High School category, Page 136
Clairton’s balanced attack thwarts St. Joseph’s upset hopes in Class A quarterfinals
When it comes to postseason basketball, lower-seeded teams traveling on the road are looking to play spoiler, while neutral fans might be supporting them. When No. 6 St. Joseph came to No. 3 Clairton in WPIAL Class A quarterfinal girls basketball action Thursday night, there was no upset to be...
Jeannette catches fire, rallies past OLSH in Class 2A quarterfinals
Jeannette fell behind by double figures at halftime and faced a 16-point deficit late in the third quarter. The Jayhawks’ WPIAL playoff run was fading fast, along with their hopes for a championship. But then Jayce Powell and his teammates heard the noise. “The fans fired us up,” Powell said....
Central Catholic finds spark in 4th quarter to win defensive struggle with Fox Chapel
Central Catholic and Fox Chapel combined for five points in the first 5 minutes Thursday night, hinting at the struggle between two of the WPIAL best big-school defenses. They were tied midway through the fourth. A tie-breaking 3-pointer by Central Catholic’s Christian Williams sparked a late run for the Vikings,...
Lucas Stanley comes up clutch as Union knocks off top-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic
Greensburg Central Catholic tried to limit Union leading scorer Lucas Stanley with a box-and-one defense. And for most of the game, the strategy worked. But big-time players can still rise to the occasion. Stanley buried a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 35 seconds left for a one-point lead, added a clutch...
Hempfield junior Ashley Bensur captures WPIBL girls singles title
Hempfield junior Ashley Bensur averaged 205 over five games Thursday to claim the WPIBL girls singles championship at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes. After qualifying second with a 628 series, Bensur beat Norwin’s Kali Siegel in the semifinals, 189-181, then defeated Thomas Jefferson freshman Annalise Williams in the finals, 207-157. Bensur,...
PIAA eliminates transgender athlete policy, changes language to comply with Trump’s executive order
The PIAA eliminated its one-sentence transgender athlete policy and changed language in its handbook to no longer ask member schools to determine those students’ “gender” but rather their “sex.” The changes were approved Wednesday by the PIAA board to comply with an executive order signed Feb. 5 by President Donald...
2025 WPIAL wrestling championship preview
WPIAL Boys Individual Wrestling Championship Class 3A When: Friday and Saturday Where: Canon-McMillan High School Times: First round 5 p.m. Friday. Action resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday with second consolation round. Semifinals are at 11:30 a.m. and the finals at 3:30 p.m. Returning champions from 2024: Nicholas McGarrity (107) Peters...
Quest for 4th title by Latrobe’s Luke Willochell headlines WPIAL wrestling championships
Earlier this season, Latrobe senior Luke Willochell became the second wrestler in school history to become a Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association four-time champion. He joined Tom Bell (1961-64) on the exclusive list. Bell was the first wrestler from the county to achieve that goal, which has since been matched by...
Belle Vernon’s Matt Humbert resigns as football coach
One of the mantras the Belle Vernon football team follows under Matt Humbert’s leadership is “rejecting comfort.” Humbert embraced it Thursday. The longtime Leopards mentor announced his resignation as football coach after meeting with his players to inform them of his decision after the school day. He said he will...
West Mifflin poised to hire former assistant B.J. Pugh as football coach
B.J. Pugh, a former West Mifflin quarterback and current teacher in the district, is expected to be hired Thursday as football coach at his alma mater. The school board agenda lists Pugh as the recommended candidate. A 1995 graduate, Pugh teaches elementary school and has coached a variety of West...
17 WPIAL football all-stars chosen for 2025 Small School East-West Game
WPIAL title-winning South Park teammates Eric Doerue, Troy Cunningham and Kenyan Brown were among 17 WPIAL football players chosen to compete in the PSFCA Small School East-West Game this spring. The roster was announced Thursday. The Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association organizes two East-West all-star games each year, one for...
Westmoreland County basketball playoff preview capsules for Friday, Feb. 21, 2025
Girls Class 6A Quarterfinals 8-North Allegheny (9-12) at 1-Norwin (13-7) 7 p.m. Friday Winner plays: Winner of 5-Butler (11-10)/4-Canon-McMillan (13-8) on Tuesday (time, site TBD) in semifinals Players to watch: Maddie Williams, North Allegheny; Kendall Berger, Norwin Layup lines: North Allegheny gets a rematch with Norwin after falling to the...
