Bill Beckner stories, Page 94
Norwin notebook: Basketball teams charge out of starting gate
Eight games into the WPIAL season, there were no losses for either Norwin basketball team. Both teams started 4-0. The boys stayed perfect with a 48-40 win over Yough at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Shootout at Jeannette. Senior Adam Bilinsky had 17 points, senior Justin Weaver added 13 and...
Seton Hill men’s, women’s basketball coaches shaped by Mt. Pleasant roots
They light up like the Christmas tree in the McKenna Center lobby when they reach back into their Mt. Pleasant past and pluck memories that molded them as coaches. Mark Katarski and Ben Wilkins are teammates again, only they aren’t playing for Joe Dunn on the Mt. Pleasant boys basketball...
Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team turns to defense to get first victory
Mt. Pleasant recently put an extended 2-3 zone defense to use and was starting to see its merits heading into Friday night’s nonsection boys basketball game at rival Southmoreland. “We were just wondering when our offense was going to come around,” Vikings coach T.J. Kravits said. “Tonight, it finally did.”...
Penn-Trafford linebacker Daniel Tarabrella commits to Duquesne
Home is where the commitment is. Penn-Trafford senior football player Daniel Tarabrella wanted to continue his football career close to home so he could remain near family and friends — so those people could come and watch him play. That is why he chose Duquesne over a number of other...
Greensburg Salem girls roll past Derry in section opener
Greensburg Salem girls basketball players and coaches turned an old storage closet at their home gymnasium into a makeshift locker room. Derry felt like it was confined to an even smaller space Thursday night when the teams met in the Section 1-4A opener. Using pressure defense to set up offense...
Rosters set for Saturday’s WPSCA boys all-star soccer games
The Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association All-Star Games are set for Saturday at North Allegheny. There are two matchups featuring the top senior boys from the WPIAL. At 11 a.m., the Class A all-stars will play a 2A team. Class 3A will meet 4A at 1 p.m. Tickets are $5...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: Scorpion’s road to recovery stops at Franklin Regional
Former Franklin Regional boys basketball coach Steve Scorpion is coming back to coach against his old team. That he is coming back at all is borderline miraculous. Scorpion’s position was opened in spring 2021 after his longtime opioid addiction came to light. The final straw was a blackout episode that...
Westmoreland County boys basketball scorers fill nets from multiple spots in lineup
When Latrobe ran into foul trouble in a game earlier this season, causing a thin front line with no center, boys basketball coach Brad Wetzel did not panic. He knew what to do. “We had no bigs, so we moved Landon (Butler) to the five (center),” Wetzel said. “We knew...
Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Norwin winning with stingy defense
Norwin takes more pride in the other team’s score than its own these days. Sure, the Lady Knights care plenty about offense, but it has been their defense that has propelled them to a 5-0 start. Norwin has yet to allow more than 28 points in a game. The only...
With star Emma Blair injured, Latrobe coach’s final season takes new direction
As he sat in a hotel room in Fairfax County, Va., last Saturday morning, Mark Burkhardt had his team’s next move on his mind. The Latrobe girls basketball coach was ready to patch together a reconfigured lineup and introduce a tweaked playbook, all while doing so with a stiff upper...
Southmoreland boys change approach, lean on defense to defeat Yough
High-scoring Southmoreland let its defense take the wheel in its latest boys basketball victory. The Scotties, who came into Yough Tuesday night averaging 77.7 points, did their best to slow the host Cougars, keeping what was expected to be a fast-paced matchup in the halfcourt with a 2-3 zone. The...
Latrobe standout Emma Blair out for season with knee injury
Latrobe was dealt a devastating blow to its season Tuesday with the news that senior girls basketball standout Emma Blair will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Blair, a 6-foot-1 center, was injured Friday in the first game of the She Got Game Classic in Virginia....
