High School category, Page 6
GCC girls get ‘mad,’ pull away from OLSH in WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals
Greensburg Central Catholic senior Erica Gribble blew a layup to open the second half of Wednesday WPIAL’s Class 3A game. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart used the Gribble miss and a couple of turnovers during an 11-0 run to grab a one-point lead. But Gribble responded, scored the next...
Penn-Trafford ‘ready for anything’ in Class 5A quarterfinal win over Indiana
Having played Indiana twice this year, Penn-Trafford knew the Indians about as well as any team could know an opponent. The Warriors scoured film and replicated what they planned to see in their third meeting. When the Section 2-5A co-champs met in the WPIAL girls basketball quarterfinals, the Warriors were...
Franklin Regional promotes OL/strength coach Brian Johnson to head coaching job
As director of facilities at Franklin Regional, Brian Johnson’s duties range from overseeing maintenance and repairs to coordinating with contractors for building projects. He even has to make occasional proposals at school board meetings. As head football coach of the Panthers, he wants to make sure the program, and its...
9-time WPIAL champion Bob Palko returns to West Allegheny as football coachVideo
Nine-time WPIAL champion Bob Palko is returning to the sideline at a place he knows well: West Allegheny. The school board rehired Palko on Wednesday night, bringing one of the WPIAL’s most successful football coaches back to a program he led for 24 years. Palko won more than 200 games,...
Well-prepared Knoch too much for Central Valley in Class 4A quarterfinalsVideo
As easy as Knoch senior guard Teegan Finucan made it look Wednesday night, it seemed like he had the answers to the test. As it turns out, he was well prepared for whatever Central Valley planned to throw at him in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals matchup at North Allegheny...
Nazareth Prep fights off feisty St. Joseph in Class A quarterfinals
The Nazareth Prep boys basketball team is moving on to the WPIAL Class A semifinals, but its quarterfinal victory Tuesday evening at Fox Chapel didn’t come without a fight from St. Joseph. Neither the No. 2 Saints nor the No. 7 Spartans held more than a two-point lead through the...
Maggie Spell hits 2,000-point mark as Thomas Jefferson drops Fox Chapel in 5A quarterfinals
With 15 seconds left in the first quarter of Thomas Jefferson’s 72-44 WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinal victory over Fox Chapel, Maggie Spell made a layup. Right after, Jaguars coach Matt Gould called a timeout. “I was like, ‘What was he doing?’ ” Spell said. A strange response coming...
Deer Lakes tandem leads upset of Hopewell in Class 4A boys quarterfinalsVideo
No. 13 Deer Lakes drove No. 5 Hopewell out of the playoffs for a second consecutive upset in a 71-59 boys basketball victory to earn a trip to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. This is the Lancers’ third semifinal appearance in the past four seasons. They won the WPIAL title...
Seton LaSalle junior wins WPIBL boys singles bowling championship
After the first game of qualifying Wednesday at AMF Mt. Lebanon, Seton LaSalle junior Brody Dilla rolled a 180 and was tied for 44th place. He didn’t stay in that part of the leaderboard for long. Dilla broke 200 in each of the next four games he bowled, defeating New...
A-K Valley high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 19, 2026
WPIAL basketball playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals 8-Fox Chapel (14-9) at 1-Upper St. Clair (21-1) 7:30 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: Winner of 4-Seneca Valley (13-9)/5-Hempfield (15-7) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Joe McGivney, Fox Chapel; Ryan Robbins, Upper St. Clair Layup lines: Fox Chapel advanced...
Aliquippa wins appeal, will play Class 3A football for next 2 years
The ongoing saga between the PIAA and Aliquippa over what football classification the Quips should play in took another turn Wednesday. On appeal, the PIAA overturned its earlier decision to keep Aliquippa in Class 4A, thus allowing the Quips to play the next two football seasons in Class 3A. “Yes,...
Baldwin elects to play independent football schedule
Citing a focus on student safety and development, the Baldwin-Whitehall School District announced Wednesday that its high school football program will compete as an independent for the next two seasons. The Fighting Highlanders will join Butler as the only WPIAL football programs to be independent for the next two-year cycle....
Recapping the 2025-26 WPIAL boys and girls basketball 1st roundVideo
It took five days, starting with six preliminary round games, but the first round of the 2026 WPIAL boys and girls basketball playoffs are in the books. Some opening round eyebrow-raisers included victories by the Ringgold boys, Deer Lakes boys, Shady Side Academy boys, Ligonier Valley boys and Peters Township...
