Michael Love stories, Page 119
Young Deer Lakes girls basketball team hopes to continue growth in playoffs
Playoff expectations were high when the Deer Lakes girls basketball team opened camp. Despite losing four senior starters to graduation, the young Lancers, with just one senior, felt confident the pieces were in place to make a run at the program’s 10th playoff berth in the past 11 years. “Day-in...
Knoch draws highest seed among A-K Valley girls basketball playoff teams
Last year at this time, Knoch girls basketball coach Chris Andreassi and the Knights faithful were still exhaling from a WPIAL Section 1-4A playoff chase that went down to the final day of the regular season. Knoch ended a hectic last couple of weeks in a three-way tie with Apollo-Ridge...
McKeesport’s Swin Cash selected to Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
Swin Cash, a basketball standout who won championships in high school, college, the WNBA and the Olympics, has been selected to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. The McKeesport native’s upcoming enshrinement, as well as the names of the other members of the Class of 2020, were revealed during Monday’s...
Freeport girls honor seniors, tune up for playoffs with win over Deer Lakes
Former and most likely future section foes met Monday in a nonsection tuneup for the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs. Behind a game-best 20 points and nine rebounds from senior Sidney Shemanski, Freeport earned its sixth straight victory over Deer Lakes, 57-38 at Freeport Middle School. “It was pretty emotional,” Shemanski...
Fox Chapel diver hopes to take next step at WPIALs, reach states
Two years ago, five members of the Fox Chapel boys diving team earned qualifying marks for the WPIAL Class AAA championships at North Allegheny. However, that created a problem for the Foxes and then-coach Vernon Yenick. Qualifying policy states a maximum of four from one team are permitted to dive...
Bowling teams turn attention to WPIBL championship tournaments
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League regular season has concluded, and the top individual bowlers and teams are shifting their focus to championship opportunities at the local, regional and state levels. The WPIBL boys and girls team championships take center stage this week. Eighteen boys and eighteen girls teams —...
Shegog’s buzzer-beating layup lifts Gateway over Plum for Section 2-5A titleVideo
The winner-take-all game Friday between Gateway and Plum for the girls Section 2-5A championship wasn’t the prettiest, but the Gators gladly accepted the outcome. Junior forward Dynasty Shegog converted a layup at the buzzer, completing a full-court rush coming out of a timeout, to lift Gateway to a 31-29 victory...
Quartet of Knoch divers hope to make ripple at WPIALs
Aryanna Napora set a goal at the beginning of her high school career to qualify for the PIAA Class AA diving championships all four years. After earning trips to states as a freshman and sophomore with fourth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, at the WPIALs, the Knoch diver placed eighth last...
Golden Gloves schedule features several local, regional cards
The Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League Pennsylvania Golden Gloves tournaments begin this month with several cards leading up to the state finals in April and the national finals in early May. Several fighters from local gyms and communities, as well as those from throughout the Western Pennsylvania region, will compete...
Trib HSSN Boys Swimmer of the Week: Northgate’s Cooper Groll
In his first swim of his first WPIAL Class AA championship meet at Pitt’s Trees Pool two years ago, Cooper Groll landed in the record books. Then a freshman, Groll anchored the Northgate boys 200-yard medley relay to a WPIAL championship in a record time of 1 minute, 37.77 seconds....
Trib HSSN Girls Swimmer of the Week: North Allegheny’s Olivia Kisow
In her four events at last year’s WPIAL Class AAA championship meet at Pitt’s Trees Pool, Olivia Kisow stood on the medals podium after each one. Swimming the breaststroke leg, she helped the North Allegheny 200-yard medley relay earn a runner-up finish, and she swam the third leg in the...
Franklin Regional grad Jared Smith climbs rankings in karate
Jared Smith’s journey at USA Karate’s senior level — ages 18-34 — still is in its early stages, but the Murrysville resident and 2019 Franklin Regional graduate continues to prove he is one of the best at this level in the country. The 19-year-old freshman at Carnegie Mellon put his...
Golden Gloves schedule features several local, regional cards
The Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League Pennsylvania Golden Gloves tournaments begin this month with several cards leading up to the state finals in April and the national finals in early May. Several fighters from local gyms and communities, as well as those from throughout the Western Pennsylvania region, will compete...
