Michael Love stories, Page 74
Alle-Kiski Valley PIAA playoff capsule: Highlands vs. Laurel Highlands, Friday, March 11, 2022
Friday’s game Boys Class 5A Second round 7-3 Highlands (19-7) vs. 7-1 Laurel Highlands (26-0) 7 p.m. Norwin High School Coaches: Corey Dotchin, Highlands; Rick Hauger, Laurel Highlands Winner plays: Winner of 3-3 Hershey (21-6)/7-4 Gateway (16-6) Layup lines: After a week away from game action following the loss to...
Knoch girls win 1st PIAA playoff game in program history
Three was the magic number for the Knoch girls basketball team in its PIAA Class 4A first-round home game Wednesday evening against District 9 champion St. Marys. The Knights, playing in the program’s first PIAA game, hit 15 3-pointers, including 10 in the first half, and took control early en...
Mt. Pleasant enters PIAA swimming event on a roll
The Mt. Pleasant girls swim team captured five WPIAL championships and had numerous other medal-winning and point-producing performances last Thursday and Friday at Pitt’s Trees Pool. It all added up to the program’s first WPIAL Class 2A title. Now, they will join dozens of other swimmers from throughout the Westmoreland...
Plum grad Ryan Loebig, other local players lead Pitt club hockey to nationals
Ryan Loebig is confident. The Plum graduate and senior defenseman on the Pitt club hockey team likes the way the Panthers are shaping up heading into the 20-team American College Hockey Association Division I national tournament set for Thursday through March 20 in St. Louis. “It’s all about embracing the...
Highlands opens PIAA playoffs with rout of Brashear
Brashear scored the first two points of Tuesday night’s PIAA Class 5A first-round game at Highlands. But the Golden Rams scored the next 13 to establish themselves on their court. Highlands led by 12 at the end of the first quarter and at halftime, then extended it to 22 at...
A-K Valley PIAA basketball playoff capsules: Games for Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Boys Class 6A 3-7 Cumberland Valley (19-7) at 7-1 Fox Chapel (24-1) 6 p.m. Wednesday Coaches: Zach Skrinjar, Fox Chapel; David Vespiognani, Cumberland Valley Winner plays: Winner of 8-1 Allderdice (19-7)/7-3 Central Catholic (18-6) Saturday in the second round (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Cumberland Valley earned a spot...
Alle-Kiski Valley PIAA basketball playoff preview: Games of Tuesday, March 8, 2022
Tuesday’s games Boys basketball Class 5A First round 8-1 Brashear (8-10) at 7-3 Highlands (18-7) 7 p.m. Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Laurel Highlands (25-0)/3-9 Elizabethtown (16-10) on Friday in the second round (site and time TBD) Layup lines: Brashear’s postseason run began with an upset victory over Obama in...
Apollo-Ridge’s Bartha to step down as athletic director, stay on as girls basketball coach
As Ray Bartha prepares his Apollo-Ridge girls basketball team for Tuesday’s PIAA Class 2A first-round playoff game at District 10 champion West Middlesex, he also is moving forward with his plans to transition away from the school’s athletic director position after 14 years. The Apollo-Ridge School Board accepted and approved...
Fox Chapel girls soak in silver-medal performance at WPIAL championships
The Fox Chapel girls 400-yard freestyle relay finished Friday what the Foxes’ 200 medley relay started Thursday. The quartet of junior Sophie Shao, senior Ariana Pasquella, junior Payton O’Toole and senior Rei Sperry won the WPIAL Class 3A championship meet-closing relay in a school-record time of 3 minutes, 29.23 seconds...
Mt. Pleasant girls capture 1st WPIAL swimming championship
The Mt. Pleasant girls swimming and diving team took home a runner-up trophy from the 2020 WPIAL Class 2A championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Last year, it was third behind Northgate and Quaker Valley at Upper St. Clair. But the Vikings, in the return to Trees Pool on Thursday and...
Fox Chapel’s Sophie Shao breaks 38-year-old record, wins 100 fly title at WPIALs
A 38-year WPIAL record is no more. Fox Chapel junior Sophie Shao captured the Class 3A girls 100-yard butterfly title — her third in as many years — Thursday at the WPIAL swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. Her time of 53.85 seconds — her personal best for high school...
Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant swimmers shine during Day 1 of WPIAL championships
It was the best of feelings and the worst of feelings for the Franklin Regional boys relays Thursday on Day 1 of the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Panthers’ 200-yard medley relay of sophomore Holden Thomas, junior Aiden Bunker, senior Owen Holm and junior Jason Tosh...
