High School category, Page 874
Upper St. Clair boys basketball quarantines after covid case, state playoffs in question
Three days after winning a WPIAL title, Upper St. Clair’s boys basketball season could be in jeopardy. The team shut down activities after learning Sunday of a covid-19 case, USC athletic director Kevin Deitrick said. The Panthers are scheduled to face either Altoona or Erie in the state playoffs Saturday....
Rochester tops West Greene in WPIAL finals for 3rd straight year
Rochester used big games from their top two scorers to roll to a third straight WPIAL Class A girls basketball championship with a 71-41 victory over West Greene Monday at Peters Township. Senior Alexis Robison scored a game-high 29 points while junior teammate Corynne Hauser added 23 points for Rochester....
11th-seeded Ellwood City knocks off No. 1 South Allegheny in WPIAL championship shocker
Joe Roth described his feelings succinctly. “It’s awesome to make history for Ellwood City,” he said. Not only did he and his Wolverines teammates win the first WPIAL boys basketball championship in school history Monday, but how they did it will be talked about for a long time in their...
WPIAL notebook: League won’t face financial loss from winter sports
The WPIAL lost around $28,000 by holding its swimming championships with no spectators, but the league expects to break even once all winter sport revenues are counted. “There won’t be a financial windfall and there won’t be a financial deficit,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman told the WPIAL board Monday....
After claiming WPIAL gold, Gateway’s Holmes turns attention to PIAA meet
Andrew Holmes had WPIAL gold on his mind March 7 at the Class AAA championships at Upper St. Clair High School. Soon enough, after posting a school-record time of 1 minute, 41.43 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle, he had gold around his neck. “It was an amazing feeling to see that...
With young, talented roster set to return, Gateway boys turn focus to future
All Will Kromka could do was watch. The Gateway junior guard/forward missed the Gators’ WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal game at No. 1 Chartiers Valley on March 6 after suffering a broken wrist in his team’s first-round win over Albert Gallatin three nights earlier. “It was obviously really tough not being...
Shaler girls basketball team plans to build on this season’s experience
Shaler girls basketball coach Cournelious Nesbit believed Bethel Park’s Olivia Westphal provided a valuable lesson for his Titans. Westphal, a Duquesne recruit, established her presence early and poured in 33 points to lead the Black Hawks to a 64-37 win in the first round of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs...
Playoff win shows young Shaler boys basketball team making strides
Twenty-one days of waiting followed by a playoff game felt how Shaler coach Rob Niederberger believed it would. “It was weird,” Niederbeger said of the Titans’ 85-64 win over Ringgold in the preliminary round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. “It was a home game, and there was no atmosphere....
South Fayette boys take pride in navigating challenging season
A similar theme that many district basketball coaches have talked about recently is not of the disappointment of team goals not met, but the satisfaction of having a season in an effort to reach those goals. Count South Fayette boys basketball coach Dave Mislan among them. “I guess the best...
Hockey rivals Bishop Canevin, Chartiers Valley unite for special cause
For the Bishop Canevin hockey team, curiosity about a picture hanging on a wall led to a heartwarming fundraiser and a great night of outdoor hockey. On Feb. 15, the Crusaders and Chartiers Valley skated to a 4-4 tie at the South Park outdoor rink. The game was played in...
TJ bowler completes quick climb to top with school’s first WPIBL singles title
Nick Johnson has been bowling competitively for only three years. This year has proven to be special. And historic. Johnson, a junior at Thomas Jefferson, is the first bowler in school history to win a WPIBL singles championship. “TJ bowling has had some good bowlers in the past that have...
Thomas Jefferson senior closes curtain on family swimming dynasty
And then there was one. Luke Pletz, the last of the Pletz siblings, ended his prominent high school career in the pool March 6 at Upper St. Clair at the WPIAL Class AA championship meet. And thus a family legacy of quality swimming at the scholastic level ceased. A senior...
Gymnasts from Baldwin, Thomas Jefferson form special bond with coaching moms
There definitely was a family feel to the Premier Gym high school gymnastics program. At the hub of it all was the venerable matriarch, Jodi Cummings, head coach of the Baldwin and Thomas Jefferson gymnastics teams. Cummings, Becky Revo and Kristen Weber had the good fortune to be able to...
