High School category, Page 1049
Turowski brothers win back-to-back Isaly’s Junior tournaments
Alex and Nick Turowski are coming off a productive week on the golf tournament circuit. The Harrison City natives, who are brothers, won consecutive Tri-State PGA Isaly’s Junior Tournaments — at Glengarry Golf Links on Wednesday and South Hills Country Club on Thursday. Alex won the 16-18 age division and...
Valley News Dispatch girls athlete of the year: Shemanski leaves lasting legacy at Freeport
From the time she stepped on the soccer field at Freeport in fall of 2016 to when she put on her Yellowjackets girls basketball uniform for the final time this season, Sidney Shemanski was a difference maker. As a freshman, she became a starter in basketball and soccer, helping lead...
Westmoreland County boys athlete of the year: GCC’s Nate Ward showed will to win in 4 sports
Nate Ward scored goals in soccer, kicked extra points and caught passes in football, hit 3-pointers on the basketball court and carried the baton around the track oval. With each sport, he made his mark. It was like the Greensburg Central Catholic multi-sport athlete had an extra gear and could...
Westmoreland County girls athlete of the year: Mt. Pleasant’s Gardner adds to medal collection in unusual wayVideo
It wasn’t the way Heather Gardner wanted to receive a PIAA gold medal, but because the coronavirus denied her a chance to earn it in the pool, she will take it. In March, the PIAA canceled its championship meet after most Class AAA events had taken place but before Gardner’s...
Report: West A’s Austin Hendrick signs $4 million contract with Cincinnati Reds
Former West Allegheny star Austin Hendrick signed with the Cincinnati Reds on Friday. Hendrick, picked in the first round of the MLB Draft this month, signed for $4 million, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis. The slot value for the 12th overall pick was $4,366,400. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound outfielder is the...
Leechburg’s Andre Carter takes over athletic director post at challenging time
When Andre Carter came to Leechburg in August 2018 to coach the girls basketball team, he noted player development as one of his strengths. Now, as he gets ready to take over as the athletic director after Mark Jones announced he is retiring after 15 years in the position, the...
Rebel Yell Podcast: Best of the Century salute to Spencer Lee and Maura Huwalt
The WPIAL Battle of the Century was born during a pandemic as a combination to fill the void of the missed March Madness and a way to salute many of the great area scholastic athletes from the now-completed first two decades of the 21st century. Thirty-two athletes were selected to...
Western Pa. Baseball League gives Summer Rams seniors last chance to take field together
Highlands baseball coach Jeff Campbell was heartbroken knowing his players were not going to have their high school season when schools were shut down in late March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The disappointment continued when the American Legion season was scrapped. But when the Western Pennsylvania Baseball League...
New coach A.J. Corso’s love of basketball was sparked at Serra Catholic
Growing up in Ohio, A.J. Corso admits he didn’t exactly have a love for basketball. Corso thrived on the football field, playing at Struthers High School before continuing his career at Thiel College. It wasn’t until he received an opportunity to serve as a basketball assistant coach at Serra Catholic...
Canon-McMillan girls soccer coach David Derrico resigns after 2 decades
Canon-McMillan girls soccer coach David Derrico, who won a state title with the Big Macs, resigned this week after two decades with the team. Athletic director Frank Vulcano announced Derrico’s departure Friday. The school board officially accepted his resignation Thursday night. “Dave was a state champion coach that will be...
Sto-Rox hires football coach LaRoi Johnson as AD, opens coaching jobs
The Sto-Rox school board hired football coach LaRoi Johnson as athletic director Thursday night and voted to hand him a clean slate of coaches. The board voted to open the coaching positions for all sports except football, board member Ken Hohman said. However, opening the positions to applicants doesn’t mean...
Wanting to keep family close, Justin Walther accepts Winchester Thurston basketball job
While searching for a boys basketball job, coach Justin Walther wanted a high school that would treat him like family, but just as importantly, a place he could share with his family. That became imperative after his mother’s death in early June. “My parents have been a great part of...
Mix-and-match Independent Players are ready for busy summer
The Independent Players summer baseball team looks like it is going to have a busy summer. “We’re playing about a 25-30 game schedule, so we’re playing almost every day,” said Players coach Jim Basilone, who has run the baseball team since 2000. With a mixture of players from around the...
