High School category, Page 1088
Bethel Park girls pull away from Fox Chapel in Class 6A quarterfinals
Bethel Park and Fox Chapel were locked in a low-scoring struggle through three quarters of Friday’s WPIAL 6A first-round game at North Hills. But the No. 1 Black Hawks made the plays and got the points they needed in the fourth quarter to pull out a hard-fought 33-29 victory over...
Alle-Kiski Valley basketball playoff capsules: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020
Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals No. 2 Fox Chapel (21-1) vs. No. 7 Central Catholic (12-10) 1 p.m. Saturday at Plum Winner plays: Winner of No. 3 Mt. Lebanon (16-6)/No. 6 Bethel Park (14-8) on Wednesday in the semifinals Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; Brian Urso, Central Catholic Points scored/allowed: Fox...
Knoch ready for battle with three-time defending champ New Castle
The Knoch boys basketball team is starting to get restless. Since last Tuesday, when the WPIAL announced pairings for this season’s playoffs, the Knights haven’t had the opportunity to play a meaningful game. Sure, they have been able to scrimmage a few teams and get practice, but that’s not the...
Alexander, Pine-Richland shine at WPIAL gymnastics championships
The Pine-Richland gymnastics team capitalized on strong group-wide performances in the both the vault and beam events to finish in fourth place overall at the WPIAL gymnastics championships Feb. 15 at Moon. The Rams took third in the team standings for both the vault and beam, collecting a score of...
Aquinas Academy fencers improving ahead of postseason push
With just a couple of matches left in the regular season, the Aquinas Academy fencing teams still are jostling for at-large qualifying bids for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Fencing Association league postseason championship tournament. Both the boys and girls teams have a 2-4 record. Because of the significant logjam in the...
Plum girls learn from playoff loss to Penn Hills
With 2 minutes, 4 seconds left in the third quarter of its WPIAL Class 5A first-round game against Penn Hills at Fox Chapel, the Plum girls basketball team held a four-point lead and hoped to expand it toward the program’s first playoff victory since 2002. However, the Indians went on...
Dangerous top line leads Norwin hockey to best season in years
The Norwin hockey team made a statement this season. They weren’t the same old Knights. Norwin is preparing for as return to the PIHL Class A playoffs after starting the season 14-4. That is the most wins for the program in a decade. “It’s been great,” coach Adam Tokarski said....
Franklin Regional relay teams to battle for gold at WPIAL championships meet
Relays will be a strength for the Franklin Regional boys swimming and diving team at the WPIAL Class AAA championship meet Thursday and Friday at Pitt. The 200-yard freestyle team of junior Max Wang, seniors Payne Rizzer and Andrew Harris and sophomore Owen Holm is seeded third in 1 minute,...
Franklin Regional’s young players learn grind of PIHL season
Going through the grind of a PIHL season can be a challenge. The six-plus months of practices and games is taxing, especially for younger players. Franklin Regional is not immune to the grind. However, the Panthers persevered and remained in the hunt for a Penguins Cup Class AA playoff berth...
Fox Chapel, Shady Side Academy swimmers headed to WPIALs
The WPIAL swimming and diving championships will be Thursday and Friday at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and Shady Side Academy and Fox Chapel will be well represented. SSA girls qualifiers are freshman Chloe Wells (200-yard medley and 200 free relays); sophomores Alexandra Jaffe (100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 200 medley and 400...
The Herald Spotlight Athlete: Grady Munroe, Shady Side Academy
Senior Grady Munroe recently closed out his athletic career at Shady Side Academy. A 6-foot-3 wing man on the basketball team, he averaged close to 18 points a game. He was also a starter on the golf team. He will be attending Loyola Marymount in the fall and study screenwriting....
TJ gymnast Moore writes perfect ending with 10 on vault at WPIAL meet
Thomas Jefferson senior gymnast Natalie Moore capped her career with rare perfection — a 10.0 score on the vault from one of the judges at the WPIAL championships. Moore placed second in the all-around in the advanced division with 37.133 points at the WPIAL finals Feb. 15 at Moon. She...
