High School category, Page 697
Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Belle Vernon itching for another crack at Montour
Belle Vernon was short a couple of key pieces when it played Montour the first time this season. That had a lot to do with the Leopards losing, 65-48, to the Spartans in a late-season matchup at the Hoops for a Cure showcase at North Allegheny. But when the teams...
Butler’s Kriess battles her way to WPIBL girls singles title
Butler senior Harley Kriess battled her way to a WPIBL girls singles bowling championship Thursday, winning tight matches in the quarterfinals and finals to take home the crown. Kriess defeated Burrell sophomore Leah McCandless in the finals, 178-174, at AMF Belle Vernon. The match came down to the 10th frame....
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff preview capsules: Games for Friday, Feb. 25, 2022
Friday’s games BOYS Class 2A Quarterfinals 5-Monessen (18-4) vs. 4-Greensburg Central Catholic (17-3) 7 p.m. at Norwin Winner plays: Winner of 9-Sto-Rox (12-7)/1-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (20-0) Tuesday in semifinals Layup lines: Monessen is one of the hottest teams in the WPIAL, winning 16 straight. The Greyhounds have...
A-K Valley WPIAL basketball playoff preview capsules: Games of Friday, Feb. 25, 2022
BOYS Class 4A Quarterfinals 7-Pine-Richland (12-11) at 2-Fox Chapel (21-1) 7 p.m. Friday Winner plays: Winner of 6-Butler (13-9)/3-Central Catholic (17-5) Tuesday in semifinals (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Pine-Richland had no trouble with No. 10 Bethel Park in a 64-41 first-round victory. Joey Dudkowski, who came into the...
Schools get some say as WPIAL releases football schedules for 2022, ’23 seasons
The WPIAL tried a new approach for scheduling nonconference football games this year by giving teams a say in who they play. Teams also got to say who they won’t play. Schools were surveyed this winter and asked to list five nonconference opponents they would prefer to face next fall...
WPIAL schedules 3 basketball semifinals at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center
The WPIAL has scheduled three basketball semifinals at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center on Saturday starting with top-seeded Quaker Valley facing defending champion Lincoln Park in a Class 4A boys game at noon. They’re followed by two Class 6A girls semifinals. At 2 p.m., North Allegheny plays Upper St. Clair,...
Confident and now healthy, star freshman Meleek Thomas leads Lincoln Park past North Catholic
Sharing the court with a couple of scorers bound for Division I colleges might make some freshmen timid. Not Lincoln Park’s Meleek Thomas, who waved for the basketball when the Leopards needed a fourth-quarter boost Wednesday night. And without hesitation, they passed it to him. Thomas missed much of this...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 24, 2022: Odds against underdogs in Class 5A
Welcome to Quarterfinals Thursday, the second of three nights of WPIAL basketball second-round games. Since expansion to six classifications five years ago, everybody talks about the depth of the boys Class 5A postseason every year. However, that has not been the case. Only once has a team seeded lower than...
Trib 10: Top teams defend their spots as WPIAL basketball semifinals approach
All was quiet on the Western Pa. front this past week as the elite teams either disposed of first-round opponents easily or bypassed the opening round with a bye in the quarterfinals. For the first time all year, there were zero changes in the Trib 10 power rankings. Don’t expect...
High school roundup for Feb. 23, 2022: Freshman’s free throws in final seconds lift Avonworth past Mohawk
Freshman Greta O’Brien hit a pair of free throws with 2.8 seconds left to lead No. 2 Avonworth to a 38-37 victory over Mohawk in the WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday night. Rebecca Goetz scored 18 points and Maggie Goetz added nine for the Antelopes (19-2), who will...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 23, 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...
Bethel Park girls stage 2nd-half rally to get past Norwin in Class 6A quarterfinals
Flat and frustrated at halftime, Bethel Park reminded itself there were still 16 minutes of basketball to play. That the outcome was far from decided and it still had plenty to offer this game. Fourth-seeded Norwin had a nine-point lead and looked to have the No. 5 Black Hawks, who...
Belle Vernon shakes off rust, beats Freeport in Class 4A quarterfinals
For the first time in nearly two weeks, the Belle Vernon boys basketball team stepped on the floor for a meaningful game Wednesday night. The Leopards last played in their regular season finale against Elizabeth Forward on Feb. 11 before being awarded a bye in the first round of the...
