High School category, Page 546
High-scoring duo sends Geibel past Neighborhood Academy in Class A thriller
Before Wednesday’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinal showdown between fourth-seeded Geibel and fifth-seeded Neighborhood Academy, Geibel coach Don Porter instinctively pointed out that the game would be decided in the final four minutes. Actually, it came down to the final seconds. After trailing for more than three quarters, the Gators put...
Top-seeded Peters Township passes another test, tops South Fayette
Not everybody agreed with Peters Township getting the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball playoffs, but the Indians have passed two exams and are now halfway toward earning their spot at the top of the championship mountain. Peters Township had four players in double-digit scoring as...
Freshman Eric James scores 20 in 4th to help rally North Hills past Fox Chapel
North Hills freshman Eric James put on a show in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal game against Fox Chapel. Maybe he was trying to impress Pitt coach Jeff Capel, who was sitting at the press table watching the game. James scored 20 of his team-high 30...
Carlynton boys take care of business against Monessen in quarters
In a battle of the top two defenses in Class A, No. 3 Carlynton was able to find its offense in the middle quarters and put constant pressure on No. 6 Monessen as the visiting Greyhounds fell in the WPIAL quarterfinals 62-39 on Wednesday night. Monessen only scored in the...
Deep 3 helps Burgettstown girls defeat GCC in Class 2A quarterfinals
With Greensburg Central Catholic advancing on her team in the fourth quarter and momentum slipping away from Burgettstown, Jillian Frazier decided to take the stress out of the situation. In a game that had 15 3-pointers, none were more important — or impressive — than the one Frazier launched from...
Plum’s Cade Schimmer storms to WPIBL boys singles bowling title
Plum sophomore Cade Schimmer barely qualified for the finals of the WPIBL boys singles championships Wednesday at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes, but once the single-elimination stepladder finals started, he couldn’t be stopped. Schimmer defeated Butler’s Luke Keane in the finals 195-163 to give Plum back-to-back championships in the event. The...
PIAA cracks down on ‘redshirt’ years taken by junior high athletes
The PIAA is cracking down on junior high athletes who take unofficial redshirt years. Under a new rule interpretation approved Wednesday, students who pass eighth grade and voluntarily repeat that grade will start using up their eight semesters of high school eligibility. The rule change impacts students currently in sixth...
Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Latrobe coach proud of team’s effort in his final game
Call it the last dance. Latrobe’s girls gave fourth-seeded Trinity all it could handle in the WPIAL Class 5A first round, falling 69-61 as senior Josie Straigis broke out for a career-high 30 points. The loss ended the Wildcats’ season, but it also signified the end of coach Mark Burkhardt’s...
With boys record broken, Monessen AD quietly holds on to girls WPIAL scoring mark
A basketball used to break the WPIAL girls scoring record sits lonely in a box in Gina Naccarato’s basement. Naccarato is the athletic director at Monessen, her high school alma mater, and has the power to put the ball in the school’s trophy case. But she chooses to keep the...
St. Joseph coach Dennis Jones continues recovery from series of medical issues as team reaches quarterfinals
Dennis Jones watched St. Joseph girls basketball’s first-round playoff victory over Geibel on the team’s Hudl account. Monday’s triumph propelled the Spartans into the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals Thursday at Monessen. Jones, in his fifth year as St. Joseph’s coach, said he is grateful to be able to follow the...
A-K Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games for Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 4-Hampton (21-2) vs. 5-Highlands (20-3) 8 p.m. Thursday at North Allegheny High School, McCandless Winner plays: Winner of 1-Lincoln Park (22-1)/8-South Allegheny (19-4) in semifinals Monday (site, time TBD) Players to watch: Robert Coll, Hampton; Cam Reigard, Highlands Layup lines: These Section 1...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsules: Games for Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023
Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 10-Belle Vernon (11-11) vs. 2-Laurel Highlands (20-2) 8 p.m. Thursday, AHN Arena, Peters Township Winner plays: Winner of 6-North Catholic (17-6)/3-Uniontown (19-3) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon; Rodney Gallagher, Laurel Highlands Layup lines: Belle Vernon advanced to...
Kiski Area grad Ben Fiore to lead boys soccer team at alma mater
Ben Fiore is coming home. The 2015 Kiski Area graduate and former Cavaliers soccer player is the new boys coach at his alma mater. Fiore was hired Monday by the Kiski Area School Board to take over for Sean Arnold, who stepped down after the 2022 season, concluding nine years...
