High School category, Page 1093
Westmoreland County basketball playoff capsules: Games for Monday, Feb. 17, 2020
Boys Class 5A First round No. 11 Franklin Regional (11-11) vs. No. 6 South Fayette (15-7) 8 p.m. Monday at Peters Township Winner plays: No. 3 Mars (17-5) Friday in quarterfinals Coaches: Steve Scorpion, Franklin Regional; Dave Mislan, South Fayette Points scored/allowed: Franklin Regional 56.5/53.7; South Fayette 61.9/56.5 Players to...
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Boys basketball No. 6
There were a lot of changes to the WPIAL basketball championships over the last 10 years. They expanded from two days to three days and from eight boys and girls finals to a dozen championship games. The district also switched venues, moving from the Palumbo Center at Duquesne to the...
A-K Valley girls basketball playoff capsules: Games for Monday, Feb. 17, 2020
Monday’s games Girls Class 4A First round No. 7 Freeport (16-6) vs. No. 10 Belle Vernon (16-6) 6:30 p.m. at North Hills Winner plays: No. 2 Southmoreland (22-0) on Saturday in quarterfinals Coaches: Fred Soilis, Freeport; Ronnie Drennen, Belle Vernon Points scored/allowed: Freeport, 55.8/44.4; Belle Vernon, 50.5/39 Players to watch:...
After scholarship from Hines Ward, Valley’s Guzzo to be featured in book
Greg Guzzo was checking his email randomly last year when he saw a message titled “Positive Athlete.” He didn’t know what it meant at the time, but the email turned out to be a gateway to a scholarship and an opportunity to tell the story of how he handled a...
North Allegheny junior Khalil Dinkins adds Penn State offerVideo
The college options for North Allegheny’s Khalil Dinkins jumped significantly this month with scholarship offers from Penn State and Michigan. Overall, he’s added five offers since Feb. 1 with the most recent Saturday from the Nittany Lions. He also added Boston College, Virginia Tech and Tulane in the past two...
High school scores, schedules for Feb. 15, 2020
High schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A First round Tuesday’s schedule Hempfield (12-10) vs. Peters Township (13-9) at Mt. Lebanon, 8 p.m. Pine-Richland (14-8) vs. Connellsville (8-14) at Fox Chapel, 8 p.m. Central Catholic (12-10) vs. Penn-Trafford (14-8) at Norwin, 8 p.m. Bethel Park (13-8) vs. North Allegheny (11-11)...
Derry’s Cymmerman, three others reach elite status at WPIAL Class AA wrestling championshipsVideo
There are certain things in the modern day of wrestling that continue to impress fans. One-hundred fifty career wins, winning a state title or being a three-time or four-time WPIAL or PIAA champion. If you achieve one of those during the high school career, you’re looked at in a different...
High school roundup for Feb. 15, 2020: Winchester Thurston upsets Laurel for program’s first playoff win
Jackson Juzang hit the winning jumper with 10 seconds left in a tie game, leading No. 12 Winchester Thurston to a 47-45 upset victory over No. 5 Laurel in a WPIAL Class A first-round boys basketball playoff game Saturday afternoon. It was the first playoff win in program history. Langston...
Union limits Monessen boys, finds way into quarterfinals
The Union boys basketball team won a rock fight against Monessen, nabbing a 46-41 victory in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at North Hills Middle School on Saturday. Seventh-seeded Monessen got off to a good start, taking a 7-2 lead, before an 11-2 run by No....
Pine-Richland’s Alexander, Thomas Jefferson’s Kameg big winners at WPIAL gymnastics meet
Pine-Richland’s Samantha Alexander went into WPIAL individual gymnastics championships wanting to stay on her feet. She successfully completed her goal in her four events and landed on the top step of the podium. Alexander, a sophomore, won the all-around championship Saturday at Moon with a score of 37.65. “I wasn’t...
Derry boys basketball deals with loss, focuses on playoffs
Misfortune has hit the Derry boys basketball team this season in waves. “To say we’ve been through a lot in the past two weeks — (along with) Justin Huss’s injury — is an understatement,” Trojans coach Tom Esposito said. “In 24 seasons of coaching, I’ve never had a season of...
Brentwood boys basketball team edges Apollo-Ridge in WPIAL 1st round
Brentwood’s Chase Rosing may not have started the game, but that does not mean attending fans will forget his performance. The 5-foot junior guard came off the bench in the second quarter, giving the 10th-seeded Spartans a much-needed jolt in a 57-53 WPIAL Class 2A first-round victory over No. 7...
