High School category, Page 696
Freshman Rylee Kalocay’s late-game heroics take Upper St. Clair back to WPIAL finals
Upper St. Clair freshman Rylee Kalocay didn’t start Saturday’s semifinal, but she certainly finished it. Kalocay scored her team’s final nine points including a tying 3-pointer, a go-ahead runner with 3.2 seconds left and two free throws with seven-tenths on the clock. Combined, that let No. 3 seed Upper St....
Westmoreland high school notebook: Penn-Trafford football was part of last championship weekend in Hershey
It turns out Penn-Trafford was the last Westmoreland County team to celebrate a PIAA football title in Hershey. The PIAA came out with some shocking news last week, announcing it was moving the state football championships to Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg. The finals have been played at Hershey...
Valley News Dispatch H.S. athletes of the week: St. Joseph’s Anna Kreinbrook, Plum’s Nicholas Daniels
Anna Kreinbrook Class: Sophomore School: St. Joseph Sport: Basketball Report card: Kreinbrook scored the go-ahead basket with 50 seconds remaining and sank two free throws in the final moments to help St. Joseph complete a 19-point comeback in a 57-54 victory over three-time defending Class A champ and top-seed Rochester...
Westmoreland County athletes of the week: GCC’s Ryan Appleby, Southmoreland’s Delaynie Morvosh
Ryan Appleby School: Greensburg Central Catholic Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Claim to fame: Appleby, who’s averaging 12 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2 assists this season, finished with 20 points to lead No. 4 Greensburg Central Catholic (18-3) to a 61-42 win over No. 5 Monessen (18-5) in the WPIAL Class...
Montour holds off Belle Vernon, advances to WPIAL championship game
For the second straight season, Belle Vernon’s chase for an elusive WPIAL title ended in the semifinals. No. 2 seed Montour withstood a few surges by the Leopards to come away with a 64-53 win in a Class 4A game Saturday at Bethel Park, denying Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino...
High school roundup for Feb. 25, 2022: McKeesport’s Maddie Cherepko hits long-range 3 to knock off Trinity
Maddie Cherepko buried a long-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to lead No. 6 McKeesport to a dramatic 50-49 upset victory over No. 3 Trinity in the WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinals Friday night. Rachel Manfredo scored 12 points and Brooke Evans added nine for the Tigers (20-4), who will...
No. 1 North Hills celebrates 4th win over rival North Allegheny in WPIAL quarterfinals
As the saying goes, it’s tough to beat a basketball team three times in one season, but what about four? The sold-out crowd that packed into North Hills’ gym was there to find out. Indians sophomore Royce Parham scored 24 points, senior Alex Smith had 21, and No. 1 seed...
‘I feel the pain and hurt’: Ex-Schenley star D.J. Kennedy playing for Ukrainian team praying for teammates
D.J. Kennedy has played professional basketball in 10 countries over three continents in the past decade, so the 32-year-old former Schenley star wasn’t worried about living in Ukraine until last week. That changed when Russia invaded Ukraine early Thursday, attacking major cities in which he has played for BC Prometey....
Greensburg CC ends Monessen’s winning streak, earns rematch with OLSH in Class 2A
Greensburg Central Catholic’s team size has been a problem for opponents all season. For a few moments early in their playoff game Friday night, the Centurions looked average-sized. But after falling behind, the fourth-seeded Centurions quickly rose to their full height. They went on to dispatch of No. 5 Monessen’s...
Southmoreland enjoys home-court advantage in Class 4A win over Highlands
The Southmoreland girls basketball team continues to thrive on its home court. The Scotties set a school record Friday night for consecutive home victories by any boys or girls basketball program with a dominating 50-24 rout of cold-shooting Highlands to secure their third trip in as many years to the...
PIAA-playoff bound Knoch beats Montour in WPIAL Class 4A semifinals
The Knoch girls basketball team will play in the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals for the second straight season. After a 15-day break from competition, the No. 3 Knights opened the playoffs in the quarterfinals Friday night and scored a 67-48 home victory over No. 6 Montour. “We had our two...
Fox Chapel boys rally in second half to defeat Pine-Richland, advance to WPIAL semis
Fox Chapel coach Zach Skrinjar doesn’t mind games of two different halves. His Foxes were down by nine against Pine-Richland in Friday’s Class 6A quarterfinal. But Fox Chapel came alive in the third quarter and posted a 77-67 win over the Rams before an overflow home crowd. Eli Yofan tied...
High school scores, summaries and schedule for Feb. 25, 2022
High schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Friday’s results North Hills 61, North Allegheny 53 Mt. Lebanon 58, Upper St. Clair 53 Fox Chapel 77, Pine-Richland 67 Central Catholic 69, Butler 38 Semifinals Tuesday’s schedule North Hills (23-0) vs. Mt. Lebanon (16-8); Fox Chapel (22-1) vs. Central Catholic...