Aliquippa seeks applicants to replace boys basketball coach Dwight Hines
The Aliquippa school board is accepting applications for a new boys basketball coach, a decision that stunned coach Dwight Hines, whose tenure appears to be over. Hines said he can’t understand the move. “That’s one thing you’ve got to ask the board members,” he said. “They didn’t call me in....
Serra Catholic hires A.J. Corso as boys basketball coach
Serra Catholic hired A.J. Corso to take over the boys basketball team, the school announced Thursday. Corso replaces coach Justin Walther, who resigned in May after four seasons. Corso worked two seasons as a ninth grade coach under Walther and also coached middle school basketball at Upper St. Clair. Walther...
Tanner Nulph, Summer Rams prevail in WPBL opener
Tanner Nulph first helped the Summer Rams at the plate in Wednesday evening’s Western Pennsylvania Baseball League game at Valley High School. The rising Highlands junior then brought it home from the mound in his team’s 4-3 victory over the Independent Players. Nulph drove in three runs with a single...
North Allegheny becomes first WPIAL district to sponsor girls wrestling
The North Allegheny school board voted Wednesday to add girls wrestling to its athletic programs, becoming the first school district in the WPIAL to sponsor the sport. NA will join three other schools in the state to sponsor a team. The others are Easton, J.P. McCaskey and Executive Education Academy....
Radio station. Food truck. Dance studio? Jamal Woodson’s energy earns him Baldwin basketball job
Jamal Woodson isn’t wrong when he says he’s got an energetic personality. How else could he create an AAU basketball program, work as general manager of a radio station, operate a food truck, manage an up-and-coming singing star and run the Abby Lee Dance Company studio? Now, add head coach...
Coronavirus foam insert robs Derry golfer of ace at Isaly’s junior tournament
Hunter Jurica got robbed on Wednesday by one of the new golf regulations put in place because of the coronavirus. The foam insert placed in cups at golf courses denied Jurica his first hole-in-one. Jurica was playing in the Tri-State PGA Isaly’s Junior Golf Tour event at Glengarry Golf Links...
South Park’s Maura Huwalt wins Trib HSSN Best of the Century tournament
The HSSN June Madness results have been tabulated in the championship of the girls bracket to determine the WPIAL athlete of the century. She was a WPIAL and PIAA champion eight times in her golden high school career. Now she has one more accolade to add to her collection. In...
Plum comes out swinging, rolls past Jeannette in Western Pa. Baseball League opener
Plum and Jeannette didn’t let the threat of rain spoil their Western Pennsylvania Summer Baseball League opener Tuesday evening at Buster Clarkson Field in Jeannette. The showers that fell on the region in the late afternoon dissipated as the game began, and Plum’s experienced squad showed its strength with an...
Belle Vernon hires one of program’s best players, Kaitlyn Slagus, as girls basketball coach
Kaitlyn Slagus is one of the best basketball players to ever take the court at Belle Vernon Area High School. Now, she’ll be taking the court again in a different role — head coach. The former professional and Bucknell standout was hired Monday by the school board to fill the...
2 Pa. football teams, 1 from WPIAL make MaxPreps preseason Top 100 rankings
Defending WPIAL champion Central Catholic was one of two Pennsylvania football teams ranked in the MaxPreps preseason Top 100. The Vikings were ranked 92nd nationally. The other Pennsylvania team to make the rankings was defending PIAA Class 6A champion St. Joseph’s Prep, which defeated Central Catholic in last year’s state...
Spencer Lee wins Trib HSSN WPIAL Best of the Century tournament
The HSSN June Madness results are in from Monday, June 22 in the championship round of the boys bracket to determine the WPIAL athlete of the century. He had his hand raised and received gold four times in the WPIAL championships and three times in the PIAA state finals in...
Pine-Richland hires assistant Bob Petcash as boys basketball coach
Pine-Richland stayed in-house Monday night and hired assistant Bob Petcash as its new boys basketball coach. A longtime assistant for the Rams, Petcash replaces Jeff Ackermann, who resigned in May to become Baldwin’s coach. Petcash spent six seasons as a top assistant on Ackermann’s varsity staff after more than a...
