High School category, Page 349

The recruiting process ended just as quickly as it began for Riley Kerr. After the WPIAL girls soccer season concluded with a rare first-round loss for Greensburg Central Catholic, the junior forward began to get a feel for the lay of the land. She gauged interest and looked for the...

One-and-one free throws always have been a gamble. Make the first one, and you get a chance to make another. Miss, and you’re out of luck. The jury still is out on whether a new free-throw rule is a make or miss. A key change in the rulebook this season...

With the graduation of the team’s top two pitchers, Nolan Marasti and Dylan Grabowski, Penn-Trafford baseball coach Lou Cortazzo knew he had to get some younger pitchers some work. So Cortazzo got the Warriors into two leagues, played 31 games (going 27-4) and ended up winning the West Penn Fall...

Things are starting to line up for Penn-Trafford senior Antolena Damico. She recently committed to play golf at Washington & Jefferson College and pursue a degree in dentistry. She wants to be an orthodontist and plans on majoring in biology and chemistry. Damico, who carries a 4.6 grade point average,...

Penn Hills wrestling coach Jeremy Packer set up the team’s schedule so things would get progressively tougher. Competing at the Southwest Kickoff Classic at Valley High School was the right way to build confidence. Penn Hills had three wrestlers — Daemon Phipps (121 pounds), Julian Lavender (127) and Jacen Wright...

The Penn Hills football team collected plenty of accolades from the Big 56 Conference. Indians coach Charles Morris was selected as the Northeast Conference’s coach of the Year. Penn Hills had eight players selected to the first team for all-conference. Julian Dugger and Amir Key were selected to on the...

The Gateway and Allderdice boys basketball teams played close throughout their nonsection game Dec. 5 at Allderdice High School. The Gators led by three at halftime and by two at the end of the third quarter before holding on for a 56-51 victory over the Dragons. The win moved Gateway...

There’s only one direction the Sewickley Academy boys basketball team wants to go in 2023-24. That is up. After finishing 3-18 last year, first-year coach Jim Dudas said the Panthers have been adjusting well while learning a new system. “I am optimistic we will show significant improvement on both sides...

Talk about a landslide vote. Eight members of the Quaker Valley girls volleyball team were honored as all-section selections in 2023. Two seniors, right-side hitter Annica Kagle and middle hitter Katelyn Clark, and two juniors, outside hitter Molly MacDonald and setter Vanessa Pickett, were named to the first team. Kagle...

Oumou “Mimi” Thiero is a still-growing 6-foot-4 sophomore guard/forward who was an all-section selection last year. Thiero was named by Trib HSSN as a 4A player to watch “who has perhaps the highest ceiling of any player in WPIAL girls basketball.” And she showed why with her two-game production in...

Joe Coyle is back for his senior year in the Quaker Valley boys basketball program. And what a splash he made to start the season. A talented 6-foot-1 guard, Coyle was the Quakers’ leading scorer and a first-team all-section selection last year. Much is expected of him this season; he’s...

High schools Basketball Boys Saturday’s results Jack Twyman Tournament At Central Catholic Penn Hills 54, Moon 53 Gateway 49, Central Catholic 44 The Clash at New Castle Central Valley 53, Union 51 Knoch 62, Grove City 49 Beaver Falls at New Castle, (n) Mike Rettger Memorial Tournament Consolation West Mifflin...

Khalil Wall scored 16 points to lead Penn Hills to a 55-53 boys basketball win over Moon at the Jack Twyman Tournament at Central Catholic on Saturday. Robert Thomas added 14 points and Lamire Redman had 10 for Penn Hills (1-1). Elijah Guillory had a game-high 23 for Moon (1-2)...

MECHANICSBURG — In the 11 years since North Allegheny last reached the PIAA finals, the landscape in the state’s largest classification has shifted to the east. More often than not, the state title has belonged to Philadelphia Catholic League power St. Joseph’s Prep, and not even the largest school in...

He rears back for a corner 3-pointer, stretching his arms high and behind his head, the basketball slightly tilted to the right. He lets it go and grins slightly to greet the swish. “Yes, it’s unorthodox and jenky,” Norwin senior guard Dylan McCullough said of his shooting motion. “I didn’t...

Drew Griffith is a multi-time WPIAL and state champion and the Pennsylvania cross country record holder for fastest time, but even with all of those accolades, he still has times when he doubts himself. Going into the Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship this weekend, he wanted all negative thoughts...

Corey Smith stepped out of the locker room, took a deep breath and came to the realization his team was fortunate to leave Hempfield with a victory. Fortunate to escape, even. A collective swipe across the brow was in line for Kiski Area after this one. “We went 1-0 today,”...

Autumn Matthews School: Yough Class: Senior Sport: Basketball Claim to fame: Matthews helped lead Yough (3-1) to a fast start, which included a pair of wins and a championship at the Deer Lakes tip-off tournament. She had 13 points in a 53-13 win over Valley, and chipped in eight in...

Megan Marston Class: Senior School: Plum Sport: Basketball Report card: Marston had a hot hand for the Mustangs as they jumped out to a 3-0 start. She kicked off the season with 22 points in a 67-43 victory over Freeport at the Freeport Tip-Off. About 12 hours later, she poured...

MECHANISBURG — There was no suspense in this year’s PIAA Class 3A championship. Belle Vernon made sure of that with another dominating performance starting with the opening kickoff. Anthony Crews scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, and the Leopards (13-1) won their second consecutive state title with a convincing...

The ball went up in the jump circle and Franklin Regional took off. Showing a fast-paced style, the Panthers ran to a 2-0 start to open boys basketball season with a pair of wins at the 19th Hempfield Tip-off Tournament. “We’re trying (to run),” coach Jesse Reed said. “That is...

Levi Wentz has found his home in more ways than one. A raw prospect who played just one year of high school football at Pine-Richland, Wentz signed with Old Dominion to play defensive back. But three years later, he’s a wide receiver at Albany and the change of school and...

After beginning the season 1-4, the Franklin Regional hockey team has turned things around. The Panthers have won three consecutive games and are playing their best hockey of the season, according to coach John Winebrenner. “We made a bunch of lineup adjustments, and the team is playing with confidence,” he...

Playing at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center each of the past two seasons was a dream come true for the Aquinas Academy girls basketball team. Now they just want the dream to have a better ending. The Crusaders return their top four scorers from last season’s team, which lost at the...

The Aquinas Academy boys basketball team spent more time this offseason in the weight room than ever before. They were getting ready for some heavy lifting. Vinnie Cugini, who scored 3,189 career points to shatter a 30-year-old WPIAL mark, has graduated, leaving behind a nearly 44-point-per-game hole in the Crusaders’...