High School category, Page 112

Boys Class 4A Semifinals 4-Avonworth (18-5) vs. 1-Belle Vernon (19-4) 3 p..m. Saturday at Peters Township Winner plays: Winner of 3-Beaver (19-4)/2-North Catholic (18-5) at 9 p.m. Feb. 27 in championship at Petersen Events Center Players to watch: Rowan Carmichael, Avonworth; Trevor Kovatch, Belle Vernon Layup lines: Avonworth is through...

High schools Basketball WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals Thursday’s results Upper. St. Clair 63, Woodland Hills 41 Central Catholic 52, Fox Chapel 45 New Castle 64, Butler 43 Mt. Lebanon 64, Imani Christian 61 Semfinals Monday’s schedule Upper. St. Clair (21-2) vs. Central Catholic (14-9); New Castle (20-3) vs....

Welcome to the final night of elite eight WPIAL basketball action with the quarterfinal focus on boys Class 5A and 3A and girls Class 6A and 2A. In the eight-year history of Class 5A, never has one of the top two seeds in the boys bracket not advanced to the...

Brady Wehner scored 18 points to lead No. 3 North Catholic to a 41-25 victory over No. 6 South Park in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinals Thursday night. The Trojanettes (21-3) broke open a close game with a 22-3 third quarter. Bella Stromberg led the Eagles (16-6) with...

Meeting for the third time this season, second-seeded Geibel Catholic and seventh-seeded West Greene squared off in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs Thursday night at Geibel. Just like the previous two meetings, the Gators got the better of the Pioneers. Geibel knocked off West Greene, 60-48, to...

Liam Sheely scored 22 points, including 14 points and a key 3-pointer in the second half, to lead Mt. Lebanon to a 64-61 victory over Imani Christian in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals Thursday night. “There’s never a time in the game where I’m thinking, ‘Oh, we’re gonna lose this...

At first glance, it would appear the 13-day layoff for WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball top seed Upper St. Clair played a role in the very slow start to its quarterfinal playoff game against visiting Woodland Hills on Thursday. Whatever the case, the Panthers were able to find their scoring...

When it comes to postseason basketball, lower-seeded teams traveling on the road are looking to play spoiler, while neutral fans might be supporting them. When No. 6 St. Joseph came to No. 3 Clairton in WPIAL Class A quarterfinal girls basketball action Thursday night, there was no upset to be...

Jeannette fell behind by double figures at halftime and faced a 16-point deficit late in the third quarter. The Jayhawks’ WPIAL playoff run was fading fast, along with their hopes for a championship. But then Jayce Powell and his teammates heard the noise. “The fans fired us up,” Powell said....

Central Catholic and Fox Chapel combined for five points in the first 5 minutes Thursday night, hinting at the struggle between two of the WPIAL best big-school defenses. They were tied midway through the fourth. A tie-breaking 3-pointer by Central Catholic’s Christian Williams sparked a late run for the Vikings,...

Greensburg Central Catholic tried to limit Union leading scorer Lucas Stanley with a box-and-one defense. And for most of the game, the strategy worked. But big-time players can still rise to the occasion. Stanley buried a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 35 seconds left for a one-point lead, added a clutch...

Hempfield junior Ashley Bensur averaged 205 over five games Thursday to claim the WPIBL girls singles championship at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes. After qualifying second with a 628 series, Bensur beat Norwin’s Kali Siegel in the semifinals, 189-181, then defeated Thomas Jefferson freshman Annalise Williams in the finals, 207-157. Bensur,...

The PIAA eliminated its one-sentence transgender athlete policy and changed language in its handbook to no longer ask member schools to determine those students’ “gender” but rather their “sex.” The changes were approved Wednesday by the PIAA board to comply with an executive order signed Feb. 5 by President Donald...

WPIAL Boys Individual Wrestling Championship Class 3A When: Friday and Saturday Where: Canon-McMillan High School Times: First round 5 p.m. Friday. Action resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday with second consolation round. Semifinals are at 11:30 a.m. and the finals at 3:30 p.m. Returning champions from 2024: Nicholas McGarrity (107) Peters...

Earlier this season, Latrobe senior Luke Willochell became the second wrestler in school history to become a Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association four-time champion. He joined Tom Bell (1961-64) on the exclusive list. Bell was the first wrestler from the county to achieve that goal, which has since been matched by...

One of the mantras the Belle Vernon football team follows under Matt Humbert’s leadership is “rejecting comfort.” Humbert embraced it Thursday. The longtime Leopards mentor announced his resignation as football coach after meeting with his players to inform them of his decision after the school day. He said he will...

B.J. Pugh, a former West Mifflin quarterback and current teacher in the district, is expected to be hired Thursday as football coach at his alma mater. The school board agenda lists Pugh as the recommended candidate. A 1995 graduate, Pugh teaches elementary school and has coached a variety of West...

WPIAL title-winning South Park teammates Eric Doerue, Troy Cunningham and Kenyan Brown were among 17 WPIAL football players chosen to compete in the PSFCA Small School East-West Game this spring. The roster was announced Thursday. The Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association organizes two East-West all-star games each year, one for...

Girls Class 6A Quarterfinals 8-North Allegheny (9-12) at 1-Norwin (13-7) 7 p.m. Friday Winner plays: Winner of 5-Butler (11-10)/4-Canon-McMillan (13-8) on Tuesday (time, site TBD) in semifinals Players to watch: Maddie Williams, North Allegheny; Kendall Berger, Norwin Layup lines: North Allegheny gets a rematch with Norwin after falling to the...

Penn-Trafford coach Doug Kelly had referred to his team as the “road warriors” several times this season. Kelly does not play up the underdog role but rather looks to unleash the “dog” in his boys basketball teams. Dog and grit are two of his favorite words when talking about the...

High schools Basketball WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals Thursday’s schedule Woodland Hills (12-11) at Upper. St. Clair (20-2), 7 p.m.; Central Catholic (13-9) at Fox Chapel (16-6), 8 p.m.; Butler (16-6) at New Castle (19-3), 7 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (16-7) vs. Imani Christian (13-7) at Montour, 7:30 p.m. Class...

Erica Gribble scored 22 points and No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic survived a big game by Quaker Valley star Mimi Thiero to secure a 56-47 victory in the WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday night at Mt. Lebanon. Thiero scored 32 points for the No. 7 Quakers (14-9). Jayla...

It’s the middle of three nights of the district basketball quarterfinals with the spotlight shining on the elite eight of boys 6A, boys 2A, girls 4A and girls Class A. Upper St. Clair is the defending WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball champion, however prior to the Panthers taking home the...

Only two teams lost their spot in the latest Trib HSSN girls basketball state rankings this week as the first round of the 12 district postseasons wrap up. The undefeated season for Penn-Trafford in District 7 ended with a quarterfinal loss to Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A. One week after...

District playoff byes and early round victories have left this week’s Trib HSSN boys basketball rankings looking a lot like last week’s. One exception, though, is in Class 5A, where two ranked teams were stunned in the opening round of their respective district postseason. No. 2-seeded Baldwin from the WPIAL...