High School category, Page 606
Penn Hills heats up behind strong play from offensive, defensive lines
By the second half of a Week Zero loss to Seneca Valley, the Penn Hills football team appeared to be putting everything together. The Indians were running the ball better and thought they would be primed to succeed in short order. The Indians reeled off three straight wins — including...
Pine-Richland sophomore Kendall Kirkland finds success in singles tennis
Kendall Kirkland played second doubles for Pine-Richland as a freshman, and after getting a feel for varsity tennis she spent the offseason trying to improve her game. Her goal was to become a singles player, and the work she put in paid off. Not only did she reach her goal,...
Pine-Richland golfer makes clutch putt to qualify for WPIALs, erase bad memory
Toby Kitay stood over a 10-foot putt needing to sink it to qualify for the WPIAL tournament. It was an all too familiar feeling for the Pine-Richland senior. “My sophomore year I was in the same situation and missed a 5-foot putt,” Kitay said. This time he got his revenge....
Key early-season wins have Plum boys soccer off to another strong start to season
The Plum boys soccer team is right where it hoped it would to be as it laid out its goals and expectations before the season. But coach Raf Kolankowski said his Mustangs players were nowhere near satisfied despite an 8-0-1 record after a 5-1 win at Penn Hills on Sept....
Thomas Jefferson soccer teams start season on right foot
Thomas Jefferson’s boys soccer team has been near unbeatable in 2022. The Jaguars racked up wins in eight of their first nine games and stood atop Section 3-3A with a sparkling 6-0 record, two games ahead of Trinity, Connellsville and Bethel Park. TJ outscored the opposition by a 26-5 overall...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Sept. 24, 2022
High schools Football Saturday’s results WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Conference Western Beaver 47, Ellwood City 14 Class A Black Hills Bishop Canevin 56, Avella 0 Nonconference Shaler 42, Franklin Regional 41 (2OT) Saturday’s summaries Shaler 42, Franklin Regional 41 (OT) Franklin Regional 13 7 0 7 14 — 41 Shaler...
High school roundup for Sept. 24, 2022: Xavier Nelson sets receiving records in Bishop Canevin win
Xavier Nelson set school records for catches and receiving touchdowns in a career to led Bishop Canevin to a 56-0 victory over Avella (0-5, 0-2) in the Class A Black Hills Conference Saturday night. Nelson caught three balls for 123 yards, including touchdown grabs of 51 and 52 yards, to...
Roundup: Luke Halberg leads Norwin to 6th straight win
Luke Halberg scored both his team’s goals to power Norwin to a 2-1 nonsection boys soccer victory over Penn-Trafford on Saturday. The Knights (6-4) have won six in a row. Daniel Carr scored for the Warriors (6-6). Greensburg CC 6, Trinity Christian 1 — Jake Gretz had two goals, and...
5 things we learned in Week 4: WPIAL upstarts winning over their doubters
The last time Mapletown started a season 5-0, longtime Maples coach George Messich was in middle school and the team’s quarterback was an older boy who lived next door. That was 1968. “They had some really good football players on that team,” said Messich, a 1973 graduate. “The running back...
Westmoreland HS football notebook: Hempfield win among program’s best
With 5,000-plus sardined into Spartan Stadium, Hempfield pulled off one of its biggest football wins in at least four decades Friday night with a 28-17 victory over defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A champion Penn-Trafford, which had just moved into the No. 1 spot in the TribLive HSSN rankings. Hempfield...
Trib HSSN WPIAL football rankings: Week ending Sept. 25, 2022
WPIAL football rankings Class 6A TeamRecPrv 1. North Allegheny, 5-0, 1 2. Canon-McMillan, 2-3, 4 3. Seneca Valley, 3-2, 5 4. Mt. Lebanon, 2-3, 2 5. Central Catholic, 2-3, 3 Class 5A TeamRecPrv 1. Upper St. Clair, 5-0, 3 2. Bethel Park, 4-1, 4 3. Hempfield, 5-0, NR 4. Gateway,...
George Guido: What to look for at football season’s halfway point in the A-K Valley
Almost in the blink of an eye, the halfway point of the local high school football season has been reached – and some schools haven’t even played a conference game. One thing we have learned so far is that things have been rough for teams that are part of the...
