High School category, Page 922
3 WPIAL champions to compete in 2021 PIAA boys basketball semifinals
The WPIAL boys basketball champions split six games in the PIAA quarterfinals in an emotional weekend of state basketball playoffs. Upper St. Clair won a game for the ages with just six players while Lincoln Park and OLSH rolled to lopsided wins. Meanwhile, it was time to check into the...
Matchups set for 2021 PIAA girls basketball semifinals
The WPIAL girls basketball champions were close to a quarterfinals sweep on the Road to Hershey. Only Beaver did not survive as the Bobcats lost a heartbreaker in overtime to District 10 power Villa Maria Academy, 29-28, on Saturday. The other five District 7 champs are Final Four bound Monday...
Penn Hills volleyball hopes to make up for lost time
The Penn Hills boys volleyball team is glad to be back in the gym and is looking forward to competing in 2021. “My expectations for this season are to play,” said Jay Mitlo, the Indians veteran coach. “One year was taken from these guys, and we are elated to get...
Penn Hills track team ready for anything after canceled season
The 2021 track season at Penn Hills will be filled with many unknowns. One thing for certain is youth will be served this spring. “I have a very young team this year,” said veteran coach Lee Zelkowitz. “All the coaches are enjoying working with these athletes. They are very motivated...
Pine-Richland softball gearing season toward section race
Pine-Richland softball coach Gary Shepard feels he has the right mix of returning players and newcomers to field a competitive team this spring. And he will have some time to see how the lineup will shake out. Because of a smaller-than-usual section of only six teams, the Rams will have...
Defending WPIAL champion Pine-Richland baseball team to start season shorthanded
When Pine-Richland takes the field this spring, it will be without a few key players at the start, but that isn’t slowing the Rams’ hunger to defend their WPIAL Class 6A title. Standout pitchers Tommy Beam, a West Virginia recruit, and West Virginia Wesleyan recruit Gabe Mustovic, along with infielder...
Gateway bowlers cap season at regional tournament
While covid protocols and safety precautions made the 2020-21 Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League season like no other, an experienced Gateway boys varsity team worked through all of the obstacles to finish with successful results. The Gators capped play at the Western Regional Championships on March 5 and 6. Senior...
Gateway baseball players looking to build on past success with holdovers from ’19
Luke Jackson played 14 games and collected 33 at-bats as a sophomore in 2019 as Gateway finished 13-7 and qualified for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The senior center fielder, along with a returning group that included nine seniors, hoped to build on the experience, which included a tough 2-1...
Shaler notebook: Bowlers finish in top 20 at regionals
Throughout the season, the Shaler girls bowling team demonstrated its depth. At the Western Regional Championships, the Titans were once again led by a different competitor. Megan Schwab bowled an 847 series with a high game of 204 to place a team-high 17th at the event. Due to the pandemic,...
Brentwood basketball seasons started strong, ran out of steam
Brentwood’s basketball season started with a bang but fizzled out at the end. After a 12-0 start in a season delayed a month by covid-related concerns, the girls team dropped its final two games, including a 47-44 decision at home to Beaver Falls in the first round of the WPIAL...
Building blocks in place for Baldwin basketball
The potential is there for a big 2021-22 season for the Baldwin boys basketball team. Really big. The Highlanders will have several key players back from this year’s team. “We return the majority of our team,” said first-year coach Jeff Ackermann. “We do lose two great seniors, but I think...
Seniors lay foundation for Sewickley Academy girls basketball program
Over the past four years, the seniors of the Sewickley Academy girls basketball team have taken the program to a new level. Since the 2017-2018 season, the Panthers have produced a record of 55-34, made three WPIAL semifinal appearances and three PIAA tournament appearances, including the quarterfinals two years ago....
Penn-Trafford’s Hohman continues to show improvement after reaching PIAA podium
Penn-Trafford junior Troy Hohman finished the 2021 season with a PIAA medal. It wasn’t quite the medal he wanted. He’ll look for golden one during his senior season. Hohman (26-6, 68-30) finished fourth at the PIAA Class AAA wrestling championships March 13 by going 2-2 in the tournament. He lost...
