High School category, Page 14
Fox Chapel’s Ellie Lange rallies for 200 IM gold in PIAA swimming championships debut
LEWISBURG — Freshman Ellie Lange was in fifth place entering the third leg of her swim in the championship heat of the 200-yard individual medley Wednesday evening at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. But she made up three places in the 100 butterfly and finished off her...
A-K Valley softball preview: Knoch sets sights even higher
Sometimes Mother Nature can be cruel. The Knoch softball team found out the hard way in its Class 4A quarterfinal loss to No. 6 Beaver last season. “That was a game we thought we had handled,” coach Chris Gardner said. “After about three or four lighting delays and a two-and-a-half-hour...
Westmoreland County softball preview: Plenty of new faces at Penn-Trafford but the standard remains high
Sometimes, sentimentality gets the best of Denny Little. A confirmed baseball romanticist who still collects and trades bubble-gum cards, the Penn-Trafford softball coach allows himself to daydream, if only for a few seconds. He gets whisked away to one of his program’s proudest days. The setting is Penn State’s Nittany...
Burrell hockey aims to upset familiar foe in PIHL semifinals
As Burrell hockey prepares for a Division 2 semifinal matchup against Morgantown, W.Va., one just has to look back five months ago for proof the Buccaneers can topple the top-seeded Mohigans. Burrell was able to outlast Morgantown, 4-3, in overtime. But Bucs coach Drew Burkett knows all too well that...
Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini eyes golden opportunity at PIAA championships
LEWISBURG — Adrian Lavorini concludes his high school swim career Friday and Saturday at the PIAA Class 2A swim championships at Bucknell. While the Knoch senior has one eye on his future, which includes swimming in college, the other eye is on lowering school-record times and challenging for gold on...
North Allegheny’s Ethan Maravich takes silver at PIAA diving championships
LEWISBURG — A new PIAA Class 3A boys diving champion was guaranteed Wednesday afternoon after last year’s titlist, Governor Mifflin’s Alex Wodehose, graduated and now is diving at Penn State. North Allegheny’s Ethan Maravich, last year’s third-place finisher, hoped it would be him. But Freedom senior Cody Smith, an Arizona...
North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, Fox Chapel’s Ellie Lange among top seeds after prelim heats at PIAA meet
LEWISBURG — Numerous WPIAL swimmers made their mark and earned spots in evening championship heats Wednesday on the first day of the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell. The boys preliminaries saw North Allegheny and Upper St. Clair go 2-3 in the 200-yard medley relay, and they will swim in...
4 WPIAL teams to play in Friday’s PIAA girls basketball quarterfinals
The start of the second round of the PIAA girls basketball playoffs continued to be a grind for district teams as seven WPIAL teams and one City League squad in Class 6A, 3A and 2A were a combined 4-4. Class 6A champion Canon-McMillan, WPIAL 3A finalists Shady Side Academy and...
PIAA sets times, sites for Friday’s boys basketball quarterfinals
Five of the 10 WPIAL boys basketball teams from Class 5A, 4A and A that hit the court for second round action Tuesday are moving forward on the Road to Hershey. However, the biggest eyebrow raiser from Tuesday was delivered by City League champion Obama Academy. The Eagles soared past...
Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Greensburg CC’s next opponent has NBA face on bench
Greensburg Central Catholic coach Chris Skatell has matched wits with former college stars before. Shady Side Academy coach Jonna Burke, for instance, starred at Pitt. But GCC (21-7) will go against a two-time NBA champion Friday night in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals. The game is at 5 p.m. at...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for March 10, 2026
High schools Basketball Boys Class 6A Second round Wednesday’s schedule Plymouth-Whitemarsh (23-4) vs. Bethlehem Liberty (18-10) at Pottstown, 7 p.m.; Central York (23-3) vs. Father Judge (16-11) at Geigle Complex, 6 p.m.; Imhotep Charter (22-6) vs. William Penn (18-8) at Geigle Complex, 7:30 p.m.; Delaware Valley (20-8) vs. Parkland (23-6)...
2026 WPIAL Class 3A softball preseason breakdown
Could there be a WPIAL championship three-peat in Class 3A softball this spring? Mohawk will take its best shot to retain its spot atop the proverbial podium after winning the past two district titles. The Warriors will be challenged by last season’s runner-up South Park and many others as the...
2026 WPIAL Class 3A baseball preseason breakdown
It was a golden run for Riverside in 2025 as the Panthers swept district and state gold in Class 3A. But is their run of domination over for now? Strange to see a preseason ranking this decade without Riverside mentioned. The Panthers also swept WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2023....
