St. Joseph

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...

Basketball in the A-K Valley will have a bit of a different look next winter. The WPIAL board of directors approved section alignments for the next two-year cycle in boys and girls basketball on June 13. Several A-K Valley teams were impacted. Here’s a look at some of the changes:...

Sally Ackerman coached the girls basketball team at St. Joseph for five years from 2013-14 to 2017-18. The Spartans advanced to the WPIAL postseason four times, the PIAA playoffs once and compiled a 71-48 record during that span. Ackerman, also the girls JV coach at St. Joseph from 2010-13, has...

Maddie Boyer Knoch, 5-10, Sr., Guard As a freshman, Maddie Boyer helped the Knoch girls basketball team make the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. The Knights suffered a first-round loss to Elizabeth Forward. Two years ago, Boyer increased her role at both ends of the court, and Knoch increased its standing...

Eli Yofan Fox Chapel, 6-2, Sr., Guard Eli Yofan averaged 19.3 points throughout the 2021-22 boys basketball season, but he was limited for most of Fox Chapel’s WPIAL Class 6A title game against North Hills early last month at the Petersen Events Center. But as he did all season, the...

Kiski Area coach Corey Smith has come full circle with the Cager Classic. He was the East MVP in 2002, an assistant under Greg Hutcherson and now the head coach for the East as the Cager Classic returns after a two-year hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The event...

Last spring was a celebration as district athletes returned to the diamonds after the 2020 season was canceled because of the covid-19 shutdowns. Softball was a success throughout as the WPIAL crowned four new champions while Laurel and West Greene remained on top in 2A and A. District softball squads...

Position flexibility is key for any softball team but even moreso for those in Class A. St. Joseph enters the 2022 season with 12 players on its roster and just one senior. Though the small roster might provide some challenges, it also will offer opportunities for players to show their...

Bradley Bestic has experience leading a Class A baseball team to success. This spring, he will lean on that experience in guiding St. Joseph. Bestic, who was named St. Joseph’s athletic director in November, enters his first season as coach of the Spartans’ baseball program. He coached Vincentian Academy from...

While St. Joseph’s girls basketball team didn’t achieve the ultimate WPIAL prize of a district basketball title, it did pull off the win of the postseason. And it might be a sign of things to come. The Spartans finished the season with a 10-15 record but upset Class A’s top...

Boys Class 6A 3-7 Cumberland Valley (19-7) at 7-1 Fox Chapel (24-1) 6 p.m. Wednesday Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; David Vespiognani, Cumberland Valley Winner plays: Winner of 8-1 Allderdice (19-7)/7-3 Central Catholic (18-6) Saturday in the second round (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Cumberland Valley earned a spot...

St. Joseph boys basketball coach Hart Coleman said he is going to attend WPIAL playoff games and recommends his players do the same. He wants them to witness the type of consistency and play that will lead to his team to taking the next step in getting back to the...

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....

Sam Wygonik finishes classes each day and heads to swim practice, but for the St. Joseph senior, it’s not as simple as walking down a few hallways to the natatorium. Wygonik is the lone swimmer at St. Joseph and does his daily workouts at Fox Chapel High School. He’s an...

The St. Joseph girls basketball team will get another crack at Aquinas Academy as the Section 3-1A rivals do battle at 6 p.m. Monday at North Hills in the WPIAL semifinals with a trip to Petersen Events Center on the line. Most playoff pundits and other observers probably thought the...

I confess. I thought it was a typo. After I filed my Highlands-Penn Hills story Thursday night, I perused the scoreboard to see what the other local teams did. The first time I saw the St. Joseph-Rochester score, I was skeptical. My media colleague sitting beside me agreed that somebody...

Anna Kreinbrook Class: Sophomore School: St. Joseph Sport: Basketball Report card: Kreinbrook scored the go-ahead basket with 50 seconds remaining and sank two free throws in the final moments to help St. Joseph complete a 19-point comeback in a 57-54 victory over three-time defending Class A champ and top-seed Rochester...

BOYS Class 5A Quarterfinals 5-Highlands (17-6) at 4-Penn Hills (18-4) 7 p.m. Thursday Winner plays: 8-Hampton (13-10) at 1-Laurel Highlands (22-0) Monday in semifinals (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Highlands is coming off a dominating 76-40 victory over Albert Gallatin in the first round Monday. Jimmy Kunst scored 24...

The St. Joseph girls basketball team is back in the WPIAL postseason win column. The youthful Spartans, with just one senior on their roster, halted a three-game playoff losing streak dating to 2018 with a 45-37 victory over Mapletown on Monday in a Class A first-round game at Gateway High...

Monday’s games Boys First round Class 5A 9-Kiski Area (15-7) at 8-Hampton (12-10) 7 p.m. Monday Winner plays: Winner of 1-Laurel Highlands (21-0)/16-Woodland Hills (8-14) on Thursday in quarterfinals Layup lines: Kiski Area already tripled its win total from a year ago under first-year coach Corey Smith, who played for...

Lexi Colaianni Class: Junior School: Kiski Area Sport: Basketball Report card: Colaianni made nine 3-pointers for a game-high 27 points in a 61-37 win over Freeport in Kiski Area’s season finale Monday. It was a school record for 3s in a game. She returned to the lineup after missing last...

There were 4.5 seconds remaining. St. Joseph trailed Riverview by 2 points. Four of the Spartans’ regulars were sidelined with injury or illness. Rylan Zale told his coach and teammates he would take, and make, the winning shot. “I called timeout to draw up a play underneath the basket,” St....

The St. Joseph girls basketball team entered the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s nonsection game against Class 3A Shady Side Academy trailing by three points. But clutch scoring and a defensive effort that held the Bulldogs to four points over the final eight minutes helped the Spartans rally for a 37-33...

Apollo-Ridge and St. Joseph did something Wednesday night they rarely had done this month: play a basketball game. Despite all the down time, the Vikings girls didn’t lose their free-throw shooting touch. Apollo-Ridge shot 30 of 40 from the free-throw line and posted a 66-55 victory in a home nonsection...