High School category, Page 788
After heartbreaking finish, Thomas, GCC reflect on football season
A couple of weeks removed from an unthinkable, devastating end to the 2021 football season, Greensburg Central Catholic coach Marko Thomas has had some time to reflect on the heartbreak he and his team went through. Within a four-day span, the Centurions had to deal with the deaths of two...
Strong finish provides optimism for future of Burrell football
The Burrell football season changed in a flash — literally. In the middle of a gusty downpour, Burrell scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2 minutes remaining against rival Deer Lakes. The moment senior kicker Ethan Croushore’s extra point sailed through the uprights, lightning struck and the game went into a...
A-K Valley senior spotlight: Kiski Area’s Emerson Johngarlo
Emerson Johngarlo Kiski Area soccer A year after having soccer taken away from her, Emerson Johngarlo made it official that the sport she loves will be a major part of her future. The Kiski Area senior signed a national letter of intent earlier this month to continue her soccer career...
High school sports schedules for Nov. 29, 2021
High schools Football PIAA playoffs Semifinals Class 6A Saturday’s schedule Garnet Valley (14-0) vs. St. Joseph’s Prep (10-2) at Ridley, 7 p.m.; State College (8-5) vs. Mt. Lebanon (13-0) at Altoona’s Mansion Park, 1 p.m. Class 5A Friday’s schedule Imhotep Charter (10-1) vs. Strath Haven (13-1) at Ridley, 7 p.m.;...
Trib HSSN Football Player of the Week for 2021 Week 13
Penn-Trafford started as hot as the weather in its much anticipated WPIAL Class 5A football championship game against top-seeded and unbeaten Moon. Heinz Field was cold and turning white, with snow flurries falling throughout the evening Saturday. Despite the slow start after falling behind 14-3 in the second quarter, the...
After seamless coaching change, Highlands boys basketball team has high expectations again
Of the nearly dozen coaching changes among Alle-Kiski Valley basketball schools, perhaps the final one was the most seamless transition. The Highlands School District elevated former assistant Corey Dotchin to head boys coach shortly after nine-year coach Tyler Stoczynski resigned in October. Dotchin was Stoczynski’s right-hand man as is ready...
2021-22 PIHL standings through Nov. 28, 2021
Here are the latest PIHL high school hockey standings through Sunday: Team, Wins – Losses – Overtime/Shootout Loss = Total Points Class 3A North Allegheny, 8-1-0 = 16 Peters Township, 7-3-0 = 14 Central Catholic, 5-4-0 = 10 Baldwin, 4-1-2 = 10 Mt. Lebanon, 4-4-1 = 9 Pine-Richland, 4-2-0 =...
Explosive plays carry Penn-Trafford football past Moon in WPIAL title game
Moon football coach Ryan Linn said earlier in the week that the team that it the big pass play would probably win. He was partially right. Sure Penn-Trafford connected on a 92-yard touchdown pass from Carter Green to Cade Yacamelli, but it came down to the Warriors’ explosive plays in...
Westmoreland notebook: Franklin Regional grad Lorenz lands at Division I Sacred Heart
Former Franklin Regional soccer standout Zach Lorenz parlayed a year at a prep school into a Division I opportunity. Lorenz played this year as Woodstock Academy (Conn.), a first-year program. Interest began to pick up for Lorenz and he decided to further his career at Sacred Heart of the Northeast...
25 WPIAL soccer players make all-state teams
With the district and state playoffs complete, the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association announced its boys and girls all-state teams. The WPIAL had a number of representatives with 14 boys selections and 10 players picked for the girls list. The girls are Penn-Trafford senior forward Malia Kearns, Plum junior forward Kaitlyn...
Highlands girls basketball team ready to take next step under new coach
After finishing .500 and in fourth place last season in Section 1-4A, the Highlands girls basketball team is ready to make a jump toward the top. With practically everybody back and two newcomers on the scene, the team feels ready. Jason Kerr has taken over as coach, and former Burrell...
New Jeannette girls basketball coach Flow wants team to be competitive after recent struggles
When Bill Flow was hired as Jeannette’s girls basketball coach in June, he inherited a team that hasn’t had much success the past three seasons. The Jayhawks were 0-19 in 2020-21 and have been 8-54 the past three seasons. But Flow, 39, comes back to Westmoreland County after spending the...
