High School category, Page 298

Trinity captured its first WPIAL softball title last season by outslugging top-seeded Armstrong, 11-7. Shaler made a run through the PIAA tournament to finish as the state runner-up. All three teams again have some firepower in the lineup and should challenge for the district championship and possibly beyond. Here is...

Shaler turned back the clock to 1980, the last time a Titans’ team realized the goal of winning district and state gold. Behind the arm and bat of Miguel Hugas, Shaler first won the Section 2-5A title, then defeated Fox Chapel and Plum to reach the WPIAL finals, where it...

Avalin Barry sat in the black and gold bleachers of North Allegheny High School’s gymnasium, her Sasquatch-patterned sweatpants tucked into a gray medical boot on her right leg and a brown cowboy boot on the left. The Norwin freshman and first-year wrestler wasn’t able to compete in the first WPIAL...

Avalin Barry sat in the black-and-gold bleachers of North Allegheny High School’s gymnasium, her Sasquatch-patterned sweatpants tucked into a gray medical boot on her right leg and a brown cowboy boot on the left. The Norwin freshman and first-year wrestler wasn’t able to compete in the first WPIAL...

The PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs begin the week-long Final Four games at the RMU Island Sports Complex on Neville Island and on Trib HSSN. The winners head to the championship game next week while the losers pack their gear until next season. Monday features the two Class 3A semifinals. Going...

The high school basketball state playoffs move into the second round and quarterfinals while the high school hockey postseason shifts to the final four this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. The Road to Hershey continues with PIAA boys and girls basketball second-round playoff action Tuesday and Wednesday...

Longtime Belle Vernon softball coach Tom Rodriguez, former Monessen football standout Joe Como and late Belle Vernon administrator Steve Russell are part of the 29th Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame class. The class will be inducted June 21 at St. Spyridon’s Hellenic Center in Monessen. Rodriguez has...

High schools Basketball Boys Class 6A Second round Wednesday’s schedule Lower Merion (26-1) vs. Archbishop Wood (17-8) at Bensalem, 7:30 p.m.; Springfield Delco (14-14) vs. Spring-Ford (21-6) at Norristown, 7:30 p.m.; Parkland (22-5) vs. Chambersburg (20-6) at Central Dauphin East, 7:30 p.m.; WC Henderson (25-5) vs. Roman Catholic (26-2) at...

With the exception of Class 5A, of course, it was a middle-of-the-road experience for WPIAL girls basketball teams in the first round of the Class 5A, 4A and A state playoffs Saturday. Historically, the Road to Hershey has been kind early for the district teams in 5A, and this season...

Class 2A boys basketball teams from the WPIAL got off to a great start on The Road to Hershey, while it was a slightly below average start for district teams from 6A and 3A. Combined, the 17 District 7 teams were 9-8 in the opening round of those three classes...

Hempfield climbed back to the top of the pack in WPIAL Class 6A softball last season. The Spartans had won five straight championships in the highest classification from 2015-19 and added their eighth district crown last spring. They return a loaded lineup and Division I pitcher for another run at...

One of the top high school sports stories in 2023 took place in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game when defending champion Mt. Lebanon took on North Allegheny. For the second time over the last half-century in the WPIAL, a no-hitter was thrown in the highest classification’s title game....

Gateway sophomore Gunner Raymer briefly faced a measure of adversity right before his 200-yard freestyle swim at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Feb. 29 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. He had a minor equipment failure as his goggles broke. “That kind of gave me an adrenaline rush,” Raymer said. “You obviously...

When the Gateway boys bowling team wrapped up the Western Regional championship title March 2 at AMF Noble Manor Lanes, coach Joe Bowman got a message from two members of the last Gators team to qualify for the state tournament. “They (Mark Kuehn and Dominic Beau) shared a picture of...

Mike Scerbo knows he has big shoes to fill. But he is undaunted with the task of stepping in for Win Palmer, who died last year after a lengthy career as Sewickley Academy’s director of athletics. In the interim, Heather Border and Kelly Carioto have been serving as assistant athletic...

A winning season. Two victories in the Holiday Bash tournament at North Allegheny. A fourth-place finish and a WPIAL playoff berth out of Section 1-2A. All solid reasons why the Sewickley boys basketball team enjoyed a successful 2023-24 season. “When reflecting on the season based on the initial circumstances and...

Five of the top athletes in the Quaker Valley track and field program displayed their resolve during the 2023-24 indoor season. Senior Ellie Cain and juniors Jay Olawaiye, Davin “Macky” Gartley, Clark LaLomia and Thomas Debelak all advanced to the Tri-State Track Coaches Association indoor state championships Feb. 25 at...

Penn-Trafford senior Patton Graziano is hoping to end high school career on a good note. A PIAA Class 3A swimming title would be preferred, but he’d be satisfied with breaking his records in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. He did that at the WPIAL swimming and diving championships March...

Gavin Paterson scored the tie-breaking goal in the final minute of the second period and Tyler Funk made 31 saves as No. 8 Penn-Trafford knocked off defending champ South Fayette, the No. 1 seed, 4-3, in the PIHL Class 2A Penguins Cup quarterfinals March 4. Ben Zierski, Cam Kiste and...

Jeremy Packer believes his two-year project has yielded strong results for the Penn Hills wrestling program. The Indians decided not to compete in a dual meet schedule during the last enrollment cycle to help build the program. Numbers were low because of the pandemic, and Packer felt the Indians needed...

The Penn Hills swim team took a much bigger contingent to Pitt’s Trees Pool this season for the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships. What made Indians coach Morgan Bush excited for next season was the prospect of seeing all of her swimmers turn in their best times of the season...

Vaughn Spencer became a two-time WPIAL wrestling champion in style March 2, at Canon-McMillan. Spencer breezed his way through the Class 3A 172-pound bracket, earning a pin in the second period over Latrobe’s Hunter Snyder in the final. He had three pins in his four bouts. Spencer won by fall...