Clairton

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...

Twenty-one WPIAL girls basketball players earned all-state honors Thursday, and Neshannock’s Luann Grybowski was named Class 2A Coach of the Year after leading the Lancers to a state championship this winter. Nine WPIAL players earned first-team honors, including Neshannock teammates Neleh Nogay and Mairan Haggerty, who guided the Lancers to...

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...

Thanks to former Clairton star Tyler Boyd, the Big 33 Football Classic’s Super Bowl streak lives on. Every Super Bowl has included at least one alumni from the high school football all-star game, a remarkable streak that Boyd will extend for another year as a wide receiver for the AFC...

Six WPIAL Class A football players earned all-state honors Tuesday, including Bishop Canevin wide receiver Lesae Lacks, whose team-high 50 catches helped the Crusaders win the district title. Lacks finished his junior year with 930 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns for Canevin, which won its first WPIAL title since 1990....

Leechburg quarterback Thomas Burke finished fifth among all WPIAL passers this season, earning the senior Offensive Player of the Year honors in the Eastern Conference. Burke finished with 2,232 passing yards and 18 touchdowns for the Blue Devils, who also had senior Eli Rich named the conference’s top lineman. Both...

Finalists were announced this week for the third annual Bill Fralic Memorial Award, which recognizes the top senior football lineman in the WPIAL. There are six finalists — one from each classification — and the winner will be announced Dec. 4 at a pancake breakfast at Longue Vue Club in...

Clairton knocked Our Lady of the Sacred Heart out of the WPIAL Class A playoffs the past two seasons in the quarterfinals. On Friday night, the Chargers got their revenge. Nehemiah Azeem threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as No. 9 OLSH upset top-seeded Clairton, 29-15, in the...

The simple math tells the story. Twenty-nine WPIAL football teams saw their dreams of a championship end on opening night. Twenty-nine others advanced to join 15 teams that enjoyed a bye week, leaving 44 teams still alive for district gold. The postseason continues Friday with two games on the Road...

Byes, byes, byes. The WPIAL football playoff brackets have a different look this season with the addition of 15 first-round byes. Which begs the question: Do coaches want a week off at this time of year? With a laugh, Clairton coach Wayne Wade said he’d answer that question after next...

In the span of a year, Steel Valley went from a one-win season to the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL football playoffs. The Ironmen rebounded from a 1-5 record a year ago to win the Allegheny Conference title this fall with an undefeated record. That comeback story earned Steel...

Nehemiah Azeem ran for two touchdowns as OLSH slipped past No. 3 Cornell, 13-12. for a Class A Big Seven Conference win Friday night. OLSH (6-3, 4-3) clinched a playoff berth with the victory. Sincere Kimbrough threw for 110 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders (7-2, 6-1), who had...

Greensburg Central Catholic has clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class A football playoffs, but the team the Centurions roll out in the opener might be unrecognizable compared to the one fans have seen all season. That is because the Centurions have to sit five transfers, all two-way starters, for...

Last week: 8-4 (66.7%) Season: 79-31 (71.8%) With a fingernail flick, a piece of candy corn soars across the office and hits a copy editor on the back of the head. “It’s good!” the Birdie shouts, raising his fists into the air and disturbing a lifestyles writer and a news...

Leechburg clinched its first playoff appearance since 1988 by earning a 66-6 victory over Imani Christian (2-6, 1-5) in the WPIAL Class A Eastern Conference on Friday night. Braylan Lovelace ran 32 times for 183 yards and six touchdowns for Leechburg. The Blue Devils (7-2, 4-2) have scored 137 points...

Last week: 9-1 (90%) Overall: 58-25 (69.9%) The Birdie doesn’t want to alarm anyone, but there’s a potential doozy of a playoff tiebreaker brewing that involves local teams. “I’m not entirely sure,” Birdie said, rifling through his dog-eared copy of WPIAL football tiebreaking procedures. “but I think it might come...

Class 5A Northeast Fox Chapel (4-3, 2-1) at North Hills (5-3, 2-1) 7 p.m. Friday, Martorelli Stadium, Ross Township Both teams are locked in a four-way tie for the top spot in the conference with Pine-Richland and Penn Hills. … The Foxes saw a two-game win streak snapped with a...

It’s not often that a team has a chance to win or tie the game late in the fourth quarter on the road at Neil C. Brown Stadium, but that’s the situation Greensburg Central Catholic had Friday night. But one last big play from a Clairton secondary that had its...

Zero has become North Catholic’s favorite number. That’s because the Trojans have shut out five of their first seven opponents, by far the most shutouts by any defense in the WPIAL this season. Take that dominance a step farther and they’ve held offenses scoreless in 25 of their 28 quarters....

Last week: 8-4 (66.7%) Season: 59-26 (69/4%) His ears still ringing from his first Rolling Stones concert he attended last week at Heinz Field — stage-side; he knew a guy — the Birdie has been strutting around the office like Mick Jagger. He can’t believe how entertaining the band is...

Class 6A 2-Central Catholic (5-2, 3-1) at Hempfield (2-5, 0-4) 7 p.m. Friday, Spartan Stadium, Hempfield Central Catholic lost a game and its No. 1 ranking last week when it fell to Mt. Lebanon, 35-14, in a game that carried over into Saturday morning because of lightning delays. Gannon Carothers...

Serra Catholic is picking up its second forfeit victory of the season after Ligonier Valley announced Wednesday it will be unable to field a team for Friday’s scheduled WPIAL Class 2A Allegheny Conference football game. The Eagles (8-0, 2-0) received a nonconference forfeit win against Carlynton on Sept. 24. Serra...

After a two-game losing streak and a two-game winning streak, Clairton faced a first-place battle against an undefeated Bishop Canevin football team Friday night. The Bears led by 22 points after a sloppy first half and eventually added a touchdown to answer a ferocious comeback attempt by Bishop Canevin and...

WPIAL football now enters prime time. October football begins in Week 5 and yes, nearly all of the games are played in the evening. But prime time in this instance is conference play. For the final five weeks of the regular season starting on Friday, all 17 conferences in WPIAL...

Welcome to Week 5. As part of her ongoing effort to be more transparent to her loyal supporters, Chick’s Picks decided to give her fans an inside look at one of the many skills that go into her prognosticating each week. Many moons ago, the popular game show “Who Wants...