High School category, Page 706
Highlands girls basketball closes regular season by besting rival Deer Lakes
The plan for the Highlands girls basketball team entering its final regular-season game was simple: get back to basics, play defense and, above all else, get of the game healthy. Highlands checked all the boxes as the WPIAL Class 4A No. 5 ranked Rams broke the game open with a...
Slow start costs Burrell in PIAA Class 2A wrestling first round
HERSHEY — In tightly contested wrestling matches, it’s important to win the toss-up matches. Burrell came up short in three of those matches during the first round of the PIAA Class 2A team championship Thursday and dropped a 37-24 decision to District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt at the Giant Center....
McGuffey’s Riley Dunn wins WPIAL rifle championship
Riley Dunn became the first McGuffey shooter to win an individual title in more than a decade, edging Butler’s Brianna Bell to capture the WPIAL rifle championship Thursday at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen Club. Dunn finished with a score of 200-19x, just ahead of Bell’s 200-18x. Dunn, a sophomore, is...
Burrell boys team in midst of impressive turnaround
With just one victory two seasons ago, the thought of Burrell finishing in second place and hosting a WPIAL playoff game anytime soon was a distant notion. But here are the Bucs, on the verge of securing second place in Section 1-4A with an 8-3 record, 12-8 overall. The current...
Class 2A PIAA Team Wrestling Championships: WPIAL teams tripped up
First-round matches Saucon Valley 45, Quaker Valley 30 106: Cole Hubert (SV) p. Isaac Maccaglia, 1:54. 113: Jack Kazalas (QV) p. Aiden Grogg, 1:03. 120: Logan Richey (QV) p. Jackson Albert, 3:48. 126: Brandon Krul (QV) p. Hector Mateo, 1:16. 132: Connor Nicholas (SV) p. Michael Carmody, 5:50....
Ligonier Valley boys ‘want to earn everything’
Ligonier Valley got a free pass to the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs last year because the league had an open tournament where any team could participate, a result of the covid pandemic. It was a nice benefit for the Rams in their first season in District 7. But they knew...
Scott Morrison resigns as Yough athletic director
Yough is looking for an athletic director after the resignation of Scott Morrison, who held the position for nearly two years. Morrison said he wants to pursue other opportunities. Yough’s AD position is part time but Morrison worked full-time hours, often putting in 12-hour days while attending games and matches....
WPIAL asks Greensburg Central Catholic to explain possible recruiting violations
The WPIAL is looking into possible recruiting violations by Greensburg Central Catholic. The WPIAL board on Wednesday ruled three transfers eligible after hearings, including eighth-grader Samir Crosby, who switched schools from Jeannette to Greensburg Central Catholic. However, the WPIAL has asked GCC administrators to respond in writing to “potential recruiting...
Despite tiny roster, young Burrell gymnasts representing school at WPIAL meet
Burrell doesn’t exactly have a gymnastics team. It’s actually just a duo. But that isn’t slowing down Renee Ruggeri’s gymnasts, both of them. “They’re both great kids,” Ruggeri said of freshmen Sydney Lawson and Rylie Porter. “Sydney’s strongest event is probably floor. She’s really clean and a really good dancer....
Springdale girls remain in hunt for postseason berth
The Springdale girls basketball team knows this feeling all too well. It’s the uneasy feeling knowing its playoff season already has begun weeks before the WPIAL postseason bracket has been released. With just three section games remaining, the Dynamos have little room for error if they want to punch their...
WPIAL girls basketball clinching scenarios as of Feb. 9, 2022
Less than a week remains in section play in the WPIAL girls basketball regular season. This winter, the district returns to earning a ticket to ride on the Path to the Pete with no open tournament and the championships returning to the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center, March 3-5....
WPIAL boys basketball clinching scenarios as of Feb. 9, 2022
Less than a week remains in section play in the WPIAL boys basketball regular season. This winter, the district returns to earning a ticket to ride on the Path to the Pete with no open tournament and the championships returning to the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center, March 3-5....
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 9, 2022
High schools Basketball Wednesday’s results Class 5A Section 2 South Fayette 67, Moon 51 Class 4A Section 1 Keystone Oaks 50, Freeport 47 Section 2 Lincoln Park 88, Central Valley 46 Montour 71, Beaver 58 Quaker Valley 66, Blackhawk 53 Class 4A Section 3 Yough 67, South Park 37 Class...
