Dave Mackall stories, Page 11
Burrell logs another upset, beats No. 2 Mohawk in semifinals
Macky Bennis and his teammates hooted and hollered with Burrell’s rabid fans Monday night at North Allegheny. And why not? Moments earlier, the Burrell boys basketball team, the only double-digit seed remaining in the WPIAL playoffs, continued its improbable postseason run by knocking off yet another higher-seeded challenger. This time,...
Robert Morris men lose to Cleveland State on last-second basket
For the second time, Robert Morris fell one basket short against Cleveland State, bolstering the Vikings chances for a Horizon League Tournament bye. Drew Lowder’s off-balance layup at the shot-clock buzzer and with just 1 second left in the game lifted Cleveland State to a 73-71 victory Sunday at UPMC...
Northgate uses experience, size advantage to top Jeannette in 2A quarters
Beware of the cushion. Cam Williams certainly was. When his Northgate boys basketball team took a huge early lead Friday night against Jeannette in the Flames’ eventual 55-44 victory in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal at Mt. Lebanon, it put Williams in an uncomfortable place. “Jeannette has tough kids. They...
Robert Morris men no match for Horizon League leader Oakland
Robert Morris’ final homestand of the season began Thursday night with a whimper as another in a steady parade of Horizon League heavyweights harassed the outmanned Colonials. Trey Townsend scored 22 points and gathered 17 rebounds, and conference-leading Oakland completed a season sweep of Robert Morris with a 63-43 victory...
Duquesne not giving up NCAA hopes as it prepares to face Fordham
Keith Dambrot, the latest coach to try to lead Duquesne back to the NCAA Tournament, doesn’t appear to be giving up on the idea in his seventh season on The Bluff, despite the Dukes’ recent 0-5 start in Atlantic 10 play. Neither do his players. “We know how much we’ve...
Duquesne controls St. Louis from opening tap, wins behind 31 from Dae Dae Grant
Duquesne is angling for a March peak. With just five regular-season games remaining, beginning Friday night at Fordham, the Dukes are showing signs of the team many thought could contend for an Atlantic 10 championship. Dae Dae Grant equaled his season-high of 31 points and edged closer to the nation’s...
Duquesne scraps out home win for revenge vs. St. Joseph’s
Mud wrestling was back at Duquesne. That meant a grind-it-out style Saturday in search of the ultimate goal. Mission accomplished. David Dixon, in just his third start of the season, scored 17 points and got a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, Jimmy Clark III added 15 points,...
Young Knoch rallies to defeat Beaver in Class 4A boys first round
Knoch coach Alan Bauman bristled when it was suggested his team’s first-round playoff opponent, Beaver Area, was coming into the Knights’ gym Friday night having played a highly challenging regular-season schedule. The Bobcats competed in Section 2-4A along with top-ranked Lincoln Park and No. 5 North Catholic. “We’re pretty good,...
Pitt aims to continue push toward NCAA Tournament berth vs. last-place Louisville
Don’t let the wintry forecast fool you, Pitt basketball buffs. Sunny days are here again. Winners of six games in their past seven outings, including victories over No. 9 Duke and No. 21 Virginia, the Panthers (16-8, 7-6 ACC) are back Saturday in search of more good times in a...
Pitt’s freshman backcourt duo of Lowe, Carrington growing up quickly
They have begun writing their own special story, an intriguing script any coach would peruse with utter delight. Pitt’s ascending freshman backcourt tandem is growing up fast. With the Panthers’ improving season getting even better with Tuesday night’s 74-63 victory at No. 21 Virginia that ended the Cavaliers’ Division I-leading...
Pitt snaps No. 21 Virginia’s home winning streak of 23
Remember that victory last month at Cameron? Add John Paul to the list. The Pitt basketball team is on a roll. In a hot streak that began Jan. 20 with a four-point victory against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Panthers continued their sizzling surge Tuesday night by knocking off...
Surging Pitt faces big challenge in road game with defensive-minded Virginia
When Virginia basketball is mentioned, the Cavaliers get defensive. Isn’t that the point? After all, they have led the ACC in scoring defense for 12 consecutive seasons, and they’re back on top of the heap again this year — and rank third nationally — with an average of 57.7 points...
