High School category, Page 747
Aquinas Academy girls eye next step after defending section title
The Aquinas Academy girls basketball team is hitting stride at just the right time. Having overcome numerous early-season injuries, a flu bug and a five-day covid shutdown that wiped out three games, the Crusaders are pointing toward another deep WPIAL Class A playoff run. “Everyone is back and healthy and...
Led by high-scoring Vinnie Cugini, Aquinas Academy having historic season
Aquinas Academy’s boys basketball team has emerged on the WPIAL radar this season. Led by the prolific scoring of 6-foot-2 junior guard Vinnie Cugini, the Crusaders are one of the top teams in Class A. After jumping out to a 6-0 start that included winning their own tip-off tournament championship,...
Plum athletes off to strong start during indoor track season
Plum cross country and track and field coach Stephanie Kennedy is optimistic as she looks ahead to the outdoor track season. Those positive feelings, she said, have their genesis in the work a number of Mustangs athletes have put in this winter in advance of moving outdoors early next month....
Soccer rivalry between Norwin, Penn-Trafford takes hit in realignment
A longtime soccer rivalry was sideswiped by the new enrollment numbers for the PIAA’s next two-year cycle. The ramifications will be felt from Turner Valley to the Bushy Run Soccer Complex. Norwin and Penn-Trafford have been playing in the same section since the 1990s, but the girls and boys teams...
Neighborhood Academy, Shady Side Academy team up in volleyball
After a successful co-operative experience in football this past fall, Shady Side Academy and The Neighborhood Academy will now pursue a partnership in girls volleyball. The WPIAL and the PIAA both gave the OK recently for the schools to combine forces starting this with this fall’s schedule. Shady Side has...
Fox Chapel’s Zach Skrinjar, Eli Yofan hits major milestones
Early February turned into a time for milestones with the Fox Chapel boys basketball team. Coach Zach Skrinjar reached the 200-victory mark in just his 13th season with the Foxes and Eli Yofan became the school’s all-time career scorer. Skrinjar hit the mark on Feb. 1 when the Foxes visited...
Norwin notebook: Swimmer gets in on ground floor at Southern Indiana
Norwin senior Joey Testa moved from Katy, Texas, where she was a standout for Katy Aquatics in the AAA Junior Olympics. She still holds records there. But she earned her college scholarship as a Norwin Knight. Testa, who moved to the area in eighth grade, recently signed to swim at...
Franklin Regional standout Caden Smith seeking college football fit
Franklin Regional standout senior Caden Smith, a terrific three-sport athlete, wants to play football in college. Many consider him a Division I prospect, and some schools have inquired. But the 6-foot-4 wide receiver and safety doesn’t have any offers — yet. He was hoping to commit by national signing day,...
Franklin Regional motivated to make Penguins Cup run
When the Franklin Regional hockey team plays a game, the Panthers do so with a chip on their shoulder. The 2021 Panthers reached the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Penguins Cup championship game in Class 2A, but lost to Baldwin. “Every time we play a game, we talk about that game,”...
Moon gymnasts capture 7th WPIAL title
The Moon gymnastics team retook its place atop the WPIAL podium Friday night, capturing a seventh district title by edging Baldwin. The host Tigers also won WPIAL titles in 2008, ‘12, ‘13, ‘14, ‘17 and ‘18. Moon finished the regular season 6-0 and claimed the Section 2 title. Thomas Jefferson...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 11, 2022
High schools Basketball WPIAL Boys Friday’s results Class 6A Section 1 North Hills 60, North Allegheny 59 Seneca Valley 64, Pine-Richland 50 Section 2 Baldwin 64, Bethel Park 49 Peters Township 45, Canon-McMillan 43 Mt. Lebanon 41, Upper St. Clair 30 Section 3 Fox Chapel 75, Central Catholic 65 Hempfield...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports on Feb. 12, 2022: Gold up for grabs in gymnastics, wrestling
District championships will be captured in gymnastics while state titles are up for grabs in team wrestling on a golden Saturday. Once again, Moon High School will host the 2022 WPIAL gymnastics championships. After the host Tigers won the team title Friday night, individual championships on the vault, bar, beam,...
WPIAL girls basketball playoff clinching scenarios as of Feb. 11, 2022
The 2022 WPIAL girls basketball playoff field is nearly set. Seventy-nine teams have clinched a ride on the Path to the Pete with the possibility that three more teams could join them Saturday. Trib HSSN will once again have exclusive coverage of the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs starting Monday with...