High school roundup for Feb. 9, 2022: Aquinas Academy’s Vinnie Cugini hits 2,000 points
Braylan Lovelace led four player in double figures with 25 points in Leechburg’s 79-68 victory over Aquinas Academy in Section 3-A boys basketball Wednesday night. Eli Rich (17), DeVaughn Knight (16) and Marcus Cleveland (15) also scored in double digits for the No. 5 Blue Devils (16-3, 7-2). Vinnie Cugini...
Before heading to Providence, Plum’s Glasspool has sights set on WPIAL success
Elizabeth Glasspool hopes to make a big splash in the smallest state in the country. The Plum senior swimming standout recently signed a national letter of intent to compete for Providence in Rhode Island. “My dad and I found out about the program, and we got in touch with the...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 10, 2022: Head-to-head battle for section crown
For most of the district girls basketball teams, Thursday marks the end of the fight — the end of battling for section crowns, playoff positioning and postseason berths. However, of the 19 sections in WPIAL girls basketball, only one title is coming down to a head-to-head matchup on the final...
Trib 10: Top teams in power rankings tuning up for playoffs
Like sands in the hourglass, so go the dwindling days of the regular season. With only a couple of days left in section play, the elite teams around the WPIAL are honing their games and flexing their power as the postseason nears. Once again, there was not a lot of...
Deer Lakes girls basketball gets in playoff mode early
Nikki Fleming said she and her Deer Lakes girls basketball teammates didn’t know what to expect at the start of the season with a new coach and a new system in place. But the Lancers senior guard pointed to strong team chemistry as a catalyst to improve as the season...
Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Playoff participants set
Westmoreland County’s contributions to the WPIAL girls basketball playoff field are set. In Class 6A, local rivals Norwin (15-4, 12-1) and Penn-Trafford (11-8, 8-5), who will meet Thursday night at Penn-Trafford in the Section 1 finale, have qualified. In 5A, Latrobe (14-3, 10-1) is back in the postseason after reaching...
Westmoreland basketball teams welcome chance to start playoffs at home
A number of basketball coaches expressed their admiration for the WPIAL’s decision to allow higher-seeded teams to host first-round and quarterfinal playoff games last season because of the pandemic. The WPIAL was listening. Home sweet home will be the theme again as the league uses the same format for this...
North Allegheny wrestling coach Sunny Abe resigns prior to postseason tournaments
North Allegheny wrestling coach Sanshiro “Sunny” Abe, a former NCAA champion and Olympic wrestler, resigned with one meet left in the regular season and the individual tournaments still ahead. Athletic director Bob Bozzuto said Abe resigned Wednesday for “personal reasons,” but Bozzuto didn’t elaborate. Abe was in his seventh season...
Southmoreland plans symbolic hiring of late football coach Ron Frederick
Ron Frederick couldn’t wait to begin his dream job as the head football coach at Southmoreland. The school district will make sure the late coach’s job becomes official. Southmoreland will follow through with Frederick’s posthumous hiring at Thursday’s meeting, which comes one week after the 40-year-old died unexpectedly. Frederick was...
New Castle’s Joe Cowart resigns after 10 seasons, sent 2 former players to NFL
Not many WPIAL football coaches have had two former players active in the NFL at the same time, but New Castle’s Joe Cowart did during his coaching tenure, which came to a close this winter. Cowart resigned in late January after 10 seasons as New Castle’s football coach, but will...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 8, 2022
High schools Basketball Boys Tuesday’s results Class 6A Section 1 Butler 69, North Allegheny 59 North Hills 70, Pine-Richland 57 Section 2 Baldwin 71, Peters Township 59 Upper St. Clair 70, Canon-McMillan 58 Mt. Lebanon 47, Bethel Park 28 Section 3 Central Catholic 86, Greensburg Salem 43 Hempfield 50, Penn-Trafford...
WPIAL boys basketball playoff clinching scenarios as of Feb. 8, 2022
Less than a week remains in section play in the WPIAL boys basketball regular season. This winter, the district returns to earning a ticket to ride on the Path to the Pete with no open tournament and the championships returning to the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center, March 3-5....
