Chris Harlan stories, Page 100
Senior-led Bethel Park tops North Allegheny, celebrates 1st playoff win since 2016Video
The similarities to two years ago had crossed their minds — same gym, same playoff round — but Bethel Park’s seniors made sure the similarities ended there. Ryan Meis scored 24 points and Thomas DiRienzo finished one rebound short of a double-double as No. 6 seed Bethel Park defeated No....
WPIAL approves section alignments for winter sports, basketball must wait
The WPIAL released updated sections for some winter sports, but basketball won’t be ready for awhile. The WPIAL board approved alignments for gymnastics, rifle and wrestling at Monday’s meeting. However, the WPIAL can’t finalize new basketball sections until after the PIAA decides which teams must move up under its competitive-balance...
WPIAL approves site, schedule change for cross country championships
The WPIAL cross country championships will return to Cal (Pa.) next fall with an overhaul to the race schedule. The WPIAL board approved using the university site Monday with the caveat that the event will alternate girls and boys races with medals awarded after each classification, said WPIAL associate executive...
WPIAL wrestling realignment takes geographical approach
The WPIAL board approved new wrestling sections Monday based more on geography and less on competitive balance. As a result, Class AAA will have a much different alignment next season, said Canon-McMillan athletic director Frank Vulcano, chairman of the wrestling committee. Nineteen of the 45 teams are moving to a...
North Allegheny’s Casey Burton holds No. 1 spot in state long jump rankings
North Allegheny’s Casey Burton ranks first in the state in girls long jump after winning the TSTCA indoor meet Saturday in Edinboro. Her jump of 19 feet, 4½ inches was the best in Pennsylvania this winter, according to Milesplit.com statistics, and ranks ninth-best nationally. Central Dauphin’s Gabriella Recce ranks second...
Chartiers Valley sophomore Aislin Malcolm receives Princeton offer
Chartiers Valley sophomore Aislin Malcolm, who hasn’t lost a game in two seasons, announced a college basketball offer Sunday from Princeton. The Tigers join Pitt, Duquesne, West Virginia, Western Michigan and Kent State as Division I programs recruiting the 5-foot-10 shooting guard. Malcolm is an 18-point scorer for a Chartiers...
Peters Township safety Donovan McMillon announces Penn State offerVideo
Add Penn State’s James Franklin to the growing list of college football coaches hoping to recruit Peters Township junior Donovan McMillon. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound safety announced a scholarship offer Saturday from the Nittany Lions, his seventh new offer in the past nine days. The Penn State offer came a little...
North Allegheny junior Khalil Dinkins adds Penn State offerVideo
The college options for North Allegheny’s Khalil Dinkins jumped significantly this month with scholarship offers from Penn State and Michigan. Overall, he’s added five offers since Feb. 1 with the most recent Saturday from the Nittany Lions. He also added Boston College, Virginia Tech and Tulane in the past two...
Dwindling number of high school officials part of troubling nationwide trend
As a high school basketball official in his early 20s, Joe Strednak wasn’t much older than the athletes on the court. Occasionally, someone would test his poise as the youngest ref on his crew. To him, that came with the job. The 25-year-old from North Braddock is now finishing his...
WPIAL’s 2nd-leading scorer exits early as Aliquippa defense stops Steel Valley
Aliquippa had a strategy for facing the WPIAL’s second-leading scorer: Trap Steel Valley’s Camden Polak whenever he touched the ball, keep it out of his hands if possible and make him work for every shot. There was one final mission. “Take a lot of charges,” Quips coach Dwight Hines said....
10 WPIAL players selected for Big 33 Football Classic
Thomas Jefferson teammates Logan Danielson and Mac Duda were among 10 WPIAL players selected Wednesday for the Big 33 Football Classic. Also chosen for the all-star event were Peters Township’s Josh Casilli, Penn Hills’ Aakeem Snell, Hempfield’s Cole Graham, Blackhawk’s Marques Watson-Trent, Gateway’s Tui Brown, Central Catholic’s Gus Sunseri, Baldwin’s...
WPIAL seeds Fox Chapel above Upper St. Clair despite late-season lossVideo
More than two dozen times, Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer has traveled to Green Tree to see the boys basketball playoff brackets revealed. He left this year more stunned than ever. After Upper St. Clair defeated Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Fox Chapel in an eight-day, schedule-ending span, Holzer...
Breaking down the 2020 WPIAL boys basketball playoffs
Here is a breakdown of the 2020 WPIAL boys basketball playoffs: Class 6A Favorite: Butler hasn’t won a WPIAL title since 1991, but Purdue recruit Ethan Morton might have the Golden Tornado in position to finally win one. Morton has come close twice, losing in the WPIAL finals in both...