High school roundup for Feb. 11, 2022: Despite loss to Penn Hills, Woodland Hills sneaks into playoffs
Jaden Dugger and Daemar Kelly each scored 14 points, leading Penn Hills to a 64-44 victory over Woodland Hills in Section 3-5A boys basketball Friday night. Noah Barren added 12 and Julian Dugger finished with 10 for No. 4 Penn Hills (17-3, 10-2). Delrius Robinson produced a double-double (10 points,...
George Guido: Knights could be road warriors next season
Knoch could be the next Alle-Kiski Valley school to get artificial turf for its athletic stadium. It could come with a certain price, however. Installation could force the Knights to play all of their football games on the road this year. Cassandra Renninger, a chief architect at DRAW Collective, made...
Mt. Lebanon stops Upper St. Clair to grab share of section crown
This time of year, coaches talk about how defense wins championships. On Friday night, defense earned Mt. Lebanon a share of the Section 2-6A crown. Mt. Lebanon limited defending champion Upper St. Clair to single-digit points in the first three quarters, including only two points in the entire third quarter,...
WPIAL boys basketball playoff field set
The 2022 WPIAL boys basketball playoff field is set as 86 teams have punched their ticket for the Path to the Pete. Trib HSSN will once again have exclusive coverage of the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs starting Monday with the Playoff Pairings Show at 5 p.m. as we unveil the...
Norwin boys hold off Penn-Trafford, earn playoff spot for 1st time in 6 years
Norwin didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter, but that might have had something to do with the effort the Knights were putting in on the defensive end against visiting Penn-Trafford. It was, attack on defense, rest on offense and hold on tight from there. Or, maybe they...
PIAA Class 3A Team Wrestling Championships: Defending champ Waynesburg falls in semifinals
Semifinals Nazareth 38, Waynesburg 17 106: Dominic Rizzotto (N) p. Jake Thomas, :37 113: Tahir Parkins (N) d. Ky Szewczyk, 8-2. 120: Charlie Buntin (N) p. Xavier Harmon, 1:08. 126: Braxton Appello-Fries (N) d. Zander Phaturos, 6-3. *132: Mac Church (W) t.f. Ayden Rader, 22-7 (4:45). 138: Colton Stoneking (W)...
Latrobe looks to build on PIAA semifinal loss to top-ranked Bethlehem Catholic
HERSHEY – Latrobe wrestling coach Mark Mears has been building something special for the past two seasons since he took over the program. Getting to the PIAA Class 3A team wrestling championship and wrestling in the Giant Center was one of the goals. The veteran coach knew his team didn’t...
Gateway boys knock Franklin Regional out of playoffs
Gateway came to Murrysville on Friday night and spoiled Franklin Regional’s night on multiple levels. The Gators ruined the Panthers’ senior night and knocked them out of the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs for the first time in seven years with a 57-36 victory in a Section 3-5A game. Franklin Regional...
Fox Chapel survives Eli Yofan injury scare, clinches sole possession of section title
Fox Chapel’s Eli Yofan went from laying under the hoop in pain in the third quarter to swinging on the rim in celebration in the fourth. The second-ranked Foxes extended their winning streak to 19 games and clinched the section title outright Friday night with a 75-65 victory over No....
Kiski Area girls avenge loss against Plum
When the Plum and Kiski Area girls basketball teams met Jan. 26 at Plum, the Mustangs came away with a victory. Plum hoped for a season sweep Friday as the Section 2-5A rivals rematched at Kiski Area. But the Cavaliers had other plans, and they celebrated senior night with a...
Kiski Area boys basketball team clinches playoff spot
Kiski Area needed a victory to make the WPIAL playoffs after enduring a five-win season a year ago. But it didn’t come easy. Latrobe, not playing like a 2-9 team, gave the Cavaliers all they could handle before Kiski Area senior James Pearson took over the game. Pearson scored nine...
Burrell wrestling coach not disappointed with team’s effort at PIAAs
HERSHEY — Burrell wrestling coach Josh Shields walked away from the PIAA Class 2A team championship with mixed emotions. While he was disappointed his team was eliminated after a 33-19 loss to Boiling Springs, he was pleased the team reached the tournament and won a match. “I’m upset about losing,...
