Andrew John stories, Page 7
Penn Hills football standouts rack up postseason honors
Even though the Penn Hills football season didn’t finish the way the team hoped, the Indians had 13 players recognized for their play this season as they received all-conference honors. The Indians (4-4, 4-1) had six players receive first-team honors in the Northeast Conference from the Western Pennsylvania Big 56...
Pair of WPIAL qualifiers return to lead Penn Hills wrestling
In a normal year, turnout for Penn Hills wrestling is low. This season is no different, but the pandemic has caused a couple of more wrestlers to sit out the year. The Indians return only two lettermen from last year, and they couldn’t be more important for a young and...
Penn Hills swimmers alter training for unique season
The Penn Hills swim team returns one WPIAL qualifier this season, and a couple of others are seeing an opportunity to qualify. Senior Michael Lintelman is looking to improve on a top-10 finish in the 200-yard individual medley at the WPIAL Class 3A championships last season. At WPIALs, Lintelman finished...
Penn Hills boys maintain high expectations under new head coach
Even with a new voice leading the Penn Hills boys basketball program, the mission is still the same — win a WPIAL championship. Chris Giles takes over for Dan DeRose as Penn Hills’ new boys basketball coach. Penn Hills hired Giles on June 29 after DeRose accepted the head coaching...
Girls basketball preview: Penn Hills has experienced roster, playoff aspirations
With an experienced roster returning, the Penn Hills girls basketball team will look to make a deep run into the playoffs this season. The Indians, who finished 12-13 overall with an 8-5 section record last season, return four starters, including senior guards Amoni Blackwell, Jasmyn Golden and Jayla Golden. Blackwell...
Pro baseball dreams carry Penn Hills catcher to Maine
Penn Hills senior catcher Josh Zambito has dreams of playing baseball professionally. Zambito took a step towards that goal by deciding where he was going to play collegiate baseball. After a tiring virtual recruitment process, Zambito signed his letter of intent Nov. 11 to play baseball at Maine. Zambito, who...
Penn Hills’ A’Lysa Sledge signs on with UMass Lowell
A’Lysa Sledge has known for months where she wanted to play basketball at the collegiate level. The Penn Hills senior made it official Nov. 13 when she signed a national letter of intent to attend UMass Lowell next season. The 5-foot-11 standout was mulling an offer from Niagara and also...
Seniors help build foundation for upstart Redeemer Lutheran volleyball program
Four years ago, Nathan Loewe started up a girls volleyball team at Redeemer Lutheran with a handful of players who had very limited experience with the sport. After a couple of seasons filled with learning basic skills, the Rams found themselves on the doorstep of the final for their conference...
Redeemer Lutheran runners finish cross country season strong
Redeemer Lutheran’s cross country team was hoping to finish strong with the runners who qualified for the WPIAL meet in late October. That’s exactly what happened as three competitors placed in the top 100 of the girls and boys races. Senior Charis Carroll finished in 41st place with a time...
Penn Hills cross country team picking up steam
The Penn Hills boys cross country team had a young core this season that finished strong, which provides coach Lee Zelkowitz with optimism for years to come. Sophomore Austin Stuchul was the Indians’ top runner this season. Stuchul finished in 140th place with a time of 19:15 at the WPIAL...
Young Penn Hills roster shows competitive fire during rebuilding year
Coach Jon LeDonne knew it was going to be a tough matchup when No. 7 Penn Hills faced No. 2 Gateway in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs Oct. 30. However, LeDonne was encouraged with how the young Indians competed against the Gators as they lost, 14-0....
Peters Township boys soccer team wins in 2OT — again
Andrew Massucci might have a little magic in his shoe as for the second game in a row he scored the winning goal in the final seconds of the second overtime, this time to propel Peters Township to the WPIAL Class 4A championship. Massucci scored twice to lift No. 1...
Penn Hills girls volleyball takes steps forward with young roster
With a young roster that included no seniors, the Penn Hills girls volleyball knew it was going to be a season potentially filled with growing pains. However, the Indians took steps forward to what they hope is a breakthrough season next year. The Indians, who finished 4-10, started on the...