Football coach Loran Cooley leaves Baldwin after 3 years for college job
Loran Cooley wants to become a full-time football coach once he retires as a Pennsylvania state trooper, a transition that’s not too far in the future. So, when a college coach offered him a job, he couldn’t say no. Cooley, 41, resigned as Baldwin’s football coach after three seasons to...
WPIAL bracketology: Chris Harlan, Don Rebel predict 2020 boys basketball playoff pairings
It’s that time of year, WPIAL bracketology 2020. As a public service, Don Rebel and Chris Harlan share their thoughts on what the basketball steering committee should do when putting this year’s postseason tournaments together. Sometimes it’s a struggle to choose between what the committee should do and what it...
Pine-Richland schedules Week Zero football game in New Jersey
Twice, Pine-Richland’s football team used Week Zero to play out-of-state opponents from Ohio, and once the team faced a school from Florida. This year, the Rams are headed east. Pine-Richland will open its 2020 football season in New Jersey, the team announced Saturday on Twitter. The Rams will play at...
Trib WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 8, 2020
WPIAL rankings Girls basketball Class 6A 1. Bethel Park, 19-1, 1 2. North Allegheny, 18-3, 2 3. Norwin, 17-4, 3 4. Mt. Lebanon, 17-4, 4 5. Upper St. Clair, 13-6, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Chartiers Valley, 22-0, 1 2. Woodland Hills, 18-4, 2 3. Oakland Catholic, 15-5, 3...
Trib WPIAL boys basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 8, 2020
WPIAL rankings Boys basketball Class 6A Team, record, Previous 1. Butler, 15-4, 2 2. Upper St. Clair, 17-3, 4 3. Fox Chapel, 20-1, 1 4. Mt. Lebanon, 15-5, 3 5. Pine-Richland, 14-6, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Chartiers Valley, 17-4, 1 2. Penn Hills, 17-4, 2 3. Mars, 16-4,...
Western Pa.’s top 10 football prospects for the Class of 2021
If you wanted to spot some of the top college football coaches in the country, there was no need to fly to Clemson, S.C., or Ann Arbor, Mich. Just go to Gateway High School. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh planned visits on the same day last week...
WPIAL football recruits make commitments official on signing day
The addition of an early signing period in December has reduced the number of Division I recruits using the traditional early-February date, but a handful of WPIAL football seniors waited it out. Those who signed Wednesday and the schools who signed them took to social media to share their official...
Quaker Valley defeats Blackhawk, creates 1st-place tie in unpredictable Section 2Video
The WPIAL’s wildest section won’t tame easily. Four teams are within a game of first place and there’s now a two-way tie at the top after Quaker Valley defeated host Blackhawk, 71-59, Tuesday night in Section 2-4A. This section is traditionally one of the WPIAL’s deepest, but there’s been very...
WPIAL approves 2 GCC transfers; Bailey Kuhns remains ineligible for basketball playoffs
Girls basketball standout Bailey Kuhns is immediately eligible to join Greensburg Central Catholic’s lineup, but the sophomore won’t be allowed to take part in the upcoming playoffs. The WPIAL reversed earlier decisions and ruled Kuhns and football player Mark Mizerak eligible for the regular season after separate hearings Monday in...
WPIAL finds no evidence of racial taunts in Leechburg-Propel Andrew Street game
The WPIAL found no evidence a Propel Andrew Street boys basketball coach was the target of racial taunts during a game last month, but Leechburg will take proactive steps anyway. Representatives from the two schools and on-court officials attended a closed-door hearing Monday at the WPIAL office in Green Tree...
WPIAL to hold hearing for Leechburg basketball game, Greensburg CC transfers
The WPIAL wants to know why the Propel Andrew Street vs. Leechburg boys basketball game was cut short Jan. 17 and whether anyone in attendance used racially charged taunts. Representatives from the two schools will attend a hearing Monday at the WPIAL office in Green Tree. The section game was...
Trib HSSN WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 1, 2020
WPIAL rankings Girls basketball Class 6A 1. Bethel Park, 14-1, 2 2. North Allegheny, 16-3, 3 3. Norwin, 15-3, 1 4. Mt. Lebanon, 16-3, 4 5. Upper St. Clair, 11-6, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Chartiers Valley, 20-0, 1 2. Woodland Hills, 17-3, 2 3. Oakland Catholic, 15-4, 4...