Markus Frank’s school-record 45 points leads Quaker Valley past Deer Lakes in Class 4A quarterfinals
Markus Frank is quiet and modest off the court, but in between the lines, he is a monster. And Wednesday night, the 6-foot-6 senior added a historic achievement to a stellar career at Quaker Valley. Frank set a single-game school record by scoring 45 points to propel the top-seeded Quakers...
Cold-shooting Leechburg boys eliminated by Union in Class A quarterfinals
It was a bad time for a bad shooting night for Leechburg. The Blue Devils made just 16 field goals — seven in the first half. Meanwhile, Union was solid on both ends of the floor, hitting seven 3-point baskets in the first half and collecting 31 first-half rebounds in...
Montour shakes off rust, pulls away from Burrell in Class 4A quarterfinals
The Montour boys basketball team is moving on. The Spartans, the No. 2 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, overcame an early challenge from No. 7 Burrell in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup and went on to a 70-50 home victory. The game was Montour’s first in 12 days. Burrell came...
Upper St. Clair clamps down on defense, beats Penn-Trafford in Class 6A quarterfinals
Upper St. Clair will play in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals for a third consecutive season, thanks to a 47-32 home victory over Penn-Trafford on Wednesday night. The Panthers defense shined in the first quarter, holding the Warriors to one point. Penn-Trafford was held without a field goal for more...
Plum’s Daniels wins WPIBL boys singles title; North Allegheny’s Jorden bowls 300 game
North Allegheny’s Jeb Jorden got off to a perfect start at the WPIBL boys singles championships Wednesday at North Versailles Bowling Center. Plum’s Nicholas Daniels won the championship with a near-perfect finish. Jorden rolled a perfect 300 game in the first game of qualifying, but Daniels had six consecutive strikes...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Follow-the-winner plan gives teams 2nd chance
With capacity rules decreased and crowds back in gyms, postseason basketball is beginning to feel normal again. But hand-stamp season will really reconnect with normalcy in the PIAA playoffs with the old qualifying format returning. Last year, only WPIAL champions advanced to the state brackets. But the follow-the-winner plan is...
Butler plans legal action after PIAA upholds WPIAL ruling keeping football team out of District 10 playoffs
Butler intends to take legal action after the PIAA upheld a decision banning the football team from the District 10 playoffs, said the school’s athletic director. The PIAA board on Wednesday heard a nearly hour-long appeal from Butler and voted unanimously to sustain an earlier WPIAL ruling that made the...
PIAA football, soccer championships moving from Hershey to Cumberland Valley
Say goodbye to flying Hershey’s Kisses and giant chocolate bars. Pennsylvania high school athletes will have to find a new way to celebrate trips to the state championships. The PIAA board voted Wednesday to move the football and soccer championships to Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field for at least the next...
Belle Vernon’s Cole Weightman returns, hopes to conquer stacked weight class
Belle Vernon senior Cole Weightman recently made two tough decisions about his future. First, he picked IUP over Cal (Pa.) to play football, which was difficult choice. And second, after talking to his dad Ed, he decided to wrestle. “We talked about making history,” Cole Weightman said. “I have a...
Wrestling notebook: 3 WPIAL junior high champions for Norwin
Norwin crowned three champions at the WPIAL Junior High School Tournament on Saturday. Connellsville won the team title 255 points. The Falcons had one champion, three wrestlers finish second, five finish third and one fifth. Winning titles for the Knights were Landon Sidun (110 pounds), Jack White (117) and Gage...
Westmoreland WPIAL basketball playoff preview capsules: Games for Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022
GIRLS Class 2A Quarterfinals 5-Seton La Salle (16-6) at 4-Greensburg Central Catholic (18-4) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: Winner of 9-Apollo-Ridge (16-4)/1-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (19-4) Monday in semifinals Layup lines: Seton LaSalle advanced with a 48-35 victory over No. 12 Sto-Rox in the first round. The Rebels...
A-K Valley WPIAL basketball playoff preview capsules: Games of Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022
BOYS Class 5A Quarterfinals 5-Highlands (17-6) at 4-Penn Hills (18-4) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: 8-Hampton (13-10) at 1-Laurel Highlands (22-0) Monday in semifinals (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Highlands is coming off a dominating 76-40 victory over Albert Gallatin in the first round Monday. Jimmy Kunst scored 24...