Plum girls basketball has chance to add to school’s growing trophy collection
Last spring, the Plum softball team claimed a section championship, sharing the Section 2-5A title with Hampton. In the fall, the Mustangs girls soccer team split Section 3-3A gold with Oakland Catholic before finishing as the WPIAL 5A runner-up and qualifying for the state playoffs. The Plum girls basketball team...
Harvest Baptist’s Sidwell reaches 1,000-point milestone
Jared Sidwell is the leading scorer for the Harvest Baptist Academy boys basketball team. The senior at the Natrona Heights-based school surpassed a scoring milestone in a home victory over Latrobe’s Bible Baptist on Jan. 23. Needing seven points to reach 1,000 for his varsity career, Sidwell, a 6-foot-1 guard,...
A-K Valley girls basketball notes: Knoch girls count on Lauren Cihonski at crunch time
Lauren Cihonski knew the feeling of producing clutch points to clinch a victory for the Knoch girls basketball team. Two free throws from the Knights senior with less than two seconds remaining in a December Section 1-4A game at Indiana lifted the Knights to a 39-37 win. On Monday against...
Holloway hits 1,000 points as Freeport tops Fox Chapel in battle of playoff-bound teams
Both the Fox Chapel and Freeport girls basketball teams suffered close section losses Monday, and opportunity presented itself Tuesday for one of them to quickly get back in the win column as the teams went head to head in nonsection play at Fox Chapel. Yellowjackets senior Harley Holloway scored the...
IUP women remain at No. 5 in national Division II rankings
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania women’s basketball team holds steady at No. 5 in the latest Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll released Tuesday afternoon. The Crimson Hawks, who own the longest win streak in program history and a 20-1 overall record, are ranked in the...
Riverview wraps up playoff spot with dominant senior-night win over Brentwood
The Riverview girls basketball team honored its six seniors — Francesca Lio, Sydney McDonough, Annie Betler, Alivia Schultheis, Alyssa Cappa and Mikaela Collins — before Monday’s tip off with Section 2-2A rival Brentwood. The celebration continued throughout the key section clash. The Raiders forced 25 Spartans turnovers, controlled the boards...
Riverview pair gearing up for WPIAL swim meet
As a freshman, Beth Shoop declared her independence as the only high school varsity swimmer from Riverview. She earned her WPIAL individual time cuts at designated dual meets and competed in her first WPIAL championship meet at Pitt’s Trees Pool. It was the first time a swimmer represented Riverview in...
Burrell wrestling rolls to 14th consecutive WPIAL team championshipVideo
The Burrell wrestling team began the WPIAL Class AA tournament Wednesday with a dominant quarterfinal victory over Beth-Center. It continued Saturday at Chartiers-Houston as the top-seeded Bucs swiftly turned away the challenge of Quaker Valley in the semifinals and Burgettstown in the final to claim their WPIAL-record 14th consecutive Class...
Trib HSSN Boys Swimmer of the Week: North Hills’ Joshua Bogniard
Joshua Bogniard continues to make his move up the swim ranks in WPIAL Class AAA. The North Hills junior owns the second-fastest time in the boys 100-yard freestyle, according to the most recent WPIAL performance lists released Monday at WPIAL.org. He clocked a time of 46.83 seconds in a meet...
Trib HSSN Girls Swimmer of the Week: Laurel Highlands’ Elizabeth Thomas
At last year’s WPIAL Class AA swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool, Elizabeth Thomas was one of two freshmen to medal in the girls 100-yard backstroke. Quaker Valley’s Isabel Huang captured the WPIAL title, and Thomas, a Laurel Highlands product, placed fourth with a time of 1 minute, 1.58 seconds...
Burrell wrestling locked in on pursuit of 14th straight WPIAL team title
Over the past 14 years, teams have come and teams have gone from the WPIAL Class AA team wrestling final four. The one constant has been Burrell. And that consistency has extended to capturing the top trophy every year. The Bucs find themselves again in position to win it all....
Burrell wrestling dominates Beth-Center, advances to WPIAL team semifinalsVideo
The Burrell wrestling team left no doubt it was ready to defend its WPIAL Class AA team championship as it kicked off this year’s tournament in dominant fashion on its home mat Wednesday. The top-seeded Bucs, in pursuit of their 14th straight WPIAL crown, won 11 of 14 bouts in...
