High School category, Page 509

Becoming a better basketball player wasn’t going to be accomplished by doing the same old things. Jaisen Blackman, a senior at Monessen, decided he was going to find an outlet to help improve. By playing in a league in the Mon Valley, Blackman gave himself a boost. “It was my...

Each week throughout the high school football season, the Valley News Dispatch will take a look at the players, coaches and events that shaped our scholastic legacy. After coming up short two of the three previous seasons, Riverview finally got to wear the Class A crown with a 19-14 victory...

There’s a pleasant surprise involving Leechburg girls basketball this season. More players. After several seasons with a barely enough players to take the court, Leechburg has its roster in double digits. The Blue Devils went 0-17 last season, 0-8 in section play, but that hasn’t hindered more girls coming out...

The names are familiar, and so are the goals. The Leechburg boys basketball team returns five of its top seven players from last season, and the Blue Devils are poised to try for an eighth consecutive WPIAL playoff berth. Coach Damian Davies brings back an experienced lineup, led by forward...

Scott Giacobbi is beginning his 18th season as girls basketball coach at Mt. Pleasant. He called last season a regrouping year. The Vikings were sometimes overmatched in Section 4-4A, but with a drop in classification, Giacobbi is looking forward to the new challenges his squad will face. Instead of playing...

Justin Walther, a familiar face around WPIAL circles, is the new coach of the Plum boys basketball team. Walther was hired at the end of June and replaces Mark Marino, who went 23-25 in three seasons as the Mustangs coach. Walther graduated from Central Catholic in 1995 as the second-leading...

Expectations have been raised for the second year of the Rich Mull coaching tenure at Plum. “I was hired at the end of last summer, so we really didn’t have an offseason to put things in place,” Mull said. “We should be more prepared with everyone knowing their roles. “We...

How many folks are coming to Thanksgiving dinner? Central Valley’s Bret FitzSimmons expected to eat turkey with around 70 friends. It’s become an annual after-practice tradition for him and his football teammates, who planned to eat together around noon Thursday for the fourth year in a row. That’s one of...

Last season, Beaver Falls had a WPIAL championship experience to forget. The Tigers turned the ball over nine times — a WPIAL record for a championship game — in a loss to Serra Catholic on the North Shore. That experience has turned into a rallying cry for Beaver Falls, which...

A season ago, the Bishop Canevin Crusaders completed a turnaround from 1-9 in 2019 to WPIAL champions in Class A under then second-year coach Richard Johnson. Not only did the Crusaders win the second football championship in school history in 2021, but they brought most of the roster back for...

North Allegheny and Pine-Richland celebrated WPIAL championships Saturday and will now continue their seasons in the PIAA playoffs. City League champion Westinghouse also remains in contention for a PIAA title and will face its toughest test this Saturday. Here’s a look at the local teams playing in the PIAA quarterfinals...

Last week: 1-0 (100%) Season: 105-28 (78.9%) The Birdie wants to set something straight about Belle Vernon on the eve of the WPIAL Class 3A championship. “They’re not playing down,” Westmoreland’s prep football professor said, shaking his head. “You Leopard fans need to realize the opposite is true: The team...

By now you have probably become familiar with the new gang in town — the Acrisure Pigeons. The avian group invaded Acrisure Stadium a few weeks ago as the Steelers took on the Saints. When the Steelers pulled off a rare victory that day, the Pigeons were credited with bringing...

Dylan Bourque made 28 saves to earn the shutout and lead North Catholic to a 4-0 victory over Avonworth in PIHL Class A hockey Tuesday night. Emilio Laracuente, Carson Paglia, Chaise Caldararo and Sam DiGaetano scored for North Catholic (6-1-1). Ryan Berry had a pair of assists. Danny Mack made...

High schools Football WPIAL playoffs Class 4A Championship Friday’s schedule Aliquippa (11-0) vs. Central Valley (11-1) at Acrisure Stadium, 8 p.m. Class 3A Championship Friday’s schedule Belle Vernon (9-2) vs. Avonworth (11-1) at Acrisure Stadium, 5 p.m. Class 2A Championship Friday’s schedule Steel Valley (11-0) vs. Beaver Falls (11-1) at...

Brett Marabito gazed into the stands and grinned at the site of the assembled crowd inside the Ligonier Valley High School gymnasium for the first Westmoreland County Coaches Association All-Star Volleyball Match. The event Tuesday night showcased some of Westmoreland County’s top high school girls volleyball players and was the...

There’s a new No. 1 team in Class 2A. Previously undefeated Lakeland of District 2 saw its state title hopes end Friday with a 42-15 loss to District 11 champion Executive Education in a PIAA first-round game. That loss clears the way for City League champion Westinghouse to climb one...

There was no need for Knoch boys basketball coach Alan Bauman to apply any extra pressure. What the Knights needed were honest expectations for the season ahead. Not returning many starters from last season’s team will mean a lot of fresh faces in new roles. “We’ve been talking a lot...

Making a run to the Petersen Events Center didn’t necessarily impact the passion surrounding the Knoch girls basketball program. For the Knights players who made school history by winning 22 games and reaching the WPIAL final and winning a PIAA playoff game for the first time, that passion was always...

When Emily Daugherty was hired as the Ligonier Valley girls basketball coach, she inherited a program that was a mess. It barely had enough players to field a team, and the district thought it would be good to play in Class 4A instead of Class 2A. The Rams went 0-24...

It could be an interesting season for the Ligonier Valley boys basketball program. The Rams were hit hard by graduation and return only two starters from a team that finished 8-4 in Section 3-3A and 12-11 overall. The Rams lost to Avonworth in the first round of the playoffs. But...

First, there was curiosity. Then came eagerness. Before long, though, bewilderment set in. Did this experiment backfire? “There’s no way,” Belle Vernon football coach Matt Humbert said as he watched then-sophomore Steve Macheska pull up lame two years ago on the first day of training camp. “That’s just my luck....

Despite an overtime loss in an opening round playoff game, it was an outstanding season for Highlands. The Golden Rams finished at 9-2, garnered second place in the Greater Allegheny Conference at 5-1 and outscored the opposition 356-182. In six conference games, Highlands gave up 99 points, 56 of those...

Norwin’s hockey team won the school’s first PIHL championship last year, a moment that created new memories for everyone on that roster. One of those players was Sean Hanley, who finished with seven points, all assists, in 20 games last season. Hanley described the feeling of being a part of...

It’s around the time of year when athletes are signing their national letters of intent, and when it came time for Kiski Area senior Maxine Crosby to put pen to paper, she signed to play soccer at Edinboro. “I looked at schools that weren’t far from home and Division II,”...