2026 Valley News Dispatch boys basketball all-stars
Valley News Dispatch Boys Player of the Year Evan Moore 6-3, Jr., G, Deer Lakes With the NCAA Tournament now at the Elite Eight, the journey through the first few rounds defined just what March Madness is all about with several low seeds busting some brackets. The Deer Lakes boys...
2026 Valley News Dispatch girls basketball all-stars
Valley News Dispatch Girls Basketball Player of the Year Riley Stephans 5-8, Sr., G, Plum Riley Stephans took the ball near midcourt, dribbled a few times and then unleashed a shot from 3-point range. The bank was open for business, and the ball went in. Plum beat Freeport at the...
Boys, girls basketball all-stars ready for Cager Classic
At 5-foot-10, Collin Rodgers is the shortest player on the West boys team for Saturday’s 29th Cager Classic all-star basketball game at Highlands High School. But the Deer Lakes senior guard, who helped the Lancers advance to the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals this season, hopes to stand...
A-K Valley campus clippings: Kiski Area grad Veronica Flanagan named All-American
The transition from high school to collegiate bowling didn’t keep Veronica Flanagan from reaching top-flight status this past winter. The Kiski Area graduate and freshman at Lourdes in the Toledo, Ohio suburb of Sylvania recently was selected to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American team. Flanagan, whose prolific high...
Alle-Kiski Valley HOF-er Carol Perroz keeps playing, racking up honors
Carol Perroz was a softball standout among the three sports she played at Freeport, and she continued in softball in college at Slippery Rock. Though she was dedicated to her school teams in the spring, her diamond exploits didn’t end when her scholastic seasons came to a close. Many of...
A-K Valley high school notebook: Teams on the move in WPIAL football realignment
Kiski Area and Knoch dropped, Fox Chapel moved and the Allegheny 7 Conference in Class 3A retained that dominant local flair. Those are some of the highlights of the WPIAL’s football realignment for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The Cavaliers, under the direction of former Highlands and Westminster standout Brayden...
North Allegheny, Shaler maintain hold on top spots in latest WPIAL boys volleyball rankings
WPIAL boys volleyball section matches pick up in earnest Thursday with nine such contests on the road to the Class 2A and Class 3A playoffs. There also will be nonsection matches throughout the week as teams continue to ramp up their early season resumes and quality of play. North Allegheny...
Shady Side outduels Franklin Regional for team title, Hampton’s Lainey Sheets shines at PIAA Class 2A swim meet
LEWISBURG — Franklin Regional and Shady Side Academy went back and forth over the course of two hours Saturday evening to decide the PIAA Class 2A girls swimming team champion at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. Each team captured medals. Shady Side junior Ava Jochims was golden again in the 500-yard...
Franklin Regional girls swimmers finish 2nd in team standings at PIAAs, just short of title
LEWISBURG — Franklin Regional and Shady Side Academy went down to the wire Saturday evening to decide the PIAA Class 2A girls team championship at Bucknell University. The Lady Bulldogs led by four points after freshman Ella Kiger’s sixth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. The 400 freestyle relay decided it....
Hampton’s Gabriella Elk successfully defends PIAA Class 2A diving title
LEWISBURG — Gabriella Elk left quite a lasting impact on diving at the PIAA-championship level. The Hampton senior defended her girls Class 2A state title Saturday afternoon with an 11-dive total of 452.75 points at Bucknell. The Delaware commit led throughout and captured her fourth PIAA medal. She was eighth...
Several WPIAL swimmers to contend for state titles on Day 2 of PIAA Class 2A meet
LEWISBURG — The final day of PIAA Class 2A swimming Saturday will have several WPIAL competitors in the evening’s championship finals. Indiana junior Joshua Reed returned to the pool this morning in the preliminaries of the 100-yard freestyle and placed third with a time of 46.99. Northgate senior Sam Cavanaugh,...
Ava Jochims, Shady Side Academy girls shine on big stage at PIAA Class 2A swim meet
LEWISBURG — As the No. 1 seed by eight seconds in the Class 2A girls 200-yard individual medley, Shady Side Academy junior Ava Jochims felt confident that she could bring home a second straight state championship in the event Friday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell University. But...