Dominant Baldwin hockey team gearing up for playoffs
One of the magic numbers for the Baldwin hockey team this season is “15.” Baldwin won 15 consecutive games before suffering a disappointing 4-3 loss Feb. 10 to West Allegheny at Ice Castle Arena. The Highlanders opened their PIHL schedule Oct. 3 with a 9-1 victory against Montour, then skated...
Donovan Cutchember, Quaker Valley wrestlers shine at WPIAL championships
In a season when Quaker Valley won its second consecutive section championship and earned its first PIAA playoff berth, Quakers coach Mike Heinl told his team he wanted more. Senior Donovan Cutchember answered the call Feb. 15 with the program’s fourth individual WPIAL championship in three years. “He’s had two...
Quaker Valley’s Huang in position to defend WPIAL swimming titles
For the second consecutive season, Quaker Valley sophomore swimmer Isabel Huang looks forward to topping the podium at the WPIAL Class AA championship Thursday and Friday at Pitt. Huang earned a pair of gold medals at the Midwestern Athletic Conference meet Feb. 14-15 at Moon. Her times of two minutes,...
Penn-Trafford gymnast Adamik balances fun, competition at high school level
A couple of years ago, Lacey Adamik gave up the everyday grind of training for competitive USA gymnastics, but as time went on, she started to miss the sport. With the convincing of some friends, Adamik got back into gymnastics at the high school level this year representing Penn-Trafford. She’s...
Trib HSSN girls swimmer of the week: Maeve Kelley, Winchester Thurston
Maeve Kelley has made the most of her freshman swim season representing Winchester Thurston as an independent. The distance freestyler, also a member of the Fox Chapel Killer Whales club team, made her mark throughout the season at Fox Chapel and Ellis dual meets. Kelley will be looking for big...
Trib HSSN boys swimmer of the week: Henry Miller, Southmoreland
For most of this winter high school sports season, Henry Miller pulled double duty, representing Southmoreland both as an independent swimmer and as a member of the wrestling team. “He’s driven with a great work ethic,” said Barry Miller, Henry’s father and a coaching representative for the freshman’s swimming efforts....
Westmoreland County basketball playoff preview capsules: Games of Feb. 22, 2020
WPIAL basketball playoff preview Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals No. 6 Belle Vernon (17-6) vs. No. 3 Quaker Valley (17-5) 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Plum Winner plays: No. 2 Knoch (19-3) or No. 7 New Castle (16-7) Wednesday in semifinals Coaches: Joe Salvino, Belle Vernon; Mike Mastroianni, Quaker Valley Points scored/allowed:...
Shaler Area track stays sharp during indoor season
Having something to look forward to is something Shaler Area indoor track coach Shawn Ryan stressed before the TSTCA Championships last weekend. The indoor track season doesn’t involve competing in many venues. But qualifying for states provides an opportunity for a trip to State College and a boost heading into...
Shaler Area boys basketball heartened by 1st-round victory
Any simmering problems the Shaler Area boys basketball team picked up during a rough stretch to end the season didn’t linger into the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The Titans built a 14-point lead by halftime and moved past Gateway, 48-43, last Monday at North Hills. Shaler...
Carlynton freshman Brandebura hopes WPIAL wrestling title is just the beginning
When Chase Brandebura returned from the WPIAL Class AA wrestling championships, he set down his gold medal and collapsed into bed. At some point, he said, he will find a special place in his room to display it. Over the next three years, he hopes to turn that one medal...
North Allegheny swimming dynasty ready to add to trophy case at WPIAL meet
The North Allegheny girls swimming team is looking forward to making history at the WPIAL Class AAA championship meet Thursday and Friday at Pitt. The Tigers are favored to win their 12th consecutive WPIAL Class AAA title, the most by a WPIAL girls team. They are tied with Oakland Catholic,...
Hampton girls basketball standout Baker commits to Grove City
The Hampton girls basketball program saw three players move on to college careers when Katie Baker was a sophomore. Now, she will become the first since then to do so. Baker, a 5-foot-9 power forward who led Hampton with nearly 10 rebounds per game, committed this winter to play at...
Penn Hills grad, 20, gets early start on football coaching career
In recent weeks, Jayvin Turner has been reaching out to WPIAL athletic directors via email to gauge their interest in hiring a young assistant coach for their football program. One of those programs was Riverview, which recently hired Carlynton alum Trevor George as head coach. After his information was passed...