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on March 11, 2026: Central Catholic gets chance to reach quarterfinals
The Road to Hershey continues with second-round action Wednesday with teams from boys Class 6A, 3A and 2A and girls Class 5A, 4A and A taking center stage. Nearly 40 years ago, legendary Central Catholic boys basketball coach Chuck Crummie led the Vikings all the way to the 1988 PIAA...
High school roundup for March 10, 2026: Obama Academy knocks off Cathedral Prep in 4A 2nd round
Naron Jackson scored on the rebound of a teammate’s missed free throw with 7.6 seconds left, leading City League champion Obama Academy to a 70-69 victory over District 10 champion Erie Cathedral Prep in a PIAA Class 4A boys basketball second-round game Tuesday night. Eric James scored 25 points and...
Deer Lakes makes free throws when it counts in Class 4A 2nd-round win over Hickory
Anyone who has ever played basketball has heard it from a coach maybe a thousand times: You have to make your foul shots. For Deer Lakes, it was tough sledding from the charity stripe as the team went 2 of 14 through three quarters, but the Lancers were able to...
Moon comes alive in 3rd quarter, races past Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A 2nd roundVideo
There’s been something about the Moon basketball team and third-quarter success during the first two rounds of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs. One game after the Tigers used a run in the third to pull away from Hershey, they blew an even game with Thomas Jefferson wide open Tuesday night...
In 4th battle between fierce rivals this season, North Catholic guts out 3OT win over KnochVideo
Four minutes of misery became eight minutes of suffering. That feeling eventually transformed into 12 minutes of pain. The North Catholic boys basketball team was left red-faced but absorbed the shock that came with three overtimes to vanquish Knoch, 77-69, during the second round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs...
Hempfield, Penn-Trafford win 2A semifinals to get shot at 1st Penguins Cup championshipVideo
There is a reason the Hempfield hockey team has the lowest goals-against average in the PIHL. His name is Evan Saltzgiver. The Spartans goaltender made 34 saves to help Hempfield to a 6-2 victory in the PIHL Class 2A Penguins Cup semifinals on Tuesday at the Robert Morris University Island...
Greensburg Central Catholic survives vs. star scorer to beat NorthwesternVideo
SHARON — Erica Gribble has taken on many roles for the Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team in her storied career. On Friday, she sacrificed scoring in the first half to play relentless defense on Arizona recruit Makayla Presser-Palmer. In the second half, Gribble, a Richmond recruit, scored 13 points...
WPIAL sets boys, girls soccer alignment for next 2 years
This is a big week for fall sports as the WPIAL is releasing section alignments and schedules for the next two years. Football will come Thursday, Wednesday is girls volleyball and Monday was boys and girls soccer. “It’s always difficult trying to balance travel and competitive balance,” WPIAL executive director...
Westmoreland County PIAA basketball preview capsules for March 11, 2026
Girls Class 4A Second round Belle Vernon (23-4) vs. Blackhawk (23-1) 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny District seeds: Belle Vernon 7-5; Blackhawk 7-2 Winner plays: Winner of 7-3 North Catholic (21-6)/10-1 Harbor Creek (22-4) in quarterfinals Saturday (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Saylor Lee, Belle Vernon; Aubree Hupp,...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for March 9, 2026
High schools Basketball Boys Class 6A Second round Wednesday’s schedule Plymouth-Whitemarsh (23-4) vs. Bethlehem Liberty (18-10) at Pottstown, 7 p.m.; Central York (23-3) vs. Father Judge (16-11) at Geigle Complex, 6 p.m.; Imhotep Charter (22-6) vs. William Penn (18-8) at Geigle Complex, 7:30 p.m.; Delaware Valley (20-8) vs. Parkland (23-6)...
2026 WPIAL Class 4A softball preseason breakdown
Hampton celebrated its first WPIAL championship last spring by earning a pair of playoff shutouts and beating Blackhawk, 4-3, in the Class 4A finals. Blackhawk and Elizabeth Forward joined the Talbots in the PIAA playoffs, while semifinalist Beaver just missed out. All four teams again look to be title contenders...
2026 WPIAL Class 4A baseball preseason breakdown
From start to finish, there was no movement atop the WPIAL Class 4A baseball rankings last season. Indiana was the preseason favorite, remained ranked No. 1 throughout the regular season, and then after finishing with silver in both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs a year earlier, captured the program’s first...
