High School category, Page 538
Canon-McMillan girls wrestling team wins 1st Western Regional
The growth of girls wrestling was on display Sunday as more than 100 girls wrestlers competed in the first MyHouse Western Regional girls championships at Kiski Area. In a meet composed of wrestlers from schools in PIAA Districts 7, 8 and 10, the wrestlers from the WPIAL schools shined: 10...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Hockey teams ready for next round
The high school hockey playoffs continue this week for eight Westmoreland County teams. In PIHL Class 2A, No. 8 seed Hempfield (7-11) travels to Kittanning to play No. 1 Armstrong (17-3) in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. No. 4 seed Penn-Trafford (13-7), meantime, hosts No. 5 Thomas Jefferson (12-8)...
37 WPIAL teams enter state tournament as PIAA releases girls basketball brackets
The Path to the Pete is complete as the focus turns to the Road to Hershey and the start of the PIAA basketball postseason next weekend. The state basketball playoffs tip off Friday and Saturday. Here is a look at the dates, sites and times for the 37 WPIAL girls...
WPIAL boys basketball teams set for opening-round matchups in PIAA playoffs
The Path to the Pete is complete as the focus turns to the Road to Hershey and the start of the PIAA basketball postseason next weekend. The state basketball playoffs tip off Friday and Saturday. Here is a look at the dates, sites and times for the 36 District 7...
Early-season tests provided foundation for Deer Lakes’ run to WPIAL title
When Deer Lakes’ boys basketball team took the floor against the top teams in the WPIAL during the district playoffs, the Lancers felt right at home. Mostly because they already had played some of the best teams Western Pennsylvania has to offer. Those early-season tests helped shape the Lancers and...
Developmental season for Penn Hills wrestling ends with near-misses for WPIAL hopefuls
Penn Hills wrestling spent the season in a developmental phase, trying to build self-confidence on the roster and give kids a chance to qualify for the WPIAL Class 3A championship tournament. The Indians, though, faced a daunting task by seeing its inexperienced roster having to navigate through a sectional field...
Led by Emily Smallwood, Pine-Richland divers have successful WPIAL meet
Senior Emily Smallwood and sophomores Kendyll Jerry and Jake Jones advanced to the final round of 16 divers at the WPIAL Class 3A diving championships at North Allegheny High School on Feb. 25. Smallwood finished best among the Rams qualifiers, placing eighth with a score of 380.25. Jerry was right...
Season-ending win, young roster leave Pine-Richland boys hopeful about future
It wasn’t the season that the Pine-Richland boys basketball team hoped for, but it did end on a high note. The Rams capped a 6-15 season with a 76-72 win over playoff-bound Butler in their season finale on senior night. “It was a good way to end,” Pine-Richland coach Bob...
Plum girls value experience in WPIAL basketball playoffs
Plum girls basketball coach Rich Mull said he knew his team had its work cut out for it when it took on No. 1 South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round matchup Feb. 21. “South Fayette had a great reputation that precedes them, obviously, and it was a challenge...
Norwin notebook: Adam Bilinsky bids farewell in boys basketball playoff loss
Basketball season ended in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals for the Norwin boys. The Knights had to face the No. 1 seed in their playoff opener and, although they played with host New Castle for much of the contest, they dropped a 59-47 decision. Norwin ends the season at 14-9...
Hampton freshman makes name for himself in WPIAL wrestling postseason
Hampton freshman Dustin Kerr proved a wrist fracture and a sore elbow couldn’t prevent him from climbing a podium. The 15-year-old 127-pounder, who missed a total of six weeks this season with lingering injuries, placed second at sectionals in mid-February and fifth at the WPIAL Class 2A wrestling championships Feb....
Hampton’s Benny Haselrig fulfills Division I dream with decision to walk on at Pitt
Hampton senior Benny Haselrig agonized a bit during the recruiting process. Should he walk on at a big-time Division I football program or take a full ride to a smaller Division II school? In the end, Benny bet on himself. The three-time all-Greater Allegheny Conference first-team wide receiver committed to...
New aggressive style leads to success on mat for Fox Chapel junior
Alexander Kaufmann started having fun with wrestling again when he decided to change things up. The 152-pound Fox Chapel junior spent this season trying to press the pace and make opponents match his tempo. Kaufmann, who says he spends a lot of time reflecting on matches, was the lone Foxes...
