Chris Harlan stories, Page 13
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...
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...
Liam Sheely overcomes shoulder injury with coach’s help as Mt. Lebanon makes late-season surge
Liam Sheely’s basketball coach is also a physical therapist, a combination that surely helped Mt. Lebanon’s leading scorer get back on the court this week. A 6-foot-3 junior and 18-point scorer, Sheely has endured a rather painful season. His latest setback was a shoulder aggravation one week ago that was...
Mt. Lebanon boys win rubber match with Norwin, advance to WPIAL Class 6A quarters
Mt. Lebanon’s Sam Deibert scored a game-high 24 points as the sixth-seeded Blue Devils ran away with 61-34 victory over No. 11 Norwin in a first-round rubber match Monday night in the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs. The section foes split their two regular-season matchups starting with a two-point overtime win...
‘It’s nice for us to be No. 1’: 50 years later, coach, players recall Richland baseball’s 1st section title
Whenever Rick Frederick visits the Pine-Richland gym nowadays, he admires the baseball banner hanging on the wall, the one that lists 18 section titles. The first was in 1975. He knows with certainty that the Rams couldn’t have won a section title any earlier. That’s because the high school didn’t...
12 WPIAL all-stars chosen for 2025 Big 33 Football Classic
Five offensive or defensive linemen were among a dozen WPIAL players chosen Friday to represent Pennsylvania in the Big 33 Football Classic this spring. The 68th playing of the annual all-star game is May 25 at Cumberland Valley. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. The Pennsylvania roster includes South Park’s Parker Cunningham,...
Rod Steele won’t return as West Mifflin football coach
West Mifflin intends to hire a football coach next week, but it won’t be incumbent Rod Steele. Steele was originally a finalist to retain his job but said Thursday he withdrew his name from consideration last month. All West Mifflin coaching jobs were open to applicants, with current coaches able...
Two-time champ Deer Lakes shows its playoff experience in beating Quaker Valley
Deer Lakes is still unbeaten in the WPIAL playoffs under coach Albie Fletcher, a remarkable three-year streak that added another win Friday night. The Lancers’ postseason poise was evident in this one. Seventh-seeded Deer Lakes upped its defensive intensity and scored 21 consecutive points in a decisive run that spanned...
WPIAL breaks unwritten rule about 1st-round rematches in basketball playoffs
Some WPIAL basketball teams won’t need to scout their playoff opponent much. Avoiding section rematches in the first round was an unwritten rule the WPIAL historically tried to follow, but this season the basketball steering committee at times moved away from that idea. The philosophical change was most obvious in...
Breaking down the 2025 WPIAL boys basketball playoff brackets
Breaking down the 2025 WPIAL boys basketball playoffs Class 6A Favorite: Defending WPIAL champion Upper St. Clair has some impressive size that’s tough to match, starting with 6-foot-10 senior Tyler Robbins (16 ppg), a Miami (Ohio) recruit. His sophomore brother Ryan Robbins is 6-7, and senior Kaamil Jackson is 6-6....
No time to waste for 3-time champion South Fayette as WPIAL reveals basketball playoff brackets
South Fayette girls basketball coach Bryan Bennett was surprised by what he saw when the WPIAL released playoff brackets Monday. His three-time defending champions were favored to win again as the No. 1 seed in Class 5A. Sure, that could’ve surprised somebody, but that wasn’t what surprised him. Bennett was...
WPIAL bracketology: Chris Harlan, Don Rebel forecast the 2025 boys basketball playoff pairings
The 2025 boys basketball playoff field is set with 85 teams in the six classifications. Class A heads straight into the quarterfinal round while the five other classifications start with first-round games. Class 5A has 17 teams with one pigtail game and 3A has a full 16-team bracket with no...
WPIAL bracketology: Don Rebel, Chris Harlan forecast the 2025 girls basketball playoff pairings
The 2025 girls basketball playoff field is set with 84 teams in six classifications. Class 6A girls starts with eight teams in the quarterfinals while Class 5A has a complete 16-team bracket and 3A is one short with 15. Both 4A and 2A have 17 teams, which means pigtail-mania. Class...
