High School category, Page 713
George Guido: Willie Thrower Award finalists announced
The five finalists for the second annual Willie Thrower Award, recognizing the top quarterback among WPIAL and City League schools, have been determined. The finalists, selected by a panel of two coaches from each conference and various media members, are (listed alphabetically) Brad Birch of Gateway, Jared Brickner of Beaver...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Deer Lakes’ Reese Hasley, Burrell’s Luke Rose
Reese Hasley Class: Senior School: Deer Lakes Sport: Basketball Report card: Hasley eclipsed 1,000 points in style Monday by hitting the winning shot in a 39-37 win over Freeport. Hasley had 15 points in the game. She has been a four-year starter for the Lancers. How’d it feel to reach...
Offseason work pays off for Pine-Richland heavyweight Joey Schneck
Joey Schneck pinned his way to the 285-pound Allegheny County Wrestling Tournament title recently, but that title wasn’t just won in the two days he spent at Fox Chapel High School. For Schneck, a junior at Pine-Richland, the journey to being a county champ started with a conscientious decision in...
Bond between swimming Shaffer sisters grows deeper in Pine-Richland pool
Sarah Anne and Elizabeth Shaffer’s times are pretty close in the pool. And that’s made them even closer outside of it. Sarah Anne, a freshman, and Elizabeth, a junior, are sisters and members of the Pine-Richland swim team and the bond they’ve formed around the sport has enhanced their relationship...
Plum’s Kvortek ready to score high at WPIAL gymnastics championships
Sarah Kvortek realized the fulfillment of a goal last season as she stood at the top of the podium at the WPIAL individual gymnastics championships at Moon High School. The Plum junior celebrated her second varsity season with a gold medal on bars in the Intermediate I (Gold) division. With...
North Allegheny notebook: Jacob Porter commits to Yale
North Allegheny senior defensive end Jacob Porter made a verbal commitment to Yale last week. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound standout is a two-time all-conference selection. He chose Yale over other offers from Temple, Bucknell, Akron, Colorado State and Old Dominion. This season, Porter made 37 tackles, including 21 solo, in seven...
Franklin Regional notebook: TJ halts hockey team’s streak
Franklin Regional had its four-game winning streak snapped Jan. 25 with a 5-1 loss to West Division leader Thomas Jefferson. The Panthers (12-2-1) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second period on a goal by Luke Lavrich, but Thomas Jefferson responded with the next five tallies. Nick Stock had a...
Much improved from last season, Hampton boys basketball still has work to do
After treading water through the first half of their Section 4-5A basketball schedule, the Hampton Talbots were looking to make a big splash and strong playoff push down the season’s home stretch Hampton posted a 3-3 section record through mid-January, flip-flopping wins and losses against Plum, Highlands, Armstrong, Shaler, Indiana...
Hampton swimmer Donato glides toward WPIALs
Belle Donato’s watchful parents urged her to trust them and take the plunge. But year after year, the Hampton girl was apprehensive in the pool, refusing to go below the surface. “Whenever I was 8, I had still never put my head under water,” she said. “Every summer, my parents...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Jan. 29, 2022: Basketball showcases set
It will be a busy weekend of high school hoops at Montour as the PBC Classic holds a two-day event with six boys basketball games Saturday and six more Sunday. The first game Saturday tips off at noon while Sunday’s action begins at 11 a.m. The field includes four defending...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Jan. 28, 2022
High schools Basketball Boys Friday’s results Class 6A Section 1 North Hills 76, Butler 62 North Allegheny 66, Seneca Valley 54 Section 2 Upper St. Clair 60, Baldwin 49 Mt. Lebanon 52, Canon-McMillan 40 Bethel Park 53, Peters Township 47 Section 3 Central Catholic 46, Penn-Trafford 38 Fox Chapel 87,...
High school roundup for Jan. 28, 2022: OLSH sets WPIAL record with 53-game win streak
Jake DiMichele scored 35 points, hitting nine 3-pointers, as OLSH defeated South Side, 82-46, to set a WPIAL record with 53 consecutive victories Friday night. The No. 1 Chargers (13-0, 5-0) broke the record of 52 set by Uniontown in 1965 and matched by Washington in 1985. OLSH’s last loss...