High school roundup for Feb. 21, 2023: Clairton boys, Hampton, Woodland Hills girls pull 1st-round upsets
Kaden Smith scored 22 points as No. 14 Clairton stunned No. 3 Fort Cherry, 53-46, in a WPIAL boys basketball Class 2A first-round playoff game Tuesday night. Devon Dean and Taris Wooding each added eight points for the Bears (11-12), who took an 18-11 advantage after one quarter and led...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 21, 2023
High schools WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals Friday’s schedule Norwin (14-8) at New Castle (20-2), 7 p.m.; Butler (14-7) at Mt. Lebanon (15-7), 7 p.m.; Seneca Valley (9-12) at Upper St. Clair (14-8), 7 p.m.; Baldwin (12-10) vs. Central Catholic (13-9) at Gateway, 7 p.m. Class 5A Quarterfinals Wednesday’s...
Penn-Trafford scores in final seconds to beat Shaler for 1st playoff win since 2015
Penn-Trafford had to work for it, but the feeling was all worthwhile. Junior guard Olivia Pepple made a layup with 3.8 seconds left to lift the eighth-seeded Warriors to a 29-28 victory over No. 9 Shaler in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round game Tuesday night in Harrison City. It was...
Northgate adds to breakout season with playoff win over Jeannette
It has been more than 10 years since Northgate won a WPIAL playoff basketball game, coach Cam Williams said. But the way the Flames played Tuesday during the first round of the Class 2A playoffs, they might be in the 2023 tournament for an extended time. Sparked by the duo...
Belle Vernon beats Greensburg Salem girls in Class 4A 1st round
For the first time since the 2018 season, the Belle Vernon girls basketball team is moving on in the WPIAL playoffs. Presleigh Colditz hit the first playoff 3-pointer since 2021 to start the fourth quarter, and Kenzi Seliga added another three minutes later to help push the Leopards (15-8) to...
Myers leads Highlands girls past Laurel Highlands, into Class 4A quarterfinals
Highlands’ Katelyn Myers carried her hot shooting into the playoffs, leading the host Golden Rams to a 54-34 victory over Laurel Highlands in a WPIAL Class 4A girls first-round game Tuesday evening. A junior, Myers scored a game-high 21 points, including six 3-pointers. Four of those treys came in the...
Alvarez helps lead Greensburg Central Catholic boys to picture-perfect win over Propel Braddock Hills
Greensburg Central Catholic basketball player Franco Alvarez likes to take photographs. It has become his hobby. He shoots anything from high school sports to sunsets and flowers in his spare time. The junior forward had an eye on the third quarter in his team’s opening playoff game. And that hot...
Oakland Catholic firing on all cylinders in Class 5A first-round win over Kiski Area
Senior-laden Oakland Catholic didn’t waste any time in taking control of its WPIAL girls basketball Class 5A first-round game against Kiski Area on Tuesday at Fox Chapel. The second-seeded Eagles, with four senior starters, opened a double-digit lead just five minutes into the game and rolled from there. Senior Alexa...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 22, 2023: Quarterfinal action ready to tip off
Welcome to the WPIAL basketball elite eight. Over the next three nights, the district will hold quarterfinals in all six classifications for boys and girls basketball to determine the final four in each class. On opening night of the quarters, Boys 5A and A along with girls 3A and 2A...
Trib HSSN Girls Basketball State Rankings for Feb. 21, 2023
It’s been said that one is the loneliest number, unless you are No. 1 in the weekly Trib HSSN girls basketball state rankings from last week. One also represents the number of teams that fell out of the state rankings from last week as Bishop Shanahan was replaced by the...
Trib HSSN Boys Basketball State Rankings for Feb. 21, 2023
There were 30 teams that appeared in last week’s Trib HSSN boys basketball state rankings. Only two of them lost. Archbishop Ryan dropped a notch to No. 5 in 5A after losing to West Catholic, while Portage fell out of the Class A rankings and was replaced by Union. Part...
Wrestling notebook: 6 wrestlers look to become 3-time WPIAL champions
During the 87 years of the WPIAL individual championships, only 31 wrestlers have won four titles and 84 three titles. That number could grow over the next two weeks. Three Class 2A wrestlers — Bentworth junior Chris Vargo, Laurel senior Grant MacKay and Frazier junior Rune Lawrence — can become...