Westmoreland County high school basketball playoff preview capsules for Feb. 19, 2026
Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals 5-Hempfield (15-7) at 4-Seneca Valley (13-9) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: Winner of 8-Fox Chapel (14-9)/1-Upper St. Clair (21-2) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Danny Husenits, Hempfield; Andrew Omasits, Seneca Valley Layup lines: Hempfield is back in the playoffs for the...
Times, sites set for Friday’s WPIAL basketball quarterfinals
The opening round of the WPIAL boys and girls basketball playoffs is in the rearview mirror with three straight evenings of second round action ahead. The district quarterfinals conclude Friday with boys Class 5A, boys 3A, girls 6A and girls 2A second round contests setting the stage for the WPIAL...
Trib 10: Upset bug bites 2 power-ranked teams in 1st round
The first round is in the rearview mirror with minimal damage done to the elite teams throughout the WPIAL. These weekly power rankings fall right between the end of the first round and the start of the district quarterfinals. There were two teams that were stunned in the opening round...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 18, 2026: Quarterfinals begin with defending champs in spotlight
Welcome to the first day of the second round in the WPIAL basketball playoffs with teams in boys Class 4A and A and girls Class 5A and 3A claiming the spotlight. Last year, the Belle Vernon boys basketball team was in the same quadrant in the Class 4A bracket heading...
4 Fayette County schools returning to WPIAL football
The WPIAL plans to release the new conference alignments for the 2026 and 2027 fall sports season in the next week or two. There is plenty of excitement, per usual, when it comes to what the high school football landscape will look like for the next two seasons. There is...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 17, 2026
High schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Thursday’s schedule Fox Chapel (14-9) at Upper St. Clair (21-1), 7:30 p.m.; Hempfield (15-7) at Seneca Valley (13-9), 7 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (15-8) at New Castle (21-1), 7 p.m.; Imani Christian (7-16) vs. Central Catholic (20-2) at Fox Chapel, 7:30 p.m....
High school roundup for Feb. 17, 2025: 15th-seeded Ringgold drops No. 2 Lincoln Park in Class 5A 1st-round stunner
Demetri Lowe scored 26 points and Dennis Hawkins added 20 as No. 15 Ringgold shocked No. 2 Lincoln Park, 79-77, in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round matchup Tuesday night. David Wachinski and Takeo Tolliver each scored 10 points for the Rams (15-9), who took a seven-point lead at...
Ligonier Valley knocks off Keystone Oaks in 1st round, earns ‘program-defining’ winVideo
Last year, Ligonier Valley made the 54-mile trip to Keystone Oaks for a Class 3A boys basketball first-round playoff game. The Rams were bounced from the postseason in a 15-point loss to the Golden Eagles. So when the teams were matched up again Tuesday in the opening round of this...
Shaler boys take over 4th quarter, pull away vs. Franklin Regional in WPIAL 5A 1st roundVideo
Franklin Regional led the entire third quarter and was primed to close out Shaler with a strong fourth. But when the final quarter started, the Panthers quickly realized the Titans wanted to win, too. Ninth-seeded Shaler roared back and flattened the No. 8 Panthers in the final eight minutes, scoring...
Southmoreland uses strong 4th quarter to defeat Washington in Class 3A playoffs
Southmoreland boys basketball coach Frank Muccino told his players they needed to do three things if they wanted to defeat Washington and advance in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs: rebound, take care of the ball and play strong defense. Making a few clutch free throws down the stretch wouldn’t hurt,...
Fort Cherry cranks up pressure in Class 2A win over Riverview
Fort Cherry’s defense fueled the Rangers to a 55-24 victory over Riverview in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball playoffs Tuesday night. The Rangers forced 37 turnovers with Fort Cherry collecting 20 steals as a team. “We knew coming in that their full-court press was a...
Underdog Latrobe pushes Thomas Jefferson, but Jaguars hang on for Class 5A win
With three minutes left in the third quarter of its WPIAL Class 5A first-round game Tuesday, Thomas Jefferson found itself trailing No. 14 Latrobe by eight on its home court before rallying for an 86-79 victory. Both teams entered the postseason among the top offenses in 5A, with the Jaguars...