Fast start leads No. 2 South Fayette past Latrobe and into WPIAL semifinals
South Fayette girls basketball coach Bryan Bennett said his players have “been in this moment all year.” They proved that from the start Friday night on their home court. The second-seeded Lions scored the game’s first 15 points and held off all of No. 7 Latrobe’s attempts to rally en...
North Catholic’s Foley, Ligonier Valley’s Roddy win gold at WPIAL Class 2A diving championships
Coming in as the two-time defending champion, North Catholic junior Maggie Foley was the obvious favorite at the WPIAL Class 2A diving championships at North Allegheny. Foley did not disappoint, posting her highest finals score (470.70) to win her third-straight WPIAL title. “Overall, it went smoothly today, so that’s very...
Fox Chapel freshman has eyes on PIAA diving qualification
Jackson Hagler quickly established himself as a qualifier for the WPIAL Class AAA diving championships. With that berth already secured, the Fox Chapel freshman continued to work on his craft, and he recorded a season-best score of 247.95 at a section meet with Penn Hills on Jan. 20. Now, he...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff capsule for Feb. 26, 2022
Saturday’s game Boys Semifinals Class 4A 3-Belle Vernon (19-3) vs. 2-Montour (19-4) Noon at Bethel Park Coaches: Joe Salvino, Belle Vernon; Bill Minear, Montour Winner plays: Winner of 5-Lincoln Park (17-6)/1-Quaker Valley (21-0), 9 p.m. March 3 in the championship at Petersen Events Center Layup lines: Belle Vernon is aiming...
Ellwood City basketball coach Steve Antuono suspended 2 games after chaotic playoff loss
Game officials imposed a two-game suspension on Ellwood City boys basketball coach Steve Antuono for unsportsmanlike actions during a chaotic ending to Thursday night’s playoff loss. Antuono confronted officials and others and was assessed a “supplemental disqualification” after the top-seeded Wolverines were upset by No. 8 Avonworth, 66-55, in a...
Gateway’s Passalinqua aims for success at WPIAL diving championships
Noah Passalinqua established himself as a major player in Class 3A boys diving throughout the season, and now he hopes to make his mark on a championship stage. The Gateway junior will make his WPIAL meet debut Saturday at North Allegheny High School. He is seeded seventh overall with goals...
Gateway upsets No. 3 Mars, earns 1st WPIAL semifinal appearance since 2012
Gateway was only a couple of minute away from upsetting No. 3 seed Mars, but for the Gators, those final moments seemed to last forever. This was a big moment for a team that hasn’t reached the WPIAL semifinals in a decade. “That last two minutes felt like an hour,”...
High school roundup for Feb. 24, 2022: Avonworth boys shock Ellwood City, St. Joseph girls stun Rochester as top seeds fall
Last year, Ellwood City won a WPIAL championship as a No. 11 seed. On Thursday night, the Wolverines were on the other end of a shocking upset. Rowan Carmichael scored 26 points to lead eighth-seeded Avonworth to a 66-55 victory in the Class 3A quarterfinals, ending Ellwood City’s 18-game winning...
Aquinas Academy moves past Monessen girls in WPIALs
Sometimes a team just has your number. That was what Monessen girls basketball coach Janine Vertacnik kept on saying to herself after the Greyhounds dropped their Class A quarterfinal contest to Aquinas Academy, 60-37, on the road Thursday night. “They were just the better team tonight,” Vertacnik said. “Every time...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 24, 2022
High schools Basketball Boys WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Friday’s schedule North Allegheny (15-8) at North Hills (22-0), 7 p.m.; Upper St. Clair (16-7) at Mt. Lebanon (15-8), 7 p.m.; Pine-Richland (12-11) at Fox Chapel (21-1), 7 p.m.; Butler (13-9) at Central Catholic (17-5), 7 p.m. Class 5A Quarterfinals Thursday’s...
Daly drives Seton LaSalle past Greensburg CC in Class 2A quarterfinals
Mallory Daly knows how to take hits and she knows how to dish them out. The sophomore guard from Seton LaSalle was a football player growing up in Brentwood. She played quarterback and defensive back, connecting up with her twin brother, O’Malley, for touchdowns when they were fifth graders. Daly’s...
Highlands storms back to beat Penn Hills in WPIAL quarterfinals
The Highlands Golden Rams erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and held Penn Hills scoreless over the last 3 minutes, 43 seconds of the game to pull out a thrilling 51-49 victory Thursday night at Penn Hills. The Indians had leads of 41-31 and 43-33, but junior Jimmy Kunst came up...