Springdale boys survive Sewickley Academy rally, advance to quarterfinals
Springdale’s 57-49 win over Sewickley Academy on Saturday may not be featured prominently in the Dynamos’ season highlight tape. But they don’t care. They’re just happy to move on in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. “At this point, it’s survive and advance,” Springdale coach Aaron Epps said. “It got a...
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Girls basketball No. 6
There were a lot of changes to the WPIAL basketball championships over the last 10 years. They expanded from two days to three days and from eight boys and girls finals to a dozen championship games. The district also switched venues, moving from the Palumbo Center at Duquesne to the...
Defending WPIAL champion Nazareth Prep fights back to edge Clairton boys
Defending WPIAL boys Class A champion Nazareth Prep trailed by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, then fought back to take a late lead and held on to defeat Clairton, 53-52, in a first-round playoff game Saturday at Thomas Jefferson. The Saints (16-7) scored the game’s final...
Battle-tested Eden Christian upsets Greensburg Central Catholic boysVideo
Eden Christian coach Todd Aiken kept shouting “five out” to set up a play Saturday afternoon as his boys basketball team clung to the lead against favored Greensburg Central Catholic. By game’s end, the fearless Warriors had knocked four out. Junior guard Elijah Manges tied a career high with 25...
Obama Academy boys win 1st City League title, knock off Allderdice
Allderdice’s City League boys basketball reign has ended. An strong defensive effort and solid fourth-quarter foul shooting contributed to Obama Academy’s 50-39 upset victory over the Dragons, who were seeking their seventh consecutive league title. The Eagles (14-8) soared to a 9-0 lead and scored 14 of their 21 points...
No. 9 Geibel Catholic boys use an electric fourth quarter to earn first round victory over Leechburg
For the past three years, the Geibel boys basketball team qualified for the playoffs. But each time, the Gators lost in the first round. Facing No. 8 Leechburg on Saturday at Thomas Jefferson, the ninth-seeded Gators (15-8) changed their fortune. They used a 29-point fourth quarter to earn a 65-58...
Allderdice girls capture 3rd straight City League title
The Allderdice girls basketball team has relied on a balanced scoring attack this season. That proved to be the case again Saturday afternoon as the Dragons won their third consecutive City League championship, 57-36, over Westinghouse at Petersen Events Center. It is the 15th City League title for Allderdice. Every...
Dwindling number of high school officials part of troubling nationwide trend
As a high school basketball official in his early 20s, Joe Strednak wasn’t much older than the athletes on the court. Occasionally, someone would test his poise as the youngest ref on his crew. To him, that came with the job. The 25-year-old from North Braddock is now finishing his...
WPIAL’s 2nd-leading scorer exits early as Aliquippa defense stops Steel Valley
Aliquippa had a strategy for facing the WPIAL’s second-leading scorer: Trap Steel Valley’s Camden Polak whenever he touched the ball, keep it out of his hands if possible and make him work for every shot. There was one final mission. “Take a lot of charges,” Quips coach Dwight Hines said....
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 14, 2020
Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A First round Tuesday’s schedule Hempfield (12-10) vs. Peters Township (13-9) at Mt. Lebanon, 8 p.m. Pine-Richland (14-8) vs. Connellsville (8-14) at Fox Chapel, 8 p.m. Central Catholic (12-10) vs. Penn-Trafford (14-8) at Norwin, 8 p.m. Bethel Park (13-8) vs. North Allegheny (11-11) at North...
Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Boys basketball No. 7
There were a lot of changes to the WPIAL basketball championships over the past 10 years. They expanded from two days to three and from eight finals to a dozen championship games. The WPIAL also switched venues, moving from Duquesne’s Palumbo Center to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center. Bigger and better...
South Allegheny boys hold off upset-minded Avonworth
South Allegheny’s Bryce Epps isn’t one to let his critics phase him. So when he went to the free-throw line with the game tied at 46-46 with 19.1 seconds on the clock and the Avonworth student section chanting, “He can’t shoot,” Epps wasn’t going to be denied. The standout freshman...
Burgettstown, McGuffey start strong as WPIAL wrestling tournaments begin
Burgettstown and McGuffey got off to a quick start on the road to Hershey on Friday night. Both schools crowned five champs apiece as the WPIAL Class AA section tournaments were wrestled at Canon-McMillan. Shane Ilgenfritz (106), Hunter Guiddy (126), Shane Kemper (152), Turner Lehman (182) and Riley Kemper (285)...