WPIAL boys basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 9, 2025
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Upper St. Clair, 20-2, 1 2. New Castle, 18-3, 4 3. Imani Christian, 13-7, 3 4. Central Catholic, 13-8, 2 5. Mt. Lebanon, 14-7, NR Out: Fox Chapel (15-6, 5) Class 5A 1. Montour, 20-1, 1 2. Baldwin, 20-1, 2 3. Uniontown, 19-3,...
WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 9, 2025
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 13-7, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 15-6, 2 3. Seneca Valley, 15-5, 3 4. Canon-McMillan, 12-8, 5 5. Mt. Lebanon, 12-9, 4 Out: none Class 5A 1. Peters Township, 19-2, 1 2. South Fayette, 21-1, 2 3. Penn-Trafford, 22-0, 3 4. Shaler,...
Brady Mayo scores 45, Beaver outlasts Avonworth in OT to share section title
Brady Mayo found a way to let his coach know he wasn’t feeling stressed, even surrounded by a standing-room crowd in a nail-biting atmosphere that ultimately needed overtime. “He was at half-court guarding, and he looked at me and he winked,” Beaver coach Jason Bumblis said. “I swear to God....
PIAA to follow Trump’s order barring transgender athletes from girls sports
The PIAA, which has allowed transgender high school athletes to compete in its state championships, will heed a presidential executive order barring them from women’s and girls sports. “We are tracking and assessing the law as it evolves and encourage all member schools to do the same,” PIAA executive director...
Imani Christian’s R.J. Sledge celebrates senior night with OT winner vs. Central Catholic
This was for second place in the section and maybe a much better seed in the playoffs, but Imani Christian’s R.J. Sledge felt another strong motivation, too. “I couldn’t lose on my senior night,” said Sledge, who punctuated the first half with a heave from beyond half-court and delivered again...
Western Pa.’s top football prospects for the Class of 2026
The Class of 2026 is on the clock. With the arrival Wednesday of signing day, most of the top high school seniors in the WPIAL and City League have finalized their college football plans. That leaves college recruiters free to focus on a talented junior class that’s largely uncommitted. Here...
North Catholic takes control of section race with frantic, 1-point win over Knoch
The WPIAL’s tightest section race remains so thanks to a game that couldn’t get much closer. North Catholic’s Owen Maddalon blocked a shot with six-tenths on the clock Tuesday night, the last act in the frantic final seconds as the Trojans defeated visiting Knoch, 54-53, in a battle for first...
Seneca Valley hires former NFL lineman as football coach
Former NFL offensive lineman Don Barclay, who was an all-conference athlete at Seneca Valley, is returning to his high school alma mater as football coach. The school announced his hire Monday. A 2007 graduate of Seneca Valley, Barclay was a three-year starter for West Virginia’s football team and played five...
WPIAL girls basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 2, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 11-6, 3 2. Upper St. Clair, 13-5, 1 3. Seneca Valley, 13-5, 2 4. Mt. Lebanon, 11-8, 5 5. Canon-McMillan, 11-7, 4 Out: none Class 5A 1. Peters Township, 16-2, 1 2. South Fayette, 18-1, 2 3. Penn-Trafford, 19-0, 3 4. Thomas...
WPIAL boys basketball rankings: Week ending Feb. 2, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Upper St. Clair, 18-2, 1 2. Central Catholic, 12-6, 3 3. Imani Christian, 12-6, 4 4. New Castle, 15-3, NR 5. Fox Chapel, 15-4, 5 Out: Seneca Valley (11-9, 2) Class 5A 1. Montour, 17-1, 1 2. Baldwin, 18-1, 2 3. Uniontown, 17-3,...
Shady Side Academy hires former team captain as football coach
Shady Side Academy graduate Andrew Geisler, who served as Thiel’s defensive coordinator last season, is returning to his high school alma mater as football coach. The school announced his hire Friday. A former football team captain, Geisler graduated in 2012 and later played defensive line at Saint Vincent. His coaching...
Baldwin avenges loss to South Fayette, nears 1st section title since 1986
The boys basketball banner that lists section titles was conspicuously missing from Baldwin’s gym, moved instead to the locker room at coach Jeff Ackermann’s request. Before it goes back on the wall, the Highlanders are hoping to add “2025” next to “1986” as their newest section title. With that goal...
