Aquinas Academy

The battle for the HSSN Trib Cup in Class A in 2021-2022 turned into one of the closest and most unique battles where overall success won out. In the end, it was Greensburg Central Catholic hoisting the cup aloft again, this despite the school only winning one district championship all...

Bishop Canevin celebrated the school’s first boys basketball state title this winter and the Crusaders were rewarded for that accomplishment again Tuesday. Canevin seniors Jaden Gales and Kevaughn Price each earned first-team all-state honors and Gino Palmosina was named the state’s top coach in PIAA Class A. Price averaged 15...

The opening round of the PIAA basketball postseason is set to conclude Wednesday. The spotlight will shine on boys 6A, 3A and 2A first-round games, along with girls 5A, 4A and A state playoff openers. Inner city battle One of the Class 6A opening-round matchups could be considered a Crummie...

The Bishop Canevin Crusaders may have been seeded No. 7 in the WPIAL Class A girls basketball playoffs, but that only seemed to fuel them. Bishop Canevin defeated fourth-seeded Aquinas Academy, 59-40, in the Class A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. It was Bishop Canevin’s sixth WPIAL title,...

WPIAL Class A girls basketball championship No. 4 Aquinas Academy vs. No. 7 Bishop Canevin 11 a.m. Saturday, Petersen Events Center On the air: Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com WPIAL titles: Aquinas Academy 0; Bishop Canevin 5 (2013, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘20) Aquinas Academy (14-6) Coach: Chris Lebakken Projected starting lineup No.,...

The St. Joseph girls basketball team held a great deal of momentum entering Monday’s WPIAL Class A semifinal against Section 3 rival Aquinas Academy at North Hills High School. The No. 9 Spartans took down No. 1 Rochester on Thursday, and they hoped to do the same against the No....

Sometimes a team just has your number. That was what Monessen girls basketball coach Janine Vertacnik kept on saying to herself after the Greyhounds dropped their Class A quarterfinal contest to Aquinas Academy, 60-37, on the road Thursday night. “They were just the better team tonight,” Vertacnik said. “Every time...

GIRLS Class 2A Quarterfinals 5-Seton La Salle (16-6) at 4-Greensburg Central Catholic (18-4) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: Winner of 9-Apollo-Ridge (16-4)/1-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (19-4) Monday in semifinals Layup lines: Seton LaSalle advanced with a 48-35 victory over No. 12 Sto-Rox in the first round. The Rebels...

Emi Kartsonas has been one of the area’s busiest student-athletes, and it looks like she won’t be slowing down anytime soon. The Aquinas Academy senior has had an outstanding high school career, lettering in basketball, field hockey and lacrosse, and those teams have all made the WPIAL playoffs each of...

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,...

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...

The final week of section play in WPIAL basketball begins with a full slate of section contests in girls hoops. Last year, Trinity was perfect in Section 2-5A, winning all 12 games and finishing 2½ games in front of second-place Thomas Jefferson. The Hillers can win their second straight outright...

Days after winning WPIAL titles, the Pine-Richland, Penn-Trafford and Shady Side Academy field hockey teams had another reason to celebrate Wednesday. Combined, the three WPIAL champions had 15 players honored as WPIAL all-stars. The all-stars were chosen by a vote of coaches, who also identified an All-WPIAL team. Class 3A...

Betsy Gorse returned to Shady Side Academy for her second stint as head coach four seasons ago, and the move turned out in the best way for both her and the school, as the Bulldogs won their fourth consecutive WPIAL Class A championship Saturday by defeating Aquinas Academy, 1-0, at...

This year’s WPIAL field hockey tournaments have a lot on the line for the favorites in each classification. Pine-Richland is seeking a third straight title in Class 3A. Penn-Trafford is looking for a sixth consecutive crown in Class 2A, and Shady Side Academy is aiming for a four-peat in Class...

The final week of section play in WPIAL soccer begins with a busy night on the boys soccer pitch. Two of the bigger matches take place in Section 2-A. One for the top spot in the section and one for a possible playoff berth. Eden Christian visits Winchester Thurston in...

Six weeks after Bishop Canevin’s Dom Elliot and Kevaughn Price shared a championship court with Rochester’s Devon Hemer and JD Azulay, the four WPIAL Class A finalists are together again. They were among six WPIAL boys basketball players who earned all-state honors Monday in a vote of sports writers. All...

Going into the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs, Rochester went 18 days without a game due to covid-19 precautions and their bye as the No. 1 seed in the Class A bracket. There has been no rust. Two games later, the Rams have two 75-point outputs and have outscored their first...

Here is a breakdown of the 2020-21 WPIAL girls basketball playoffs: Class 6A Favorite: Defending champion North Allegheny (18-1) was cruising along on a 30-game winning streak when it was clipped by Class 5A No. 1 Trinity, 59-56. Still, the Tigers remain the cream of the crop in the WPIAL’s...

Here is a breakdown of the 2020-21 WPIAL boys basketball playoffs: Class 6A Favorite: Upper St. Clair has talent and depth but also experience, having reached the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA second round a year ago with much of the same lineup, led by Luke Gensler (13.7 ppg), David Pantelis...

The second-smallest school in WPIAL girls basketball is eyeing bigger things this season. One year after making school history, Aquinas Academy is seeking its first section title and another postseason run. “We don’t want to stop,” junior forward Elizabeth Russell said. “We want to keep going.” The first-place Crusaders were...

Aquinas Academy star guard Vinnie Cugini knows the Crusaders will make the WPIAL Class A playoffs this season for the first time in program history. But the WPIAL’s leading scorer has greater ambition than a mere appearance in the league’s first “open” tournament since 1984. “I’m really excited,” the sophomore...

There weren’t many fans to witness it, but Aquinas Academy sophomore Vinnie Cugini made WPIAL history Friday night. The 6-foot-1 guard scored his 1,000th career point in the Crusaders’ 84-76 loss to Leechburg, his 29th game at the tiny private Catholic school in Hampton. Cugini became the fastest player in...

Aquinas Academy sophomore Vinnie Cugini scored 52 points, breaking the 50-point barrier for the second time in a week, but this time, it didn’t lead to a victory. Andrew Sullivan scored 39 points to lead St. Joseph to an 85-72 win over Aquinas Academy in Section 3-A boys basketball Tuesday...

In 1984, rocker Sammy Hagar hit it big on the charts with a song about his struggles keeping the speed limit of 55 miles per hour on the road and in life. Nearly 40 years late, Aquinas Academy super sophomore Vinnie Cugini proved he could drive, stop and pop for...