High School category, Page 506

What will Neshannock do for an encore? After winning back-to-back WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball championships, the Lancers will look for a three-peat as they move up to Class 3A. Lancers coach Luann Grybowski, who won the 700th game of her career and was named the state’s Class 2A coach...

There’s plenty of championship pedigree in WPIAL Class 3A basketball this season. Shady Side Academy brings back a good portion of the roster than won the 3A title at Petersen Events Center last year, and Ellwood City also returns key players from its surprise championship run in 2021. Then there’s...

High schools Football PIAA playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Saturday’s schedule Garnet Valley (13-0) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (10-1) at Northeast Super Site, Philadelphia, 1 p.m.; State College (13-0) vs. Harrisburg (10-2) at Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona, 1 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Imhotep Charter (10-2) vs. Upper Dublin (14-0)...

Benjamin Votodian scored the tying goal in the third period, leading Canon-McMillan to a 3-2 shootout victory over North Allegheny in PIHL Class 3A hockey Tuesday night. Dominic Tracanna also scored and James Morgan made 32 saves for Canon Mac (2-5-1). Brett Baker and Luke Evans scored for North Allegheny...

Latrobe wrestling coach Mark Mears had high hopes for his Wildcats in 2021. He knew if things worked out right, the Wildcats would be in the running for a WPIAL Class 3A team title, challenging No. 1 Waynesburg for a championship. And while the Wildcats (15-3) didn’t get a chance...

Being a high school coach has its rewards and drawbacks. There is the thrill of victories and the building of relationships with student-athletes. Those are some of the good things. Some of the difficult thing for coaches is not being there for the sons and daughters as they grow up....

The road will be a bit different, but the goal remains the same for Kiski Area wrestling. It wants to be competitive, have a solid bond within the team and win another section title. It’ll be a smaller roster than normal because of graduation and a few non-wrestling-related injuries, but...

The favorites remain alive in the state playoffs. The six top-ranked teams in the TribLive HSSN state football rankings all won their games last week and advance to this weekend’s PIAA semifinals. Wyomissing had the closest call among the six with a two-point win in Class 3A. There are five...

WPIAL Class 3A wrestlers to watch: Vinny Kilkeary, Latrobe The senior captured his second PIAA title by dominating Mason Leiphart of Dover, 12-3, in the 120-pound finals last season. He was the 106-pound champion in 2020. Kilkeary (102-12, 46-2) was the WPIAL champion in 2021 and placed third at the...

Waynesburg is looking for its fourth consecutive WPIAL Class 3A team title after overcoming numerous obstacles last season. A serious arm injury kept senior Cole Homet from competing in all but three matches, and weight problems kept the Raiders from having their strongest lineup. Still, they found a way to...

The 2022 fall high school sports season continues to wind down while the winter sports season begins. Trib HSSN has audio coverage of PIAA semifinal football games, as well as coverage of opening night of high school basketball season. Here’s a look at what’s coming up this week on Trib...

The Trojanettes are back. North Catholic’s girls basketball team won the WPIAL Class 4A title four straight years (2017-20) before dropping down to 3A for the past two seasons and hoisting the Class 3A trophy last winter. PIAA realignment has sent the Trojanettes back to Class 4A, where they should...

A high school career that began with a storybook WPIAL championship in 2020 ends this season as Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher plays his senior year for the Mustangs. Gallagher burst onto the scene when he scored 24 points and won a duel with Mars senior Michael Carmody in an unforgettable...

High schools Football PIAA playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Saturday’s schedule Garnet Valley (13-0) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (10-1) at Northeast Super Site, Philadelphia, 1 p.m.; State College (13-0) vs. Harrisburg (10-2) at Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona, 1 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Imhotep Charter (10-2) vs. Upper Dublin (14-0)...

Tony Kiger scored the go-ahead goal in the first period and added an insurance goal in the third to lead North Hills to a 3-1 victory over North Catholic in a battle of top teams in PIHL Class A hockey Monday night. Toby Kiger also scored for North Hills (7-0-1)....

Aelan Wyley has plans to be an architect someday. For now, she’d like to win more basketball games. With the start of the girls regular season approaching, the Valley senior guard good-naturedly laughed off the Vikings’ inability to score points and post victories, acknowledging it’s been much longer since the...

Imani Christian transfers Robert Sledge and Kylan Holmes are now eligible to play basketball this winter after the PIAA overturned earlier decisions by the WPIAL. The two had appeal hearings Monday. “They were so excited and I understand why,” Imani Christian athletic director Cliff Simon said. “Both had legitimate reason...

After a 1-21 season in his first year as a high school head basketball coach in 2021-22, Valley’s John Stone was undeterred, even as he bid farewell to four senior starters. Incidentally, the Vikings’ fifth starter since has transferred out, leaving them with an overhauled lineup this season. “I love...

The gymnasium at Yough is squeaking with basketball shoes, and there is energy in the air as girls run laps to open a practice. Their giddy chatter echoes off the bleachers. “Our numbers are up this year across the board,” sixth-year coach Mike Gerdich said. Yough will have 17 players...

A drop in classification. A new section. A host of letterwinners returning. Are the stars aligning for Yough to have one of its best basketball seasons in recent memory? Potential is bubbling up but expectations are measured, for now. “We hope so, but we need to win first,” coach Jim...

High schools Football PIAA playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Saturday’s schedule Garnet Valley (13-0) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (10-1) at Northeast Super Site, Philadelphia, 1 p.m.; State College (13-0) vs. Harrisburg (10-2) at Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona, 1 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Imhotep Charter (10-2) vs. Upper Dublin (14-0)...

Fox Chapel and North Hills, last year’s WPIAL finalists in Class 6A, moved into Class 5A in PIAA realignment in the offseason. But they’re not big-school bullies swooping in to steal the lunch money of smaller schools. Far from it. With one notable exception (see: Preseason Player of the Year),...

It’s become a common theme to list Chartiers Valley among the preseason favorites for the WPIAL Class 5A title. This year, though, the Colts are notably missing from that group. Chartiers Valley, which won the WPIAL 5A title in 2017, ’19, ’20 and ’21 and finished as the district runner-up...

If Southmoreland’s current run of WPIAL playoff appearances in girls basketball is to continue, the Scotties likely will need to reach deep down for a little something extra this season. It’s one thing to lose to graduation three starters from a 19-5 team that reached the second round of the...

From the outside, Jake Kimmich’s college decision seemed easy. Maybe even expected. The Franklin Regional senior soccer player will follow in his brothers’ footsteps and play at Grove City, a Division III program in the Presidents Athletic Conference, keeping a family tradition intact four more years. Matt Kimmich is a...