Westmoreland County basketball notebook: Penn-Trafford thrives as gritty underdogs
Penn-Trafford coach Doug Kelly had referred to his team as the “road warriors” several times this season. Kelly does not play up the underdog role but rather looks to unleash the “dog” in his boys basketball teams. Dog and grit are two of his favorite words when talking about the...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Feb. 19, 2025
High schools Basketball WPIAL playoffs Boys Class 6A Quarterfinals Thursday’s schedule Woodland Hills (12-11) at Upper. St. Clair (20-2), 7 p.m.; Central Catholic (13-9) at Fox Chapel (16-6), 8 p.m.; Butler (16-6) at New Castle (19-3), 7 p.m.; Mt. Lebanon (16-7) vs. Imani Christian (13-7) at Montour, 7:30 p.m. Class...
High school roundup for Feb. 19, 2025: Greensburg Central Catholic fends off Mimi Thiero, Quaker Valley
Erica Gribble scored 22 points and No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic survived a big game by Quaker Valley star Mimi Thiero to secure a 56-47 victory in the WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday night at Mt. Lebanon. Thiero scored 32 points for the No. 7 Quakers (14-9). Jayla...
What to watch for in WPIAL sports for Feb. 20, 2025: Class 6A boys teams set for quarterfinal clash
It’s the middle of three nights of the district basketball quarterfinals with the spotlight shining on the elite eight of boys 6A, boys 2A, girls 4A and girls Class A. Upper St. Clair is the defending WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball champion, however prior to the Panthers taking home the...
Trib HSSN Pennsylvania high school girls basketball rankings for Feb. 19, 2025
Only two teams lost their spot in the latest Trib HSSN girls basketball state rankings this week as the first round of the 12 district postseasons wrap up. The undefeated season for Penn-Trafford in District 7 ended with a quarterfinal loss to Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A. One week after...
Trib HSSN Pennsylvania high school boys basketball rankings for Feb. 19, 2025
District playoff byes and early round victories have left this week’s Trib HSSN boys basketball rankings looking a lot like last week’s. One exception, though, is in Class 5A, where two ranked teams were stunned in the opening round of their respective district postseason. No. 2-seeded Baldwin from the WPIAL...
Westmoreland County boys basketball notebook: GCC’s Christian Hyland recalls hectic moments of ’24 playoffs
Christian Hyland did an interview after Monday’s first-round playoff win over Laurel with a special guest in his lap, his pint-sized daughter, Nova. Well-behaved and quiet, the 11-month-old sat still as her father, the coach of the Greensburg Central Catholic boys basketball team, discussed a 67-42 win that moved the...
South Fayette shuts down upset hopes early in 5A quarterfinal win over Baldwin
A lot of young kids like to spend their vast amounts of energy at the park, running around, going down the slides and enjoying the monkey bars and jungle gyms. When South Fayette junior Ryan Oldaker was young, her playground was the gym at Mt. Lebanon High School. On Wednesday,...
Cool, collected Thomas Jefferson knocks off unbeaten Penn-Trafford in Class 5A quarters
A nine-point fourth quarter lead was gone. One of their star players fouled out in the closing minute of regulation. And their undefeated and higher-seeded opponent went on a sudden heater. Essentially, Thomas Jefferson’s check engine light came on as a lively WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinal turned toward...
Belle Vernon boys show grit in playoff win vs. Elizabeth Forward
Ahead of its WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal matchup Wednesday night against Mon Valley rival Elizabeth Forward, the Belle Vernon boys basketball squad had a lot going against it. The No. 1-seed Leopards were battling a 15-day layoff, and they were trying to beat the Warriors for the third time this...
Avonworth boys hold off Knoch in WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals
Avonworth maybe didn’t win the game in the first 5 minutes, but its hot start Wednesday night certainly shaped the final three quarters. The Antelopes ran out to an early 11-point lead, putting Knoch in a hole it couldn’t quite escape. Avonworth’s Rowan Carmichael bolstered his status as the WPIAL’s...
North Catholic boys beat Deer Lakes for 3rd time this season
It’s often said it’s a challenge to beat the same team three times in a season. The North Catholic boys basketball team bucked that belief Wednesday in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal against section rival Deer Lakes on its home court at the Graham Events Center. Three players scored in...
Serra Catholic junior claims WPIBL boys singles championship
Serra Catholic junior Preston Smith defeated Hempfield junior Braylon Johnson, 216-205, in a closely contested final to win the WPIBL boys singles championship Wednesday at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes. Johnson was the top bowler in qualifying with a 672 series. Smith was second with a 669 series, but he had...