Freshmen make immediate impact for Penn Hills football
Heading into the season, coach Jon LeDonne knew he was going to hand the keys to the Penn Hills offense over to freshman Julian Dugger. However, LeDonne wasn’t sure how much of an impact the rest of the freshmen and sophomore classes would make on the offense. As the Indians...
Fill-in quarterback carries Keystone Oaks past South Park in Class 3A thriller
With its star quarterback hobbled by an ankle injury, Keystone Oaks turned to senior Mark Hutchin to spark the offense and erase a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. Down 24-21, Hutchin took the Wildcat snap and ran to the right side for an 8-yard touchdown with 29 seconds remaining to lead the...
Penn Hills girls soccer makes major strides to return to postseason
Coach Ashley DeVito has preached to her Penn Hills girls soccer team the importance of playing the game as a team. With the mix of returning starters and an influx of new faces, the Indians bought into DeVito’s coaching and clinched a WPIAL playoff berth for the first time in...
Penn Hills boys soccer ends season on strong note
After a tough loss to powerhouse Franklin Regional on Oct. 12, coach Ryan Hankey challenged his Penn Hills boys soccer team by creating a short season in its final three games. The young Indians answered the bell and ended the season on a positive note, going 2-0-1 with back-to-back shutouts...
No. 1 Pine-Richland scores early, rolls past Kiski Area
Going into the game, Kiski Area knew it needed to figure out a way to slow down Class 5A No. 1 Pine-Richland’s offensive attack. However, the Rams jumped on the Cavaliers early and didn’t look back. The Rams scored on their first two plays from scrimmage and rolled to a...
Penn Hills golfer learns lessons on Oakmont’s fabled greens
Every young golfer’s dream in Western Pennsylvania is to play a round of golf at Oakmont Country Club. Penn Hills sophomore Lucy Brayton had that opportunity as she competed in the WPIAL Class AAA Girls Individual Championship on Oct. 8. Brayton, who was the first Penn Hills girls golfer to...
Penn Hills basketball standout Deondre Mitchell earns starting role as 1st-year WR
For the last couple of years, senior Deondre Mitchell has been known for his success on the basketball court for Penn Hills. This fall, Mitchell added football to his resume, lining up at wide receiver for the Indians. With no basketball fall leagues this year because of covid-19, Mitchell was...
Redeemer Lutheran cross country teams making a name for themselves
Redeemer Lutheran might not be a household name when it comes to cross country, but they are no longer just showing up for cross country meets. They are showing up to win now. Most recently, Redeemer Lutheran’s boys cross country team finished in fifth place with 126 points at the...
Midseason winning streak gets Penn Hills girls soccer back on the right foot
After getting off to a slow start, the Penn Hills girls soccer team righted the ship with four consecutive wins to get back into the WPIAL playoff race. The Indians outscored their opponents 18-3 during the four game-winning streak. Most importantly, three of the wins came in Section 3-AAA action...
Penn Hills runners aim for improvement after solid opening invitational
The Penn Hills cross country team is looking or consistent improvement throughout the season as a barometer of team success. The Indians, who are battling limited numbers, recently competed in their first meet where they had one runner finish in the top 100. Sophomore Austin Stuchul finished 73rd with a...
After placing second in section, Penn Hills golfer earns Oakmont tee time
Sophomore Lucy Brayton accomplished something many haven’t been able to do at Penn Hills. Brayton qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA Girls individual championship after her performance in the section tournament. Brayton finished second after shooting an 85 in the Section 3-AAA tournament at Murrysville Golf Course on Sept. 23....
New coach working to build Penn Hills girls tennis program
The Penn Hills girls tennis team has a new voice leading the program as Rich Parks takes over for Jack Kowalski, who coached the program for over two decades. Parks is the father of Richard Parks, who graduated from Penn Hills in 2011 after having a decorated tennis career. Parks...
