High School category, Page 484

ALTOONA — Albie Fletcher makes no secret about where his loyalty lies. “We’re excited to keep our community following us,” Deer Lakes’ first-year boys basketball coach and 1993 school alum said Wednesday night in the moments after the Lancers advanced to the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals for the second time...

Freeport sophomore Kira Schrecongost and South Park junior Katie Jackovic know the power of Bedford junior Leah Shackley. Schrecongost placed third in the girls Class 2A 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.16 seconds Wednesday at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell. Jackovic was second in a time of 55.51....

EBENSBURG — State College’s Braeden Shrewsberry didn’t accompany his father to the NCAA tournament, but the son of Penn State’s basketball coach created his own moments of March Madness. He busted Central Catholic’s bracket in the process. Shrewsberry scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and...

Deer Lakes finished off the regular season strong, defeating Neshannock and Bishop Canevin in back-to-back games to end up with a 16-2 record, second-best in PIHL Varsity D2 hockey. That momentum continued into the playoffs when the Lancers defeated Carrick, 6-0, to advance to a semifinal matchup with Ringgold at...

For three quarters Knoch scrapped, clawed and hounded Blackhawk on defense while making enough shots to keep a lead. That defensive effort carried over into the fourth, but a long dry spell on the offensive end doomed the Knights’ chances of pulling an upset. The Cougars held the Knights to...

Ohio State recruits Vinny Kilkeary of Latrobe and Rocco Welsh of Waynesburg headlined the WPIAL wrestlers named to the Pennsylvania wrestling team in the annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic. The team featuring some of the best from the state will battle a star-studded United States squad Saturday, March 25 at Peters...

Decked out in practice uniforms, a new custom put in place by coach Tina Madison and her staff, Hempfield had a structured look during a practice last week as softball players fielded sharp grounders and ran bases in a dimly lit auxiliary gym. Large snowflakes fell outside. That can mean...

Burrell, Deer Lakes, Freeport and Valley will try to rekindle some old rivalries in a new baseball section this spring. After two years in Class 4A, Burrell and Freeport return to Class 3A for the 2023 season. They will compete in Section 3 with fellow A-K Valley schools Deer Lakes...

North Catholic senior Maggie Foley had gold on her mind Wednesday afternoon at the PIAA Class 2A girls diving championships at Bucknell University. She finished runner-up the past two years to Marple Newtown graduate Alexandra Pastris. But the Pitt commit’s rise to the top of the podium was cut off...

The PIAA basketball playoffs hits the midway point with the quarterfinals on Friday featuring Class 5A, 4A and A boys along with 6A, 3A and 2A girls third-round games. Here are the sites and times for the state quarterfinals on Friday on The Road to Hershey. Boys 5A Penn Hills...

The WPIAL will be well represented Wednesday afternoon and evening in the championship finals at the PIAA Class 2A swimming championships at Bucknell University. On the girls side, the Mt. Pleasant 200-yard medley relay of sophomore Kiersten O’Connor and seniors SaraJo Gardner, McKenna Mizikar and Reegan Brown (1:48.29); King in...

It’s a realignment year in WPIAL baseball and once again, the higher classifications have taken a hit. While Class 6A is down one team from the last two-year cycle, Class 5A is down one whole section after shrinking from 25 teams to 19 teams for the 2023 and 2024 seasons....

Beaver’s softball team has won two straight WPIAL Class 4A championships in addition to capturing the 2021 PIAA title and finishing last season as state runners-up. Things will look a bit different without dominating pitcher Payton List in the circle for the Bobcats. She is now at Virginia Tech after...

The Road to Hershey continues Wednesday with more PIAA second-round basketball action. Class 6A district champions collide at Central Cambria as WPIAL winner Central Catholic (17-9) goes up against District 6 champ State College (24-2) at 6 p.m. The Little Lions have won 10 consecutive games since losing to District...

High schools Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A Wednesday’s schedule Second round Chambersburg (16-11) vs. Archbishop Wood (17-8) at Cedar Crest, 7:30 p.m.; North Penn (19-8) vs. Coatesville (19-9) at Pottstown, 7:30 p.m.; Parkland (19-9) vs. Garnet Valley (18-9) at Geigle Complex, 6 p.m.; Lower Merion (22-4) vs. Roman Catholic...

Laurel Highlands coach Rick Hauger’s practices can include some junk defenses, maybe a diamond-and-one or triangle-and-two, but the Mustangs don’t use them in games. Instead, he wants his offense to solve them. Rodney Gallagher faced one of those combination schemes Tuesday night and still scored a game-high 28 points as...

Jasmine Timmerson dropped 19 points and Kellie McConnell finished with 18 to lead North Allegheny to a 57-34 victory over Mt. Lebanon in the PIAA Class 6A girls basketball second round Tuesday night. The Tigers (22-5) jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead and never looked back. Jenny Smith scored...

There will be a new PIHL Penguins Cup champion in Class 2A. Thomas Jefferson felt short in its bid for a repeat by suffering a 7-2 loss at the hands of Armstrong in the semifinal round at the RMU Island Sports Center on Tuesday. The top-seeded River Hawks (18-3-0) recorded...

The last time Lincoln Park and Highlands met, back in the WPIAL semifinals, the Leopards couldn’t stop hitting outside shots. Their 23-point win was the largest margin of victory in the postseason so far for the recently crowned Class 4A district champs. The game and matchup were much different Tuesday...

SLIPPERY ROCK — Greensburg Central Catholic allowed a double-digit lead to disappear in the third quarter by giving up a 16-4 run. During a timeout, coach Chris Skatell seemed unfazed by the huge momentum shift. “I told the girls this is where we want to be. Tied game with eight...

Greensburg Salem and Kiski Area are no strangers to each other on the ice. The teams will square off for the third time this season Wednesday night, with the winner earning a spot in the Class A Penguins Cup final. Their semifinal is at 9 p.m. at RMU Island Sports...

Five-time defending WPIAL champion North Allegheny is the preseason favorite to defend its Class 3A boys volleyball title, according to a poll of coaches in the Western Pa. Volleyball Coaches Association. The Tigers, who also have won four straight PIAA championships, are followed in the poll by Shaler, Seneca Valley,...

The Armstrong Sports Hall of Fame is back. After a three-year hiatus because of the covid pandemic, the hall of fame will host an induction banquet April 30, at Laube Hall at Freeport Community Park. The Class of 2023 is John Bartolovic (football coaching, Ford City), Pamela Hobaugh (basketball, Ford...

Mt. Pleasant sophomore Lily King reigned supreme at the WPIAL swimming championships March 2 and 3 as a strong contingent of Westmoreland County and Alle-Kiski Valley Class 2A and Class 3A competitors made their marks at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Now, they hope to do the same at the PIAA championships...

PIHL playoffs Class A Semifinals Norwin (17-4) vs. Fox Chapel (19-2) 7 p.m. Wednesday, Robert Morris Island Sports Center, Neville Township Seeds: Norwin Blue No. 3; Fox Chapel Blue No. 1 Winner plays: Winner of Greensburg Salem (18-3)/Kiski Area (17-5) in championship at 8:45 p.m. March 20 at UPMC Lemieux...