High School category, Page 1074
With Heilman on hill, Freeport has shot at another special season
Last season, Freeport baseball coach Ed Carr watched a team that consisted mainly of juniors grow up on the fly and exceed expectations. Led by Mercyhurst recruit Jarrett Heilman’s outstanding year on the mound, the Yellowjackets won a section title, made the WPIAL semifinals and qualified for the PIAA playoffs...
George Guido: Freeport coach shows grace in PIAA loss to North Catholic
When you feel you see history unfolding before your eyes, your mind can go in many different directions. That was the case Saturday afternoon at Kiski Area High School when Freeport led Class 4A powerhouse North Catholic for more than a half. How would an upset fare from a historical...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Latrobe’s Vinny Kilkeary and Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto
Vinny Kilkeary School: Latrobe Sport: Wrestling Class: Freshman Claim to fame: Kilkeary (30-7) pinned No. 1 seed Cathedral Prep’s Jake Vandee in overtime at 6 minutes, 31 seconds to capture the 106-pound title at the PIAA Class AAA championships March 7 in Hershey. Kilkeary finished as the WPIAL runner-up to...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Freeport’s Julia Cummings and Kiski Area’s Jack Blumer
Julia Cummings Class: Freshman School: Freeport Sport: Bowling Report card: Cummings was runner-up to Woodland Hills’ Johnna Hill at the Western Regional on Friday, losing in a roll off 58-28 after tying 201-201 after 10 frames. Cummings was one of six girls from the Alle-Kiski Valley to advance to the...
Thomas Jefferson’s DeAngelo, OLSH’s DiMichele named Trib HSSN scholar-athletes of the month for February
The TribLive High School Sports Network is recognizing some of the best and brightest student-athletes in Western Pennsylvania. School administrators, athletic directors, coaches and teachers have the opportunity to nominate one female and one male scholar-athlete to receive the TribLIVE High School Sports Network Scholar Athlete of the Month Award....
‘Most spectators’ barred from Ohio high school events over coronavirus concerns; Conn. cancels tournamentsVideo
Facing concerns about coronavirus, state high school associations across the country are deciding whether to alter their postseason plans. The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced Tuesday that “most spectators” would be prohibited from attending state basketball, wrestling and hockey events, while the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference decided to cancel...
PIAA moves Butler-Upper St. Clair boys basketball game to Robert Morris
The PIAA has relocated the boys basketball playoff game between Butler and Upper St. Clair to Robert Morris’s UPMC Events Center. Tipoff is 8 p.m. Wednesday. The second-round game was initially scheduled for North Allegheny. It’s the second time in two weeks that Butler and Upper St. Clair will meet...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for March 9, 2020
Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A Second round Wednesday’s schedule Methacton (25-2) vs. Abraham Lincoln (14-10) at Norristown, 7 p.m.; Roman Catholic (17-10) vs. Pennridge (19-8) at Bensalem, 7 p.m.; Freedom-District 11 (19-8) vs. Reading (19-8) at Martz Hall, 7:30 p.m.; Chester (22-4) vs. Simon Gratz (24-5) at Cardinal O’Hara,...
Major turnover in TribHSSN’s Class 5A boys basketball state rankings
Every ranked team in classes 6A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A from last week’s Trib HSSN boys basketball state rankings were winners in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs. That was not the case in Class 5A. Not only did all six WPIAL Class 5A boys teams get wiped...
Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week: Week ending March 7
The first round of the PIAA basketball playoffs is always the great unknown for district teams. Teams that reach the WPIAL finals may be hungry for more success or caught celebrating or pouting after the title game result. Teams that don’t reach the district finals may be reinvigorated and ready...
Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week: Week ending March 7
When it comes to the makeup of WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball champion Butler, senior Ethan Morton is Batman and sophomore Devin Carney is Robin, the boy wonder. However, in the Golden Tornado’s first round PIAA playoff game Saturday against Central Dauphin, Carney had to transform into Superman. With Morton...
Plenty of PIAA playoff factoids as the 2nd round begins Tuesday
Like an amateur surfer on a giant wave, six WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball teams got wiped out in the first round of the state playoffs Friday. Laurel Highlands, Mars, Thomas Jefferson, Chartiers Valley, Penn Hills and South Fayette all were eliminated. This leaves City League champion Obama Academy as...