WPIAL boys basketball playoff clinchings for Jan. 28, 2022
Less than three weeks remain 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....
Greensburg Central Catholic boys hold off Winchester Thurston, take over 1st place
Greensburg Central Catholic and Winchester Thurston were scheduled to meet three weeks ago, but that boys basketball game was postponed, so the teams could only study one another from a distance. “I’m sure both teams have seen each other on film a little bit,” GCC coach Christian Hyland said, “but...
Latrobe tightens up on defense, shuts down Greensburg Salem
Latrobe’s girls basketball team played its third consecutive game without leading scorer Anna Rafferty on Friday, and the Wildcats didn’t miss a beat. Junior Emma Blair scored a game-high 18 points and had 15 rebounds to lead first-place Latrobe (13-2, 8-0) to a 47-20 victory against Greensburg Salem in Section...
Tough schedule pays off as Norwin boys down Hempfield
Norwin and Hempfield know something about tough nonsection schedules. Both boys basketball teams have gone against some of the top teams in Class 6A and 5A in the hopes those games would sharpen their lineups for Section 3-6A play. After playing 5A No. 1 Laurel Highlands close and then beating...
Ligonier Valley’s Roddy, Latrobe’s Polosky win county diving titles
Though he had to wait an extra year to win his second county diving championship, Ligonier Valley senior Nick Roddy never lost confidence in his abilities. As the school’s lone male diver, Roddy was determined to come through again. That he did, overpowering the pack Friday to repeat as the...
Kiski Area boys make late run to get past Gateway in Section 3-5A
With four minutes left in Friday’s Section 3-5A boys basketball matchup between Gateway and Kiski Area, the visiting Gators held a one-point advantage and hoped to make a run to put the game on ice. But the Cavaliers wanted none of that. Kiski Area outscored Gateway, 15-6, down the stretch...
Last-second 3-pointer lifts Freeport over Burrell
Vinnie Clark had a senior night to remember forever. With the score tied and 2 seconds remaining, Clark took an inbound pass from Ben Lane and drained a 3-pointer in the corner to lift Freeport to a 56-53 home victory over Burrell on Friday night. “I joked with Ben, because...
Leechburg boys stage furious comeback before Imani Christian hangs on for win
Imani Christian’s bus was late to the Leechburg gym with a misunderstanding of the start time. The Saints all but debussed and walked on to the floor to build a huge lead, only to see Leechburg stage an amazing comeback. The Blue Devils cut a 25-point deficit to five early...
Jeannette coach Adrian Batts gets 200th career win
Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts has never missed the WPIAL playoffs in 12 seasons leading the Jayhawks and he is on pace to reach the postseason again this year. Batts reached a milestone along the way Friday night, posting his 200th win at Jeannette. The Jayhawks won a Section...
Kiski Area swimmers Hansen, Sterlitz have sights set on top spots at WCCA meet
As freshmen in 2020, Levi Hansen and Parker Sterlitz made a run at the boys 500-yard freestyle title at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships at Derry High School. Hansen took third, and Sterlitz was fourth behind then-junior Austin Prokopec from Penn-Trafford and then-senior Ryan McFaden from Franklin Regional. Fast...
Remembering Ben Roethlisberger’s remarkable senior season at Findlay High
Ben Roethlisberger walked off into the sunset Thursday, announcing his retirement from pro football after 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But long before No. 7 dodged Terrell Suggs, extended play after play or won two Super Bowls, he was a terrific high school player in Ohio — at least...
Penn-Trafford’s Maura Suman breaks school steals record
Penn-Trafford senior point guard Maura Suman can handle the ball and score with some of the better backcourt players in Section 1-6A. But Suman is a quietly good defender, and a school record quietly sneaked up on her Thursday night. Suman broke the school’s career record for steals. She had...
Aliquippa plans to build new football stadium, receives $250,000 from NFL
Aliquippa’s aging football stadium will be torn down and rebuilt this year with a little help from the NFL. The school recently received a $250,000 grant from the NFL Foundation, said Aliquippa superintendent Phillip Woods, who hopes to solicit donations from additional organizations as well. The school district also in...