For Valley coach Ed Jenkins, coaching is more than wins and losses
In the 2020 book, “Alle-Kiski Sports History,” local historian George Guido’s writings offer a multitude of highlights from the Allegheny-Kiski Valley region’s rich sports history, including a nod to the Highlands 1995 WPIAL championship boys basketball team. Ed Jenkins recalls so well that magical time. He was a key part...
Washington drops Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team in playoff primer
Don’t expect Washington coach David Bunting to embrace the idea of the Little Prexies playing Mt. Pleasant in another boys basketball game anytime soon. He’s seen quite enough of the Vikings and their first-year coach, Annie Malkowiak, the first woman to lead a Westmoreland County boys team. Even though Washington...
Robert Morris men fall to conference-leading Green Bay in OT
How many times can Andy Toole say it? How many times can the longtime Robert Morris basketball coach explain the process of becoming a consistent winner? “We’ll say it as many times as we have to,” said Toole, whose Colonials are deep into their fourth season in the Horizon League...
Duquesne’s winning streak snapped at hands of Davidson
Usually a seeker of postgame cheer, Keith Dambrot to an extent is known even for uttering a light-hearted word in defeat. Wednesday night, however, Duquesne’s basketball coach was in no mood to mince words following a 72-59 loss to Davidson at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse that short-circuited the Dukes’ recent surge....
Deer Lakes preps for playoffs with win over Valley
Deer Lakes held a 20-point lead over Valley when Wayne Love Jr. stopped in his tracks under the Lancers’ basket. Trailing the fast break, Valley’s Keyziyah Clay was anticipating a shot by Love, who instead held the ball while Clay went up for a block before landing on top of...
Duquesne’s Grant takes moment to soak in career milestone, refocuses on A-10 foes
In Lorain, Ohio, Cleveland’s sports teams rule. It is the hometown of Duquesne basketball star Dae Dae Grant, a self-proclaimed beholder of NBA superstar LeBron James, a native of nearby Akron, whose prolific professional career began in 2003 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs and Cleveland Browns put basketball and...
Derry boys clinch playoff spot for 5th time in past 6 seasons with win over Valley
Derry made a trip to Valley and came away with a big boys basketball victory Friday night. Huge, in fact. The Trojans clinched a WPIAL playoff berth for the fifth time in the past six seasons, beating the Vikings, 78-51, behind four double-digit scorers, led by Nate Papuga’s 20 points....
After wife’s successful surgery, Duquesne men’s coach Dambrot will travel with team to Rhode IslandVideo
Duquense men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot will be on the sidelines after all for the Dukes’ Atlantic 10 game at Rhode Island. Dambrot, in the wake of his wife Donna’s successful surgery for breast cancer, had been undecided about his travel plans until after learning of Thursday’s positive outcome. He...
Gateway gets much-needed win, surviving against Kiski Area in overtime
Alvis Rogers slid the final bite of a pretzel into his mouth and looked around the visitor’s locker room. Satisfied that everything was in order, the Gateway boys basketball coach, happy to get out of Kiski Area with a victory Thursday night, followed the last of his players into the...
Duquesne men’s basketball avoids trap, beats Chicago State
Beware of the trap. Duquesne’s coaches warned their players of that classic situation as they were preparing for the unusual challenge of facing a nonconference opponent at home with the regular season headed into the February stretch run. Luckily for the Dukes, they survived Chicago State’s upset bid Wednesday night...
Greensburg Central Catholic presses home-court advantage in win over rival Jeannette
It seems like only yesterday to Greensburg Central Catholic boys basketball coach Christian Hyland that he was playing in the Centurions’ bandbox gymnasium for championship-caliber teams that generally were torturing visiting opponents. Now, some 10 years later, Hyland is coaching at his alma mater. And his teams are making things...
Duquesne prepares for rare late-January nonconference game vs. Chicago StateVideo
It’s not often college basketball teams encounter a nonconference opponent this late in the season. Duquesne, however, will see one Wednesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. “It was a tough deal for us to get enough games on the schedule,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot was saying before the start of...
Duquesne pushes past Fordham for 2nd straight Atlantic 10 victory
Duquesne is showing it can win ugly. All of a sudden, that’s fine with the all-of-a-sudden resurgent Dukes. Just ask David Dixon, their electric sophomore forward, whom coach Keith Dambrot often jokes about as “taking the bad with the good.” In Saturday’s 68-59 victory against Fordham at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse,...