Fox Chapel notebook: Boys basketball battles back to make PIAA playoffs
Getting punched in the gut several times hasn’t deterred the Fox Chapel boys basketball team. The Foxes closed the season on a three-game losing streak and backed into the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. After opening the playoffs with a win over Thomas Jefferson, the Foxes lost 67-62 to North Hills...
Gateway boys turn attention to PIAA basketball playoffs
Kaleb Pryor still feels the sting of the Gateway boys basketball team’s loss to top-seeded Peters Township in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Feb. 25. “In a playoff atmosphere like that, in the final four or five minutes of the fourth quarter, it comes down to half-court possessions and playing...
Gateway hopes confidence carries over after strong performance in last year’s baseball playoffs
The Gateway baseball team entered last year’s WPIAL Class 5A playoffs as the 15th seed after tying for fourth place in Section 1 with McKeesport at 3-7. But the Gators didn’t let their seed get to them as they took on No. 2 Bethel Park. Gateway took the eventual PIAA...
Ruby Olliffe, Quaker Valley divers have strong showing at WPIAL meet
Quaker Valley’s Ruby Olliffe repeated as the WPIAL Class 2A runner-up in girls diving. The sophomore diving specialist placed second to North Catholic’s Maggie Foley with a 477.65-point total at the WPIAL finals Feb. 24 at North Allegheny. “It was an incredibly competitive meet. Every girl there came prepared with...
Quaker Valley boys see remarkable season end with playoff loss to Belle Vernon
The section champion Quaker Valley boys basketball team had a tough draw in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. Really tough. The Quakers, who shared the Section 4-4A championship with South Allegheny and received the No. 7 seed for the playoffs, lost to visiting Belle Vernon, 81-55,...
Westmoreland County athletes of the week: Penn-Trafford’s Olivia Pepple, Mt. Pleasant’s Joseph Gardner
Olivia Pepple School: Penn-Trafford Class: Junior Sport: Basketball Claim to fame: Pepple took over the fourth quarter Thursday against Hampton to keep the Warriors’ season alive. She scored 11 of her 17 points, including a key 3-pointer, as Penn-Trafford won 49-44 to earn seventh place in WPIAL Class 5A. Pepple,...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Fox Chapel’s Sophie Shao, Deer Lakes’ Nate Litrun
Sophie Shao Class: Senior School: Fox Chapel Sport: Swimming Report card: Shao won the 200-yard IM (2 minutes, 2.85 seconds) for the second straight year and the 100-yard butterfly (53.98) for the fourth time at the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Thursday at Pitt’s Trees Pool, and then helped Fox...
Frazier’s Lawrence emerges with 189-pound title at Class 2A Southwest Regional
ALTOONA — It didn’t take long for Rune Lawrence to flash the brilliance of his skills in the sport he loves. Frazier’s dominating 189-pound junior showed why he’s a two-time PIAA Class 2A wrestling champion by registering the only fall in the finals of the Southwest Regional championship tournament Saturday...
Kiski Area’s Klingensmith wins WPIAL Class 3A wrestling title
It turned out to be quite a weekend for the Kiski Area wrestling program. After a subpar regular season for the Cavaliers, the individual tournament brought out a different animal. Senior Ryan Klingensmith dropped two weight classes over the past month and earned the 121-pound title at the WPIAL/PIAA Southwest...
Hempfield edges past Franklin Regional for regional boys team bowling title
After a long day of bowling, made longer by a power outage at AMF Noble Manor Lanes that delayed the start of competition several hours, it all came down to the final frame at the Western Pennsylvania Regional boys team bowling championships Saturday. Hempfield defeated Franklin Regional, 147-145, in the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for March 4, 2023
High schools Basketball WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Saturday’s result Championship Central Catholic 61, New Castle 52 Class 2A Saturday’s result Championship Aliquippa 52, Northgate 40 Girls Class 5A Saturday’s result Championship South Fayette 64, Oakland Catholic 49 Class 4A Saturday’s result Championship North Catholic 51, Blackhawk 35 Class A...
Behind big night from Dante DePante, Central Catholic stops New Castle to win 2nd WPIAL title
Central Catholic hadn’t won a WPIAL title in 15 years, but Dante DePante made himself at home in Petersen Events Center, an arena that’s about a mile from the Vikings’ gym. The big college floor seemed advantageous, said DePante, who found lanes into the paint and scored a game-high 29...
