The former Monessen and Westminster standout is just 25. He coached one season in the WPIAL, last year with the California boys, a playoff team. Caterino is a...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Age no worry for new Southmoreland football coach Dustin Shoaf
Youth is a state of mind. So says new Southmoreland football coach Dustin Shoaf, who might know a thing or two about the subject. Shoaf is one of the youngest head coaches in the state at age 23. The Yough graduate, who was hired earlier this month, does not want...
High school roundup for Jan. 31, 2025: Belle Vernon’s Zion Moore scores 2,000th point
Zion Moore scored 37 points to become the 39th boys basketball player in WPIAL history to hit the 2,000-point mark, leading Belle Vernon to a 76-49 win over East Allegheny in Section 3-4A on Friday night. Trevor Kovatch added 11 for the Leopards (17-4, 10-1). Jayden Patterson scored 25 for...
Belle Vernon boys basketball finds stride in middle of tumultuous season
A five-game suspension of three starting players could have sent a talented Belle Vernon boys basketball team into an irreversible tailspin. But the Christmas-time disruption may have had the opposite effect on the Leopards, who have not lost since. This could be a WPIAL championship contender that came to realize...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: 5 teams already punched playoff tickets
Five teams from Westmoreland County have secured spots in the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs with just more than a week to play in the regular season. The qualifiers include defending WPIAL 6A champion Norwin (10-6), Section 1-5A leader Franklin Regional (12-5) and undefeated Penn-Trafford (18-0), which should be in line...
Former WPIAL standout Meleek Thomas chosen for McDonald’s All American Game
Former WPIAL basketball player Meleek Thomas, who transferred out of state for his senior year, was chosen Monday for the McDonald’s All American Game. A 6-foot-4 guard committed to Arkansas, Thomas was one of 24 boys chosen for the national all-star game played April 1 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn,...
