High School category, Page 496

Pine-Richland seniors Max Heckert and Isaiah Kerns will get one last game on the football field together and take part in a prestigious event. Heckert and Kerns were selected to play for Pennsylvania in the annual Big 33 Classic high school all-star game. This year’s contest will be held at...

Riverview boys basketball coach Phil McGivney hoped to be involved in on-court playoff activities instead of recalling what could’ve been from the regular season. The Raiders set themselves up for a run to the WPIAL postseason, but some tough outcomes down the stretch foiled their plans for the playoffs. “I...

The Plum girls swim team will be taking one of its largest groups to the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Nine swimmers — seven individuals and two others who will swim only relays — hope to make a splash Thursday and Friday. “From a coaching standpoint, this...

Alexa Washington felt a tinge of emotion rise to the surface last week when talking about the inevitable conclusion of her high school basketball career levied against the excitement of her Oakland Catholic team’s opportunities in the WPIAL playoffs. “I know it’s coming, but right now, all I am thinking...

High schools WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Semifinals Tuesday’s schedule New Castle (21-2) vs. Mt. Lebanon (16-7) at North Allegheny, 8 p.m.; Upper St. Clair (15-8) vs. Central Catholic (14-9) at Peters Township, 8 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Saturday’s results Penn Hills 67, North Hills 51 Peters Township 62, Gateway...

Sophomore Jake Burgos scored a big victory in the Allderdice boys fencing team’s 5-4 victory over rival Fox Chapel on Feb. 10 at Allderdice High School. The defending Pittsburgh Interscholastic Fencing Association champion Dragons clinched a spot in the league playoffs with that win and a victory later in the...

Chartiers Valley’s Dylan Evans won the latest chapter in one of the WPIAL’s hottest rivalries this season, defeating West Allegheny’s Shawn Taylor in the 160-pound finals of the Class 3A Southern Sectional tournament Saturday. Evans defeated Taylor, 3-2. Taylor beat Evans, 2-1 in the second tiebreaker at Powerade on Dec....

Grace Iwig School: Hempfield Sport: Indoor track & field Year: Junior Claim to fame: Iwig capped a strong indoor regular season with a victory in the pole vault at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championship at Edinboro. Her winning height was 11 feet, which was a foot better than second...

Doing the little things can decide who wins or loses. That was certainly the case in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball semifinal matchup between Peters Township and Gateway. In a game that was tied at half, the No. 1-seed Indians outscored the No. 4 Gators by eight points in...

Julia Mohrbacher scored 33 points to lead second-seeded Freedom to a 47-44 victory over 11th-seeded Aliquippa in the WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball semifinals Saturday afternoon at Beaver Falls. Freedom (20-4) will face top-seeded Shenango in the finals at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Petersen Events Center. Aunesty Johnson led...

Penn Hills teammates Daemar Kelly and Julian Dugger have perfected their high-flying alley-oop this winter, mastering a play that shows their rare athleticism. Five times they connected Saturday. But it was a 6-foot junior who stayed far away from the rim who left North Hills coaches shaking their heads. Lamire...

One day after North Catholic’s Maggie Foley became the first girls diver in eight years to win four straight WPIAL gold medals, North Allegheny senior Christina Shi matched the feat, capturing her fourth with a score of 540.75. “It definitely feels amazing,” Shi said. “But it was a hard one...

Greta O’Brien has had dreams of playing at the Petersen Events Center since watching her older sister Olivia play there with Vincentian in 2018. Thanks to her big second half on the scoreboard and a strong collective defensive effort, she and her Avonworth teammates will have that opportunity. O’Brien scored...

For three of the four quarters in Saturday afternoon’s WPIAL Class A semifinal between Geibel and Imani Christian Academy, the fourth-seeded Gators proved they could go toe-to-toe with the top-seeded Saints. However, the one quarter that doomed Geibel was the first, as Imani Christian bolted to a 31-4 lead en...

During the 87 years of the WPIAL championships, only 31 wrestlers have won four titles, and 84 were three-time champions. Laurel senior Grant MacKay and Frazier junior Rune Lawrence now make it 86 three-time winners, and Lawrence has a shot at joining his brother Thayne as a four-time winner next...

Braylee Ireland Class: Freshman School: Knoch Sport: Wrestling Report card: Knoch’s Braylee Ireland won the 118-pound title at the second annual Western Pa. girls wrestling championships Sunday. She pinned Fox Chapel’s Ava McCaffrey in 2 minutes, 58 seconds to clinch first place. In the first round, Ireland scored a 10-0...

Norwin sent its top athletes to the Tri-State Coaches Association Indoor Championships on Feb. 18 at Edinboro University, and a number of them came home with medals. The girls distance medley relay of Anna DeFazio, Bella Brozeski, Emma Jiancristoforo and Annie Czajkowski took third in 13 minutes, 13.98 seconds and...

North Allegheny’s Corky Semler has coached high school swimming for almost 40 years, so when he says this year’s freshman class is among his best, that’s worth noting. The Tigers had a dozen ninth graders qualify for the WPIAL championships March 2-3 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Seven were seeded among...

Geographically speaking, Murrysville is practically a part of the Alle-Kiski Valley, so it makes sense for Franklin Regional to be included in that region’s long-running basketball all-star weekend. The 26th Cager Classic returns March 25 to Highlands High School and four Franklin Regional players were selected to take part in...

The Hampton swim team has stressed the importance of team success throughout the season. A large group of individuals and relays will lead the Talbots into the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships Thursday and Friday at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Hampton had 14 swimmers meet the automatic qualifying standard, including senior...

The Hampton competitive spirit team was riding a high after hitting a perfect routine in the finals of the PIAA Class 2A championships. However, the Talbots had a bad break a week before the team was set to compete in the Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Championships in Orlando,...

Fox Chapel’s Anna Troutman is setting the table well for her outdoor track season. The Foxes picked up a number of medals at the final Tri-State Track Coaches Association Indoor Championship meet. Troutman was the only athlete headed to State College for the state indoor track championship. She set the...

Fox Chapel goalie Joe Rattner believes the Foxes have a reputation among PIHL Class A hockey teams: Fox Chapel is willing to dig in and do the dirty work when games get tough. The goal for the Foxes, who will play in the PIHL quarterfinals when the playoffs begin in...

Welcome to the start of the 2023 WPIAL basketball final four. The first of three days of district hoops semifinals action tips off Saturday with third-round games in boys Class 5A and Class A, along with girls 3A and 2A. Three Indians and a Gator are part of the boys...

High schools WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals Friday’s results New Castle 59, Norwin 47 Mt. Lebanon 55, Butler 50 Upper St. Clair 45, Seneca Valley 43 Central Catholic 80, Baldwin 75 (OT) Semifinals Tuesday’s schedule New Castle (21-2) vs. Mt. Lebanon (16-7); Upper St. Clair (15-8) vs. Central Catholic...