Valley freshman Sidnie Shirey won’t let disability keep her from swimming, inspiring othersVideo
Sidnie Shirey stands on the pool deck beside the starting block. She is confident. She dives in the water and her core muscles and legs go to work, helping her cut through the water. She is strong. As she approaches the wall to make each turn, she hopes to gain...
WPIAL’s swimming best ready to do battle in return to Pitt’s Trees Pool
Levi Hansen won three medals in four individual races at WPIALs over the past two seasons. While the Kiski Area junior loved bringing home that hardware, he is shooting for loftier goals this year. He is the No. 1 seed for Thursday morning’s WPIAL Class 3A boys 200-yard freestyle as...
Knoch girls hold off Southmoreland, reach WPIAL title game for 1st time
The Knoch girls basketball team reached the WPIAL semifinals last year for the first time in program history, but it fell one win short of its goal of reaching the championship game and an opportunity to play for the gold. But the Knights weren’t going to be denied in their...
Freeport’s Schrecongost, Fox Chapel’s Shao lead strong A-K Valley contingent into WPIAL swimming championships
Lexi Schrecongost’s swimming future is at Toledo. The Freeport senior’s swimming present is preparing for some unfinished business Thursday and Friday as the WPIAL Class 2A and 3A championships return home to Pitt’s Trees Pool. “This meet will definitely hit close to home as it will be my last (WPIAL)...
Kiski Area swim coach Lisa Pepka resigns days before WPIAL meet
Kiski Area boys and girls swimming coach Lisa Pepka resigned from the position Monday, just three days before the WPIAL championships. Pepka declined to comment on her decision, but she confirmed she is no longer the head coach. Kiski Area athletic director John Peterman on Tuesday confirmed Pepka’s resignation, but...
Aquinas Academy fends off upset-minded St. Joseph, rolls into Class A title game
The St. Joseph girls basketball team held a great deal of momentum entering Monday’s WPIAL Class A semifinal against Section 3 rival Aquinas Academy at North Hills High School. The No. 9 Spartans took down No. 1 Rochester on Thursday, and they hoped to do the same against the No....
AK Valley WPIAL basketball playoff preview capsules: Games for Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Boys Class 6A Semifinals 2-Fox Chapel (22-1) vs. 3-Central Catholic (18-5) 8 p.m. Tuesday, AHN Arena, Peters Township High School Winner plays: Winner of 1-North Hills (23-0)/4-Mt. Lebanon (16-8) Saturday at 7 p.m. in championship game at Petersen Events Center Layup lines: Fox Chapel turned away Pine-Richland, 77-67, in the...
Wild Things to host Frontier League All-Star Game
The all-stars of the Frontier League will be coming to Wild Things Park in July. Both the league and the team announced Monday morning a week-long slate of activities leading up to the all-star game July 20. “The Washington Wild Things are planning a truly unprecedented minor-league baseball all-star game...
Alle-Kiski Valley WPIAL basketball playoff capsule for Feb. 28, 2022
Monday’s game Boys Class 5A semifinals 5-Highlands (18-6) vs. 1-Laurel Highlands (23-0) 8 p.m. at AHN Arena, Peters Township Winner plays: Winner of 6-Gateway (15-5)/2-New Castle (22-1) in championship game at 8 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center. Layup lines: Highlands is hoping to punch its ticket to a WPIAL...
St. Joseph girls relish another shot at Aquinas after upset
The St. Joseph girls basketball team will get another crack at Aquinas Academy as the Section 3-1A rivals do battle at 6 p.m. Monday at North Hills in the WPIAL semifinals with a trip to Petersen Events Center on the line. Most playoff pundits and other observers probably thought the...
Gateway swimmers chasing medals at WPIAL championships
Before competing in college at Youngstown State, Summer Raymer has one final chance to make her mark on the biggest high school stages in Pennsylvania. The Gateway senior distance swimmer, who will compete in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and the 200 and 400 free relays at the WPIAL...
Young Gateway lineup ‘trending in right direction’
The Gateway junior varsity hockey team finished its regular season Feb. 14 with a tough 3-2 loss to Mt. Lebanon. It completed a 3-10-3 run, and while that record might not look inspiring at face value, coach Shawn Jesih said a closer look reveals marked improvement for a roster with...
Plum’s Kvortek celebrates PA Classic all-around title
Sarah Kvortek returned to the top of the podium in the Intermediate I (Gold) division at the WPIAL gymnastics championships Feb. 12 at Moon High School. The Plum junior claimed her second WPIAL individual title in as many seasons — this time on vault — and added a silver medal...
