High School category, Page 176

First-year coach Dan LaGamba is open to all possibilities for the Highlands girls basketball program this season. The Golden Rams only have one starter — Tyarah Woody — returning from a team that reached the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. That means Highlands will need to grow together if it wants...

Jenna Lusby didn’t have to look far to find an assistant coach as she embarks on her first season as girls basketball coach at Jeannette. Her husband, Arnold, will serve as her assistant. Love and basketball was never truer than this arrangement. The couple met playing pick-up hoops at an...

Waiting on 10 players to return from football season might seem like a burden to some WPIAL basketball coaches. (Cue the “Jeopardy” think music.) But not to Jeannette boys coach Adrian Batts, whose message to the two-sport guys was this: take your time coming back. “For me, it’s not new,”...

Two WPIAL champions are officially on the hunt for PIAA gold while eight other District 7 teams prepare to play for gold at the big house on the North Shore. Central Catholic in 6A and Thomas Jefferson in 4A are freshly minted WPIAL champs and will participate in state second...

Penn-Trafford’s hockey team recorded another victory and their fourth shutout of the season Nov. 7. The Warriors (6-0) went to Johnstown for the second time this season and came back with their second shutout victory against Bishop McCort, winning 5-0. They won 6-0 on Oct. 21. This time, it was...

Too many turnovers and a talented Peters Township team were the biggest reasons the Penn-Trafford’s football season came to an end Nov. 8. The returning Class 5A champs scored on their first two possessions, did a good job stuffing Penn-Trafford’s running game and rolled to a 42-13 quarterfinal round victory....

The numbers haven’t been pretty the past couple of seasons for the Gateway girls basketball team since making the WPIAL playoffs in 2020-21. The Gators own just 11 wins the past three seasons and were victorious twice last year in 22 games. The team enters this season hoping to snap...

A senior-laden Gateway boys basketball team was stopped by rival Franklin Regional in last year’s WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals. But the Gators rallied after the loss, and a dramatic down-to-the-wire home victory over Kiski Area in the seventh-place game propelled them to the state playoffs for the third year in...

The Penn Hills girls basketball team will be challenged to continue a winning tradition when its season starts this December. The Indians reached the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs for the second straight season last year, winning a preliminary round game before being knocked out by Oakland Catholic. Penn Hills, which...

The Penn Hills Youth Football and Cheer Association cheerleading team won the Western Pennsylvania Youth Athletic Association Cheer Bowl championship for the third straight year in the big and little divisions. Cheer coach Ashley Blake said that she emphasizes to all the girls on the team that the judging isn’t...

Shaler girls wrestling coach Robert Taylor remembers when he found out there would be a program for the first time this season. The Titans coach was in a classroom when Lilly Conner burst in. “I remember it vividly,” Taylor said. “Lilly Conner came in and said, ‘Coach, are we going...

Stephen Adametz feels fortunate to be taking over the Shaler swim program at a time when it is full of promise. The girls team had its best result at the WPIAL Class 3A championships in a decade last season. Shaler finished in 17th place, and many of the top swimmers...

It’s been a learning process for Chartiers Valley girls basketball coach Mike Semplice and his team since he was hired in 2022. In his first year, the team struggled with adjustments, specifically when those adjustments were drawn up on the fly during timeouts. But last year, and into the team’s...

New Chartiers Valley basketball coach Corey Dotchin was looking for a coaching job closer to home last winter after he and his wife had their first baby. “The round trip was a lot,” said Dotchin. “I was getting up and leaving for work at 6 in the morning, going to...

The numbers just kept piling up for the Thomas Jefferson football team this season. The top-seeded Jaguars took a perfect 12-0 record into the WPIAL Class 4A championship game with former conference rival McKeesport, the No. 3 seed. And TJ’s legendary Bill Cherpak was going for his 10th district championship...

Baldwin seniors Avery Barrett and Kaylee Smolko hardly could wait for Nov. 13 to finally arrive. Both were scheduled to officially commit that day to Pitt-Johnstown where they will continue their athletic and academic careers. They were the only two seniors on the Baldwin girls volleyball team in 2024. “I...

Cecilia Montagnese’s high school legacy in cross country is firmly in place. The Quaker Valley senior was the gold medalist at the WPIAL Class 2A girls individual championship race Oct. 24 at White Oak Park in McKeesport. Montagnese’s time was a career-best 17.56.2 as she ran at a 5:46 mile...

The groundwork for the 2024 Quaker Valley girls WPIAL Class 2A soccer championship was laid back in 1991-92. Maybe even earlier. “Soccer runs deep in Sewickley,” said 1994 QV graduate Ashley Miko. “Most of the girls and boys grew up playing Sewickley Area Soccer, which has been around for 50...

Lily Baker is only a freshman at Quaker Valley, but she played like a savvy veteran in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game. Baker knocked in the shot that gave the QV girls soccer team its first WPIAL crown in 32 years. The No. 2-seed Quakers hung on to beat...

Mike Mastroianni, athletic director at Quaker Valley, undoubtedly had an extra-wide smile on his face on the first weekend in November. And no, it wasn’t because he was counting down the hours to Election Day. Mastroianni was gleeful over the performances of so many of the Quaker Valley athletes and...

High school Football WPIAL Class 6A Championship Saturday’s result Central Catholic 45, North Allegheny 14 Class 5A Championship Nov. 23 schedule Pine-Richland (11-1) vs. Peters Township (11-1) at Acrisure Stadium, 8 p.m. Class 4A Championship Saturday’s result Thomas Jefferson 28, McKeesport 7 Class 3A Championship Nov. 23 schedule Avonworth (10-3)...

SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP — Having won seven PIAA Class 4A championships in a row coming into Saturday’s match, coming home with gold medals is a tradition at North Allegheny. This younger group kept the tradition alive with a 3-1 victory over Spring-Ford at Cumberland Valley High School. The Tigers lost...

SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP — Two-time defending champion Pope John Paul II earned its third consecutive PIAA Class 3A championship with a 3-1 win over upstart Mars at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday. Game scores were 25-21, 21-25, 25-16 and 25-18 “I felt much more pressure last year because we...

The Plum boys soccer team wanted to make waves in the PIAA Class 4A playoffs. It started out well for the Mustangs as they advanced past the first round Nov. 5 with a dramatic penalty-kick shootout win at District 10 champion McDowell. But they were not able to continue the...

After three straight losses here in the WPIAL finals, three words summed up Central Catholic’s mood this week: “Enough is enough.” This time, the Vikings were too much. Top-seeded Central Catholic scored on its first five possessions, played stifling defense and enacted the mercy rule early in the third quarter...