Latrobe alum Bryce Butler named national basketball player of week by D2CIDA
West Liberty junior swingman Bryce Butler, a Latrobe graduate, received national recognition Tuesday when he was named the Division II Conference Information Directors Association Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. Butler, who has helped lead the No. 4 Hilltoppers to a 9-0 start, had 25 points — on 11-of-16 shooting,...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Spencer Lee makes return to mat
Spencer Lee is back. The Iowa redshirt senior out of Franklin Regional made his season debut and the nation’s top-ranked 125-pounder posted a 16-5 major decision over Corey Cabanban of Iowa State, recording two takedowns and two four-point near falls to open a 12-2 lead. He finished with 1:23 of...
Undefeated Norwin girls shut down undermanned Latrobe
Norwin played lockdown defense on another opponent, only that opponent looked quite different than the one the Knights expected to see Monday night. Norwin ran away with a 59-21 nonsection girls basketball victory at Latrobe, but the host Wildcats were missing their centerpiece: 6-foot-1 standout Emma Blair. The Knights (5-0)...
PIHL announces November players of the month
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League announced its November players of the month. In Class 3A, Bethel Park senior forward Christian Strang claimed top honors after scoring a pair of goals in November. Strang, who has battled illness and injury, has seven points (5 goals, 2 assists) this season for the...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Saint Vincent’s Shemar Bennett hits scoring milestone
He scored the first nine points of the game for Saint Vincent and delivered a one-handed dunk. But the basket Shemar Bennett will remember most from a recent victory is the one that put him in the Bearcats’ record book. The 6-foot-6 grad student forward scored on a layup through...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Penn-Trafford’s Schall, Latrobe’s Fenton honored
A pair of local players made the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association All-State teams in the two largest classifications. Penn-Trafford senior outside hitter Kate Schall was selected in Class 4A, and Latrobe senior setter Lily Fenton was a 3A pick. Schall helped guide the Warriors to the WPIAL semifinals. She finished...
Norwin looking for wrestlers to lead program into future
The buzzword around the Norwin wrestling team this preseason was leadership. Coach Kyle Martin was searching for movers and shakers to guide the Knights this year — and into the future. “The expectation is always to be leaders in the wrestling room, leaders in the classroom, leaders in life,” Martin...
Norwin notebook: Girls basketball team starts season on winning note
The Norwin girls basketball team sprinted out of the gates to open the season. The Lady Knights captured the championship at the Indiana tip-off tournament. Defense and balanced scoring have been staples in the program, and both shined through in a pair of wins. Norwin defeated Marion Center, 61-27, then...
Norwin boys basketball grinds out victory against Yough
There weren’t any slam dunks, and fast breaks were at a minimum. But Norwin isn’t judging wins on looks these days. Save your flash and frills. The Knights are 4-0. “We’ll take it,” coach Lance Maha said. “We’re happy to get a win against a good, athletic team like that.”...
Latrobe boys edge Greensburg Central Catholic
You don’t have to lose to learn. Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel had that to say after his team won a back-and-forth shootout against Greensburg Central Catholic on Saturday in the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Boys Basketball Showcase. The young Wildcats continue to learn how to win. They made pivotal adjustments...
Westmoreland County athletes of the week: Mt. Pleasant’s Tiffany Zelmore, Southmoreland’s Ty Keffer
Tiffany Zelmore School: Mt. Pleasant Sport: Basketball Class: Senior Claim to fame: A fourth-year starter for the Vikings, Zelmore scored her 1,000th career point during the opening weekend of the season. She scored 32 points and reached the milestone in Mt. Pleasant’s 63-21 victory over Ringgold. The 5-foot-11 forward made...
Franklin Regional grad Justin Johns recovers from pec injury, earns All-PAC honors
Justin Johns could feel T.J. Watt’s pain. Literally. The pair of linebackers shared a similar injury — and a similar comeback story. Johns, a junior at Washington & Jefferson, tore his pectoralis muscle months before Watt did, while lifting weights in the offseason. Like the Pittsburgh Steelers’ pass rusher who...
Franklin Regional basketball starts tourney with win vs. Carlynton
After the postgame handshake line dispersed, Cam Rowell grabbed the microphone at the scorer’s table and shouted into it, “Go Panthers!” The junior guard was excited after leading his team to a 59-41 victory over Carlynton on Friday night in the Panthers’ opening game of the 19th Mike Rettger Tournament...
