High School category, Page 681
Westmoreland notebook: Norwin’s Young added to East-West All-Star Game
Better late than not at all. Norwin senior football player Jacob Young was added to the West roster for the big-school East-West All-Star Game set for May 29 at Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg. Young is a two-way lineman who played center, tackle, guard and defensive tackle for the Knights. He...
OLSH overcomes 22-point deficit, beats Kennedy Catholic in PIAA Class 2A semifinals
The mantra in March is “survive and advance.” For Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon, it was ultimate survival mode. The Chargers, with their 66-game winning streak and a berth in the PIAA finals on the line, fell behind by 22 points midway through the second period,...
New-look Leechburg softball still expects deep postseason run
For 30 years, it’s been lather, rinse, repeat for Leechburg softball. The only real change has been the faces. The standard has always stayed the same. Coming off a solid postseason run last season, the Blue Devils arereplacing more than half of their starting lineup going into the 2022 season....
PIAA semifinal win gives Aliquippa chance for rare football-basketball championship double
Aliquippa is headed to Hershey for the second time in three months, chasing after a rare football-basketball double state championship. Sophomore point guard Quentin Goode, who quarterbacked the Quips to a football title in the fall, made a winning layup with 30 seconds left Saturday afternoon as Aliquippa defeated South...
Chartiers Valley tops McKeesport, returns to PIAA girls basketball finals
Sometimes experience just matters and will conquer all, especially when it comes to the PIAA girls basketball playoffs. The senior-laden Chartiers Valley team showcased its resolve on the court in the second quarter, outscoring McKeesport by 12 points and holding a nine-point halftime lead. The Tigers were playing catch up...
North Catholic’s Maggie Foley takes 2nd at PIAA diving championships
LEWISBURG — North Catholic junior Maggie Foley placed second to Marple Newtown senior Alexandra Pastris at last year’s PIAA Class 2A diving championships at Cumberland Valley High School. Foley hoped that a return to Bucknell and a rematch with Pastris on Saturday afternoon would yield different results. They held the...
Leechburg baseball team loaded with pitching, bursting with enthusiasm
Hard work, positivity and optimism. Spend any length of time with first-year Leechburg baseball coach Heath Shimer and it’s obvious a new era of Blue Devils baseball about to begin. “I got an awesome group of kids right now,” said Shimer. “I am surprised that I have them where I...
A-K Valley HOF inductee Jeff Cortileso kept eye on Leechburg’s football resurgence
Jeff Cortileso was happy to see his alma mater, Leechburg, get back to becoming one of the area’s top football programs. It brought back memories of his time with the Blue Devils when Leechburg often was a contender for postseason play. “I think they had a great year,” said Cortileso,...
Plum softball has tools to get clear playoff hurdle
Plum’s softball team walked off the diamond last spring stunned. Fox Chapel, the No. 14 seed in the Class 5A playoffs, upended the Mustangs, 2-0, in the WPIAL first round, abruptly halting a promising season. “I don’t like to dwell in the past too much, because there’s not a whole...
With new field complete, Plum baseball looks to defend section crown
There are some things at Plum that need to be broken in. Late last season, the Mustangs unveiled a sparkling new baseball field but were able to play only three home games on the artificial turf. A year later, a talented — yet somewhat inexperienced group — hopes that a...
Norwin notebook: Young to play in East-West All-Star Game
Norwin senior football player Jacob Young was added to the West roster for the big-school East-West All-Star Game, set for May 29 at Bishop McDevitt in Harrisburg. Young is a two-way lineman who played center, tackle, guard and defensive tackle for the Knights, and also can handle long-snapping duties. The...
Rumpler 2nd-place finish at states a boon for North Allegheny girls wrestling team
North Allegheny didn’t have a girls wresting team two years ago, yet the Tigers saw a girl finish second in the state this winter. The team’s success is a credit to the athletes, coach Dan Heckert said, but also shows how far the program has come and how far the...
Hampton shatters expectations while winning back-to-back WPIAL swim titles
Four individuals — Will Retsch, Ben Sheets, Chris Belch and Zach Sutterlin — and all three boys relays at Hampton qualified for the PIAA Class 2A swimming championships, as did Pax Carslaw, a diving specialist. The leader of the pack was none other than Retsch, a senior who won WPIAL...