Franklin Regional girls relay team wins PIAA gold
LEWISBURG — Scarlett Zolnak waited as patiently as she could. But the adrenaline was building up inside, and she just wanted to race. The junior anchor of the newly minted Franklin Regional state champion 200-yard freestyle relay dove in when fellow junior Aidah Holm, the relay’s third leg, touched the...
Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini places 3rd in 200 IM at state championships
LEWISBURG — Adrian Lavorini knew he could drop time in the championship heat of the 200-yard individual medley Friday at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell University. The Knoch senior, who will swim next year at Penn State Behrend, was fourth heading into the final leg of the IM,...
Beaver’s Isaac Burtt takes 9th at PIAA Class 2A diving championships
LEWISBURG — Isaac Burtt made his PIAA diving debut at last year’s Class 2A championships and placed 13th overall. The Beaver senior had designs on a higher finish and a state medal in his return to Bucknell on Friday. He was able to achieve the first goal as he bumped...
Several WPIAL swimmers in medal contention at PIAA Class 2A swimming championships
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL will be well represented in the 12 finals heats Friday evening at the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell. The first preliminary of the day saw the Northgate 200-yard medley relay snag the No. 3 seed (1:36.81). Northgate sophomore Greyson McKelvey then scored the No. 3...
Gold goes to Upper St. Clair senior, North Allegheny swimmers at PIAA Class 3A meet
Nazar Zoukovski took third in the boys 100-yard freestyle at the 2024 PIAA Class 3A swimming championships. He placed fifth last year. On Thursday at Bucknell University, gold was on his mind. The Upper St. Clair senior, fourth Wednesday in the 50 free, came back strong and claimed the top...
Fox Chapel’s Delaney O’Toole wins gold, Ellie Lange silver at PIAA swim meet
LEWISBURG — Delaney O’Toole won four WPIAL championships — two individually and two more as part of relays — Feb. 26-27 at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Fox Chapel swimmer hoped to experience that winning feeling again, this time at the PIAA level. After a runner-up finish in the Class 3A...
Latrobe, Franklin Regional swimmers bring home medals from PIAA Class 3A swim meet
LEWISBURG — Chris Heese swam to a seventh-place medal Wednesday at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. The Latrobe senior came in as the 13th seed in the 50 free, and he made his move. Heese returned to the pool Thursday hoping for a bigger prize in the...
WPIAL trio climbs medals podium at PIAA Class 3A girls diving championships
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL again was well represented on the medals podium at the PIAA Class 3A girls diving championships. North Allegheny senior Maggie Lapina, Mars junior Marin Raible and Seneca Valley senior Ali Walters finished second, third and fourth, respectively, Thursday afternoon at Bucknell. Hayden Taylor, a senior from...
WPIAL swimmers earn top seeds in 5 events on Day 2 of PIAA Class 3A swim championships
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL will have four of the top five seeds for the championship heat of the Class 3A boys 100-yard freestyle Thursday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell. Upper St. Clair senior Nazar Zoukovski (44.80) finished first in the morning preliminaries, with Mars sophomore Dom Davis...
North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, relay teams claim gold on 1st day of PIAA swim meet
Claire Bacu is a state champion. The North Allegheny senior finished 15th and then ninth in her first two cracks at the 200-yard individual medley at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. Last year, she was the runner-up to Fox Chapel graduate Sarah Pasquella. This year, there was...
Latrobe senior cuts time, earns medal on 1st day of PIAA Class 3A swim meet
LEWISBURG — Latrobe senior Chris Heese entered the 50-yard freestyle prelims Wednesday at the PIAA Class 3A championships seeded 13th. He assured himself of a podium finish and a swim in the championship-final heat with a prelim time of 21.09 seconds. Heese then dropped 22 hundredths of a second in...
Fox Chapel’s Ellie Lange rallies for 200 IM gold in PIAA swimming championships debut
LEWISBURG — Freshman Ellie Lange was in fifth place entering the third leg of her swim in the championship heat of the 200-yard individual medley Wednesday evening at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Bucknell University. But she made up three places in the 100 butterfly and finished off her...
Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini eyes golden opportunity at PIAA championships
LEWISBURG — Adrian Lavorini concludes his high school swim career Friday and Saturday at the PIAA Class 2A swim championships at Bucknell. While the Knoch senior has one eye on his future, which includes swimming in college, the other eye is on lowering school-record times and challenging for gold on...
