Freedom

The North Catholic victory tradition continued to ring loud and clear this past school year. Steady contributions across all three seasons, along with a couple of championship runs, helped the Trojans win a third straight Trib HSSN Cup for Class 3A in 2021-22. “North Catholic has a long standing tradition...

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...

There were a lot of players and coaches who put in plenty of time on the basketball court this season to be the best they could be. While we salute all of those who participated in a memorable 2022 girls high school basketball campaign, we have a special seat in...

HERSHEY – Freedom wanted to win a state title in its first trip to Hershey, but the championship trophy went home with a team that already owned four. Still, the Bulldogs were confident they took home something else: some statewide respect. “Nobody thought we’d be here,” sophomore Shaye Bailey said....

PIAA Class 3A girls basketball final Freedom vs. Neumann-Goretti Noon, Saturday, Giant Center, Hershey On the air: TV: PCN; Streaming audio: TribLive HSSN; Radio: 1230 AM, 99.3 FM, 1460 AM PIAA titles: Freedom 0, Neumann-Goretti 4 (2015, ’16, ’17, ’18) Freedom (22-5) Coach: John Kaercher Projected starting lineup No., Name,...

Three boys and two girls WPIAL basketball teams saw their dreams of merging gold and chocolate together come to an end last week with a loss in the PIAA semifinals. However, nine district teams have booked their hotels and are heading east in search of a state championship…and chocolate. While...

The top two heading into the semifinals remain the top two in four of the six classifications entering championship weekend in Hershey. While there was no change to the Top 5 of the weekly Trib HSSN girls basketball state rankings in 6A, 5A, 2A and A, the deck was shuffled...

As Freedom girls basketball coach John Kaercher would have it, “These dogs had their day.” Talk about March Madness. Instead of falling victim to highly touted North Catholic for a fourth time this season, Freedom decided to stun the Trojanettes, 46-39, in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals Friday night at...

Welcome to Semifinals Friday in the PIAA basketball playoffs. With Blackhawk losing in the quarterfinals, there are no undefeated girls teams from the WPIAL left here in 2022. One team still alive for state gold lived the perfect season dream 13 years ago. Mt. Lebanon finished 31-0, defeating Fox Chapel...

Eleven girls basketball teams saw two dreams come to an end this past week. First, their goal of winning a PIAA basketball championship, and second, finishing the season in the coveted Top 5 of the Trib HSSN state rankings. While every class saw at least two teams ousted with the...

The PIAA chose Norwin as host site for the rematch of New Castle and Gateway, one of two all-WPIAL pairings in the state basketball semifinals. They’ll meet at 7 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to Hershey. New Castle defeated Gateway by 10 points when they played Feb. 28 in...

A nice run in the district playoffs landed the Freedom girls basketball team in the Class 3A title game against Section 1 foe North Catholic. The Trojans captured their 21st WPIAL crown with a 48-43 victory. Undaunted, the Bulldogs are off and running on another impressive postseason journey, this time...

The WPIAL is guaranteed to have a boys team in the Class 5A state championship with Laurel Highlands, New Castle, Gateway and Penn Hills all reaching the quarterfinals. They’ll pair off Tuesday in two matchups in a doubleheader at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center. New Castle plays Penn Hills at...

Nine months ago, the two schools met for WPIAL gold. Now Shenango battles Seton LaSalle with a spot in the PIAA girls basketball quarterfinals at stake. The last time these schools collided in a postseason clash, Shenango stunned top seed and defending champion Seton LaSalle, 2-1, in the 2021 WPIAL...

It’s not easy to play in a championship basketball game the same day as your mother’s funeral. But there was Anastasia Peterson, on the floor for North Catholic on Thursday night in the WPIAL Class 3A title game. Peterson only scored two points — but it was a basket that...

WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball championship No. 1 North Catholic vs. No. 3 Freedom 7 p.m. Thursday, Petersen Events Center On the air: Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com; Radio: WBVP-AM 1230, WBVP-FM 99.3, WMBA-AM 1460 WPIAL titles: North Catholic 20; Freedom 0 North Catholic (18-5) Coach: Molly Rottmann Projected starting lineup No.,...

The WPIAL announced pairings Thursday for wrestling section tournaments as part of the team championship. The section tournaments will be held Wednesday at the sites of the first-place team in the B subsections. There was a three-way tie for second place in Section 1-A. Fort Cherry was awarded the spot...

Laurel running back Luke McCoy, who ranked among the WPIAL rushing leaders this season, was honored three times by Midwestern coaches in all-conference voting. McCoy was named Offensive Player of the Year and earned all-conference honors on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 1,720 yards and 30 touchdowns....

TribHSSN Fab 15 Player of the Year Kelsey Salopek Sr., F, Steel Valley As a Kent State commit, Kelsey Salopek already was on the WPIAL radar, but she took her individual talents a step farther as she led Steel Valley to its first WPIAL championship in its first try. The...

Greensburg Central Catholic and Freedom combined for 21 goals in their previous two matchups this season. In their third meeting, all it took was one. A 25th-minute strike from freshman forward Riley Kerr complemented a stocky defensive performance as the Centurions blanked Freedom, 1-0, in a PIAA Class A girls...

Boys Class 3A Consolation game Plum (17-3-1) vs. Franklin Regional (15-4) 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pete Antimarino Stadium, Gateway, Monroeville The winner of this third-place game between Section 4 foes will advance to the PIAA playoffs, which begin next Tuesday around the state. Fourth-seeded Plum took top-seeded and undefeated West...

Back in September, the Greensburg Central Catholic and Freedom girls soccer teams went on a scoring frenzy, combining for 14 goals in a two-goal GCC win. When the teams met again Monday night in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at West Mifflin, it started to look like a repeat of...

Monday’s WPIAL soccer playoff games Boys Class 3A Semifinals 3-Franklin Regional (15-3) vs. 2-Hampton (17-1) 8 p.m. at Pete Antimarino Stadium, Gateway, Monroeville Winner plays: Winner of 4-Plum (17-2-1)/1-West Allegheny (20-0) in WPIAL championship at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at Highmark Stadium Notes: With a frenzied comeback, Franklin Regional raced...

Davoun Fuse threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more as No. 3 Washington won the Class 2A Century Conference title with a 41-34 triumph over McGuffey (5-5, 4-2) on Friday night. After McGuffey’s Kyle Brookman scored on a 2-yard run with 20 seconds left, Fuse found Zavian Willis...

Luke McCoy ran for 174 yards and three touchdowns and became the school’s all-time leading rusher with 3,711 career yards in leading No. 4 Laurel to a 54-13 win over Ellwood City (0-7, 0-6) in the WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Conference on Friday night. Kobe DeRossa tacked on 132 rushing...