Jeannette boys basketball team using extra time to prepare for season
When the Jeannette boys basketball team opens the 2021-22 on Dec. 10 at the West Mifflin tournament, the team will be ahead of the game. In previous seasons, Jeannette coach Adrian Batts had to wait for the football season to end before he got most of his players in the...
PIAA announces sites for football semifinals
With the WPIAL football playoffs and the Highway to Heinz in the rearview mirror, the focus now turns to the PIAA postseason and the Road to Hershey. The state playoffs have reached the final four as six WPIAL champions are one win away this weekend from heading to Hershey in...
Injury woes changed course of Pine-Richland football season
Coaches never want to use injuries as an excuse, and Pine-Richland football coach Steve Campos is no different in that regard. But what the Rams went through in terms of key players going down this season was something that Campos had never experienced in his long coaching career. The Rams...
Junior goalie stands tall for Pine-Richland hockey team
Most days after arriving home from elementary school, Dan Mooney would hop off the bus, drop his backpack and jump right into the middle of a pickup hockey game. “My older brother (Tommy) and his friends would always be playing in the driveway,” Mooney said. “They didn’t have a goalie,...
Gateway girls basketball players adjusting to new roles
The Gateway girls basketball team didn’t start out the way it had hoped last year amidst the atmosphere of overall uncertainty in the wake of the covid pandemic. The Gators were 0-6 before defeating Section 4-5A foe Greensburg Salem. They righted the ship and went 7-4 over the final 11...
New-look Plum boys basketball team taking shape
When the final buzzer sounded to conclude Plum’s WPIAL Class 5A first-round loss to New Castle in March, Plum boys basketball coach Mark Marino could take stock of what his veteran team was able to accomplish during a season filled with covid-related uncertainties. He also began to look to the...
Norwin notebook: Knights earn postseason honors
Norwin was recognized for another outstanding season in boys and girls soccer by the Big 5/6 Conference, which follows the top classifications in the WPIAL sports. The websites’ all-section teams recently were announced. Girls’ first-team selections for Section 3-4A included senior Paloma Swankler, junior Reagan Casper and freshman Julia Bursick,...
Franklin Regional wrestlers in position for big season
Franklin Regional wrestling coach Matt Lebe stopped short of predicting a WPIAL title for his team, but the veteran mentor expects his team to be one of the best in Class 3A. The Panthers opted not to compete in the WPIAL team tournament is 2021 because of covid concerns. Franklin...
Franklin Regional notebook: Leopold earns All-OAC honors at John Carroll
Nate Leopold has been a mainstay on the John Carroll football team since he arrived on campus several years ago, a standout prospect out of Franklin Regional with the potential to lead a defensive unit. His calming presence in the secondary allowed the Blue Streaks to contain opposing passing attacks....
Hampton athletes rack up championships during historic fall season
One year after a pandemic rattled WPIAL athletics, something else proved to be contagious at Hampton — winning. The Talbots fall sports programs put together the most successful season in school history, claiming multiple WPIAL team titles, a PIAA championship and posting an 11-win football season. “It’s once in a...
Defense forms backbone of Quaker Valley soccer’s state title team
They say defense wins championships in football. The same could be applied to soccer. Quaker Valley’s boys soccer team entered the postseason as the Section 4-2A champion. Not only were the Quakers unbeaten at 12-0 in the section, they did not allow a goal. Remarkably, QV outscored the opposition 99-0...
Quaker Valley reflects on memorable run to another PIAA boys soccer title
Quaker Valley’s soccer legacy climbed a notch higher this season. The QV boys team rolled to section, WPIAL and PIAA championships in 2021, finishing 23-2 overall. With nine starters and five of the top six scorers back from last year’s 11-1-1 squad, the Quakers started the 2021 campaign with great...
Penn Hills football team showed development during playoff season
Development is a priority in the Penn Hills football program. The Indians, who were eliminated from the playoffs after a 14-9 loss to Moon in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Nov. 19 at Newman Stadium, will lose three offensive linemen to graduation. Two of those players — Khalil Barley Morrow...