Boulanger completes hat trick in OT to lift Ringgold into PIHL Class B title game
For the second consecutive year, the Ringgold hockey team will play for a championship. The Rams, who captured the Division 2 title last season, earned a spot in the PIHL Class B championship game with a 6-5 overtime victory over Elizabeth Forward in a semifinal matchup Monday night at the...
Belle Vernon to face hefty challenge in second-round state playoff matchup
Even though the Belle Vernon boys basketball team is in the second round of the PIAA tournament, coach Joe Salvino said a lot of things need to change if his team wants to see the quarterfinals. The Leopards (20-7) will face District 3 champion Lancaster Catholic at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday...
PIAA says skip handshakes, but championships still on schedule despite coronavirus concerns
Elbow bumps could replace handshakes. Otherwise, the PIAA plans to conduct its state basketball playoffs and swimming championships as scheduled after consulting with the Pa. Department of Health regarding coronavirus concerns. Health officials aren’t calling for public events or community gatherings to be cancelled, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said...
New coach Bates hopes to steer young Greensburg Salem softball team in right direction
Former Hempfield softball standout Alyssa Bates steps in this season as coach at Greensburg Salem after a two-year stint as an assistant with the Golden Lions. Bates, a freshman on Hempfield’s 2009 WPIAL Class AAAA championship team, said she is relying on what she learned from various mentors to develop...
Opportunity knocks for Greensburg Salem’s new-look baseball roster
Greensburg Salem faces a major overhaul of its baseball roster after a season that sent the Golden Lions into the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs as a No. 1 seed. It doesn’t mean coach Bill Wisniewski hasn’t been looking forward to the challenge. “It’ll be fun to see them progress,” he...
Fox Chapel baseball optimistic despite heavy turnover from last season
Fox Chapel will have to replace 11 seniors, six of their starting nine and most of the pitching staff from a team that went 10-8 and made the WPIAL playoffs, but Foxes coach Jim Hastings has some pieces returning and others coming through the pipeline to help offset the losses....
Highlands ready to run in PIAA second-round matchup with Grove City
Throughout its playoff run, opponents have tried to throw Highlands off its game. Whether that means slowing the game down to a laborious, drawn-out pace, or face guarding top shooters Korry Myers and Luke Cochran, the Golden Rams have seen it all since the end of February. But no matter...
Westmoreland PIAA basketball capsule for March 10, 2020
PIAA basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A Second round Belle Vernon (20-7) vs. Lancaster Catholic (24-3) 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Altoona High School Winner plays: Winner of Imhotep Charter (20-8) and Montoursville (21-5) on Friday in quarterfinals (time, site TBD) Coaches: Joe Salvino, Belle Vernon; Joe Klazas, Lancaster Catholic Players to...
Mt. Pleasant’s Gardner, Belle Vernon’s Shahan lead area swimmers into PIAA meet
After repeating as WPIAL Class AA champion in two events, Belle Vernon junior swimmer Ian Shahan will be out to defend his PIAA titles this week at Bucknell. Shahan is seeded first in the boys 100-yard butterfly at 49.02 seconds and 100 freestyle (44.68). He improved his WPIAL records in...
Fox Chapel freshman in position to claim state swimming gold
Sophie Shao was the No. 1 seed in the 100-yard butterfly at the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and the Fox Chapel freshman turned away all challengers for her first taste of championship gold. She again is a top seed in the 100 fly, this time...
Bigger roster gives new Fox Chapel softball coach Olbrich cause for optimism
During offseason training, first-year Fox Chapel softball coach Chris Olbrich kept seeing more and more girls show up to work out. It was a pleasant surprise for Olbrich, who was an assistant coach with the Foxes the past four seasons. The 2019 team had only 11 girls to start the...
4 WPIAL wrestlers to represent Pennsylvania all-star team at Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic
Kurtis Phipps’ high school wrestling career isn’t over just yet. The Norwin senior was selected to compete for the Pennsylvania all-star team at the annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic Saturday at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House. A team of WPIAL all-stars will wrestle Maryland’s all-stars at 4 p.m. followed by the USA...
High school schedules for March 9, 2020
High schools Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A Second round Wednesday’s schedule Methacton (25-2) vs. Abraham Lincoln (14-10) at Norristown, 7 p.m.; Roman Catholic (17-10) vs. Pennridge (19-8) at Bensalem, 7 p.m.; Freedom-District 11 (19-8) vs. Reading (19-8) at Martz Hall, 7:30 p.m.; Chester (22-4) vs. Simon Gratz (24-5) at...