Sewickley Academy boys capitalize on team growth before playoff exit
The Sewickley Academy boys basketball team started this season without an identity or a sense of superior athletic talent that could carry them to wins. By the end of the season, though, the Panthers started doing things the old-fashioned way, and it worked. They played hard-nosed defense and limited top-seeded...
Led by 2 relay titles, Quaker Valley girls swim to 2nd at WPIAL championship meet
In his first year at the helm of the Quaker Valley swimming team, John Nemeth led the girls to a second-place finish at the WPIAL Class AA championships March 6. The Quakers finished with 199 team points, 55 points behind champion Northgate. They also earned gold medal finishes in both...
Penn-Trafford notebook: Austin Prokopec, 2 relay teams qualify for state swim meet
Penn-Trafford senior Austin Prokopec and two boys relay teams qualified for the PIAA swimming championships at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg. Prokopec, who finished third in the WPIAL 200 freestyle, was chosen because of his time of 1:42.81. The relay teams that qualified were the 200 freestyle and 400...
Penn-Trafford basketball teams look to build on 2020-21 success
Late-season shooting woes cost the Penn-Trafford girls basketball team a longer WPIAL playoff run. Competing in Class 6A, the Warriors (10-7, 9-5) ended the season with a 46-43 loss to Baldwin in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs. Penn-Trafford lost five of its final six games after starting 9-2....
After offseason in gym, Penn Hills junior smashing shot put records
Hard work and dedication in the weight room have paid off handsomely for Penn Hills junior Angelo Allen. And he’s not finished yet. The 5-foot-11, 235-pound Allen recently shattered a Penn Hills track team record in the indoor shot put event established 52 years ago by Jack Poindexter. “I feel...
Penn Hills girls basketball to have different look but same expectations
The Penn Hills girls basketball team will have a new look to its lineup for 2021-22. With five seniors and one junior on this year’s team roster, look for a group of fresh faces to be incorporated into next year’s lineup by coach Robert Cash. It will be a true...
Pine-Richland swimmers look ahead to bright future after WPIAL performance
A trio of young Pine-Richland swimmers traveled to Upper St. Clair on March 7 to test themselves against the best in the WPIAL and came home with some solid results to cap off a year in which six new school records were set. Sophomore Delaney Allen placed fourth in the...
Balanced offense carries Pine-Richland boys on playoff run
During Pine-Richland’s boys basketball playoff run, multiple players saw their name with a large point total beside it on the stat sheet. That’s by design. Rams coach Bob Petcash preaches sharing the ball and moving around to find the open shot. It’s his expectation for everyone that puts on a...
Plum swimmers earn 1st trip to PIAA championship meet
After Plum seniors Logan Minick and Sam Schohn secured top-eight medals in the 500-yard freestyle and 100 breaststroke, respectively, at the WPIAL Class AA championships March 6 at Upper St. Clair, the waiting game began. While only the WPIAL champions qualified automatically for the PIAA championships, set for Friday at...
Plum senior soccer players to continue careers at next level
Plum girls soccer coach Jamie Stewart knew that at the end of the 2020 season he would be losing another strong senior class that had accomplished a great deal on and off the field. The senior group finished 32-5-1 at home and 58-16-1 over four seasons. The Mustangs won back-to-back...
Norwin notebook: Altieri shakes off slam to wrestle at states
John Altieri was cleared for a trip to Hershey for the PIAA Wrestling Championships, but the Norwin senior’s participation in the state tournament looked like it might be in question after a brutal body slam. During the PIAA West Super Regional at Altoona, Altieri won a championship at 145 pounds,...
Franklin Regional swim team hopes to add to medal haul at PIAAs
Franklin Regional sent a number of swimmers to the medal stand at the WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Upper St. Clair. “I am very happy with our results from WPIALs,” Panthers coach Victor Santoro said. “All three girls relays won medals.” The girls 200-yard freestyle relay finished fifth, the 200-yard...