Westmoreland high school athletes of the week: Week ending Sept. 25, 2022
Rylin Bugosh School: Mt. Pleasant Sport: Soccer Year: Sophomore Claim to fame: Bugosh had back-to-back hat tricks as the unbeaten Lady Vikings (7-0, 4-0) defeated rivals Yough, 5-0, and Mt. Pleasant, 6-1. The quick-footed forward added an assist in each game for the second-ranked team in WPIAL Class 2A. She...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Deer Lakes’ Anna Yourish, Freeport’s Stephen Evans
Anna Yourish Class: Senior School: Deer Lakes Sport: Golf Report card: Yourish made three birdies and shot 84 on Wednesday to finish tied for third at the Section 1-2A qualifier at Cedarbrook Golf Course. She advanced to the WPIAL tournament first round, which is set for Monday at Youghiogheny Country...
A-K Valley high school football notes: Several teams bounce back with wins
It was bounce-back Friday for a number of Alle-Kiski Valley teams. The Burrell run game again was the featured attraction as it helped the Bucs roll past Yough, 42-6, and rebound from last week’s 38-20 loss to Serra Catholic. All 64 plays Burrell ran against the Cougars were of the...
Shaler rallies to defeat Franklin Regional in double overtime on homecoming
Shaler had a homecoming to remember Saturday, rallying to defeat Franklin Regional, 42-41, in double overtime. The win gives the Titans a 3-2 record at the season’s halfway point. “It’s one of those games that adds to the homecoming tradition and lore,” Shaler coach Jim Ryan said. “It’s one for...
North Hills volleyball wants to swing away in tough section
Matt White knew he was in for a challenge when he agreed to lead the North Hills girls volleyball program this season. White had a newborn baby at home, had spent the last 11 years coaching with a successful program in Shaler and was taking over a program that has...
North Hills football maintains optimism despite early struggles
North Hills isn’t dismayed. The Indians, coming off their most successful season in a decade, got off to an 0-4 start to begin the 2022 season, but coach Pat Carey knew his young team may have some growing pains, and that’s helped him keep things in perspective. “We’re playing a...
Talented sophomores pacing defending PIAA champion North Allegheny cross country teams
At this time of year, North Allegheny’s cross country team doesn’t talk much about winning championships, even if the boys and girls are both defending state champs. The two teams combined have swept all eight WPIAL big-school titles in the past four years and celebrated seven PIAA titles in that...
North Allegheny notebook: Trio of Tigers advance to WPIAL girls golf tournament
Seniors Katie Rose Rankin and Lauren Kardos and junior Megan Manesiotis all reached the target score at last week’s Section 1-3A girls golf qualifier and advanced to the WPIAL tournament. Rankin and Kardos shot 78 and Manesiotis 84 at Diamond Run Golf Course on Sept. 21. They advanced to the...
Hampton sophomore serves up WPIAL tournament bid
Moments after Hampton’s Grace Stitt lost in her section singles semifinal match Sept. 14, coach Sara Longo reminded her of what was at stake the following day. “I was like, ‘Well, tomorrow is a must-win,’ ” Longo said. “She goes, ‘Oh, I’m getting to WPIALs. Don’t worry. I’m getting there.’...
Hampton football opens up passing attack
The Hampton football team has gone airborne this season. One year after mashing opponents with a pair of 1,000-yard rushers, the Talbots have unveiled a potent passing attack under first-year coach Steve Sciullo. “We came into the season with the goal to pass more,” said senior quarterback Joey Mayer, who...
Shady Side Academy’s Neely Nicholson wins section qualifier, turns attention to WPIALs
Three years ago, Neely Nicholson was playing golf as a recreation. But last week, the Shady Side Academy senior carded a 77 to win the Section 2-2A individual title at Del-Mar Country Club. “I was pretty nervous at first,” Nicholson said. “I got more loose and it started going well....
Young Fox Chapel girls golf team has no seniors, plenty of victories
After losing five seniors from last year’s WPIAL girls golf championship team, Fox Chapel isn’t missing a beat. The team is off to a 9-1 start with no seniors on the squad. “They’re a very young team for what they’ve accomplished,” said coach Christine Smith. “We have two juniors, three...
Chartiers Valley girls volleyball adjusts to new section opponents
Every two years based on enrollment numbers, the PIAA sets the parameters for each classification in every high school sport. The WPIAL then sets up sections in each sport based on which schools are in each class. In this two-year cycle that started this school year, realignment to the WPIAL...