After rounding out game, Hampton’s Hoehler headed to Pitt-Greensburg
Hampton’s Kayla Hoehler has been playing basketball for more than half of her life. She started playing at around age 7, continued through her middle school days and was a four-year varsity starter for the Talbots from 2018-22. The 5-foot-8 senior guard plans to extend her career to the next...
WPIAL swimmers chasing more gold in championship heats at PIAA swim meet Day 2
LEWISBURG — After winning seven state titles on Day 1 of the PIAA Class 2A swimming championships at Bucknell, WPIAL swimmers are after more gold Saturday evening. Two Friday state champs will go head to head in the girls 100-yard freestyle as Mt. Pleasant freshman Lily King and Northgate sophomore...
WPIAL swimmers claim 7 state titles on 1st day of PIAA Class 2A championships
LEWISBURG — Friday was a banner day for WPIAL boys and girls swimmers at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell. The district took home seven individual state titles — four boys and three girls — out of the 12 contested events. Indiana freshman Preston Kessler got the party started....
Mike Wells shakes off sore elbow, leads New Castle to 1st PIAA finals since ’14
Mike Wells’ elbow was still hurting him, but that didn’t hide his happiness as New Castle fans rained Hershey’s Kisses on the Red Hurricanes’ postgame celebration. A day after falling hard at practice, Wells shook off the shooting-arm injury and scored a game-high 26 points Friday night with four 3-pointers...
High school sports scores, schedules for March 18, 2022
High schools Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Saturday’s schedule Lower Merion (27-3) vs. Roman Catholic (22-4) at Coatesville, 4 p.m. Archbishop Wood (20-7) vs. Fox Chapel (27-1) at Chambersburg, 4 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s result New Castle 59, Gateway 39 Saturday’s schedule Chester (20-3) vs. Imhotep Charter...
Mt. Pleasant’s King is queen of the PIAA 50 freestyle, with a record time
LEWISBURG - Mt. Pleasant freshman Lily King familiarized herself with the top of a swimming medals podium at the WPIAL Class 2A championships earlier this month. She was there four times in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles and also as part of the Vikings’ 200 free and 400 free relays....
Freedom stuns WPIAL champion North Catholic to earn trip to PIAA basketball finals
As Freedom girls basketball coach John Kaercher would have it, “These dogs had their day.” Talk about March Madness. Instead of falling victim to highly touted North Catholic for a fourth time this season, Freedom decided to stun the Trojanettes, 46-39, in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Friday night at...
High school roundup for March 18, 2022: Quaker Valley advances to PIAA finals
Quaker Valley rallied from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to advance to the state title game for the second time in school history after a 67-60 win over Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals Friday night. The Quakers trailed 49-41 after three quarters, but Markus Frank tipped in...
8 is enough for Freeport freshman Kira Schrecongost at PIAA championships
LEWISBURG - Freeport freshman Kira Schrecongost swam four times on the first day of the WPIAL Class 2A championships March 3 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She doubled that during the first day of the PIAA championships Friday at Bucknell. Schrecongost swam two relay and two individual preliminaries and came back...
Burrell’s Lydia Flanagan captures state bowling title
Burrell’s Lydia Flanagan found a groove and rolled to a state title Friday. Flanagan topped Warwick’s Taylor Miller, 223-156, in the championship match of the Pennsylvania girls singles bowling championship at 222 Dutch Lanes in Lancaster. It was the first time a girl from the western region won a girls...
What to watch for in high school sports for March 19, 2022: Teams chasing PIAA finals berths
Welcome to Semifinals Saturday in the PIAA basketball playoffs. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has beaten many different boys basketball teams these last two years during a winning streak that is now two shy of the state record. The Chargers picked up the “Lemieux” win in the state quarterfinals...
PIAA boys basketball preview capsule: Fox Chapel vs. Archbishop Wood, Saturday, March 19, 2022
Class 6A Semifinals Fox Chapel (27-1) vs. Archbishop Wood (20-7) 4 p.m. Saturday at Chambersburg Winner plays: Winner of Lower Merion (27-3)/Roman Catholic (22-4) in championship 7:30 p.m. March 26 at Giant Center, Hershey Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; John Mosco, Archbishop Wood How they got here: Fox Chapel —...