Penn-Trafford notebook: Warriors skate past Hempfield, Latrobe
Penn-Trafford’s hockey team is looking to finish strong after going through a six-game losing streak. The Warriors improved to 9-8 with wins over Southeast Division rivals Hempfield, 1-0, on March 11 and Latrobe, 3-2, on March 15. Penn-Trafford won three of its last four games heading into its final regular...
North Allegheny boys win state bowling championship
A month after winning the first WPIBL boys team championship in program history, the North Allegheny bowling team made another significant addition to its trophy case Saturday. The Tigers are state champs. After earning the third and final qualifying spot for the step-ladder finals, North Allegheny rolled through the semifinals...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for March 20, 2021
High schools Basketball Boys PIAA playoffs Class 6A Quarterfinals Saturday’s results Archbishop Wood 70, William Allen 56 Reading 68, Scranton 53 Upper St. Clair 62, Erie 57 Semifinals Tuesday’s schedule Archbishop Wood (18-0) vs. Lower Merion (11-4); Upper St. Clair (21-1) vs. Reading (24-2) Class 5A Semifinals Monday’s schedule Archbishop...
Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny betters his national record in winning PIAA breaststroke titleVideo
As a sophomore, Josh Matheny wowed the crowd at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium and many others watching on television with a time of 52.52 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke. That time at the 2019 PIAA Class AAA championships put him in the National Federation of State High School Associations record books....
Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional, Hempfield relays earn PIAA medals
The Penn-Trafford boys 200-yard freestyle relay entered Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA swimming championships at Cumberland Valley High School tied for the 10th seed. But the quartet of senior Austin Prokopec, freshmen Patton Graziano and Conner Alexander and senior Ben Yant didn’t let their seeding tie them down. They finished with...
Fox Chapel’s Sophie Shao defends PIAA title in 100 butterfly
After defending her WPIAL title in the 100-yard butterfly two weeks ago, Fox Chapel sophomore Sophie Shao went looking for a similar repeat performance Saturday at the PIAA Class AAA championships at Cumberland Valley. Mission accomplished. Taking to the pool for the third time in a little more than 60...
High school roundup for March 20, 2021: Beaver drops heartbreaker, Rochester rolls in state playoffs
Freshman Jayden McBride hit a free throw with 14.7 seconds left to score the only point of overtime as Villa Maria Academy knocked off Beaver, 29-28, in a battle of undefeated teams in the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball playoffs Saturday afternoon. Billed as a matchup of stingy defensive teams,...
Spadafora, DiMichele guide OLSH past Karns City into PIAA semifinals
District 9 champion Karns City rolled into Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s Angela Activities Center Saturday with hopes of finding the rhythm that had led to 23 Gremlins victories. Instead, OLSH’s lockdown defense ruled the day as the Chargers blasted Karns City, 75-45, in a PIAA Class 2A boys...
Short-handed Upper St. Clair wins PIAA quarterfinal with 6 players, volunteer coachVideo
Screenwriters might not turn the “Upper St. Clair Six” into a movie, but their improbable story has every element for a covid-era drama about high school basketball. Only six players were available after team-wide covid-19 testing and they asked a 20-year-old volunteer coach to lead them, yet somehow the short-handed...
Westmoreland notebook: Jeannette looking for new girls basketball coach
Jeannette is taking its girls basketball program in a new direction. The district opened the coaching position held for the last three seasons by Jonathan Bass after the Jayhawks finished 0-19 this season. The team was 0-6 in section play but opted to enter the WPIAL open playoff tournament and...
North Allegheny girls capture 1st PIAA swimming championship since ’97Video
The last time a North Allegheny girls swimming and diving team won a PIAA state championship, the TV show “Friends” was all the rage on NBC and the Green Bay Packers reigned as Super Bowl Champions. The year was 1997, a long time ago in the eyes of Tigers coach...
Chartiers Valley girls cruise past Warren in PIAA quarterfinals
Despite a “flawed” game plan, Chartiers Valley scored 26 of the final 37 points in the first half, then used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to blow open a tight game and roll to a 61-38 victory Saturday afternoon. The win lifts the three-time WPIAL champions and defending...
