High School category, Page 146

The district high school football playoffs are now history. Now the chase for gold in the state postseason mixes with the start of the winter high school sports season this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Audio coverage of the PIAA Class A and 4A semifinals Friday can...

Since the PIAA went to six classifications in 2017, North Catholic has dominated Class 4A girls basketball. The Trojanettes have won six of the eight WPIAL championships awarded during that span, and they might have won the other two, but they were playing in Class 3A in 2021 and 2022....

Some big-time teams, including the two-time defending WPIAL Class 4A champion Lincoln Park Leopards have moved out of Class 4A and up to 5A following realignment. However, despite the loss of the Leopards along with Uniontown, Laurel Highlands, Albert Gallatin, Hampton, Blackhawk and Montour, Class 4A has its share of...

The St. Joseph girls basketball team made a run to the WPIAL Class A title game last year. It was a continuation of success for the program that has collected trophies and banners that are on display at Walter Dlubak Athletic Center. Change swept through in the offseason with the...

Matt DeHart is quite familiar with the St. Joseph boys basketball team and many of its players. The new Spartans coach served as an assistant last year under Logan Acri. When Acri left the program over the summer, DeHart ascended to the helm and continued to help build the team...

Yough girls basketball coach Brian Znavor began running open gyms with his team three weeks after the completion of last season. “And we had very, very good participation a majority of the time,” said Znavor. “We’ve improved fundamentally and skill-wise, and I feel we are prepared.” Znavor and Yough are...

While amidst a rebuild, Yough boys basketball coach William Sherbondy has high hopes for his team to continue to have success. “This offseason was phenomenal for all the kids we’ve had for a while,” Sherbondy said. “We’ve had some football players come out, so that’s going to be a little...

ACL injuries often derail athletes’ careers. Norwin senior midfielder Carmella Simco, however, put in the work and bounced right back after missing the second half of her sophomore and first half of her junior year. “I was in physical therapy every week, and when I wasn’t there, I was at...

It was a tale of two seasons for Burrell senior midfielder Maggie Nesko. Last year, she lost the majority of her season to a major knee injury, tearing her patellar tendon. “We were playing against South Park, and it was a no-contact injury,” Nesko said. “I was just running, and...

What a turnaround it was for the Kiski School football program. After going 1-8 last year, the Cougars opened 2024 with losses in their first two games, won two in a row before losing to the Potomac School on Sept. 27 to sit at 2-3. The Cougars rallied to close...

High schools Football PIAA playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Downingtown West (13-1) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (9-2) at Coatesville, 7 p.m. Saturday’s schedule Central Catholic (11-2) vs. Harrisburg (11-2) at Mansion Park, Altoona, 1 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s schedule West Chester Rustin (13-1) vs. Roman Catholic (10-4) at...

What a season it was in 2023-24 for the best from the west and the beast in the east in WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball. Moon and Franklin Regional collided in a pair of huge contents and, when the dust settled, they split. In the WPIAL 5A title game, the...

The WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball field got a little more interesting in the offseason. PIAA enrollment realignment shifted WPIAL powers Peters Township and Chartiers Valley down a classification to make Class 5A a bit more of a challenge. The Indians, who won the 2019 Class 6A title, feature one...

In this day and age of spread offenses and teams putting up big numbers on a weekly basis, 2024 has shown that old school, physical football with a heavy lean on the running game still works in high school football. Thomas Jefferson, Avonworth and South Park all relied heavily on...

Here are the latest 2024-25 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League standings through Sunday. The point system in the PIHL this year gives three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win and one point for an overtime loss. Class 3A Team – Wins – Losses – Overtime Wins-Overtime...

For the past 18 years, Amber Cernuto has been helping little ones get started in life as a kindergarten teacher in the Southmoreland School District. On the basketball court, she continues to be a leader as coach of the high school girls team. You could say Cernuto enjoys teaching others....

Tonya Norman is the new sheriff in town as the coach for Valley girls basketball. Although she is in her first year, she is familiar with Valley sports. Norman was a three-sport athlete at Valley and went on to play basketball at Duquesne after graduating in 1989. She said connecting...

Southmoreland returns to Class 3A in boys basketball after four seasons in 4A, where the Scotties at times struggled. “Our section was brutal,” coach Frank Muccino said. While going 3-2 against section opponents last season in games decided by single digits, Southmoreland failed to build momentum after a 10-0 start...

Latrobe senior Robin Reilly and Mt. Pleasant junior Morgan Gesinski were finalists for the Moe Rosensteel girls soccer award, but the local pair have something else in common. Reilly and Gesinski were selected as all-state players by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association, Reilly as a midfielder, Gesinski as a forward....

Four more WPIAL champions were crowned Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, and Central Catholic in Class 6A and Thomas Jefferson in Class 4A were victorious in the PIAA quarterfinals this past weekend. Those two district champs join Pine-Richland in 5A, Avonworth in 3A, South Park in 2A and repeat winner Fort...

Valley is looking to rejuvenate a basketball program that won a WPIAL championship in 1993 and was a force in the ’90s. New coach and A-K Valley Hall of Famer Brice Flenory is taking on the challenge. He graduated from Valley in 1998 after averaging 36 points and showcasing his...

The 15th annual WPIAL Summit on Sportsmanship took place Nov. 13 at the Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. Student-athletes from the schools in attendance listened to keystone speakers discuss topics related to the importance of sportsmanship in athletics, and the league recognized Cornell and Moon,...

Gateway wrestling coach Ryan Sula said a mix of veteran leadership, returning youthful talent and others coming into the varsity and JV practice room is making for a competitive environment in the lead-up to the start of the season. “It’s always nice to have a high return rate and to...