Bill Beckner stories, Page 108

Today’s game Boys Class 4A First round 12-Yough (13-9) at 5-Lincoln Park (15-6) 7 p.m. Friday Winner plays: Winner of 13-Central Valley (9-8)/4-North Catholic (17-3) Wednesday in quarterfinals Lay-up lines: Yough finished fourth in Section 3 behind third-seeded Belle Vernon, Uniontown and Elizabeth Forward. The Cougars have five straight wins...

Clarion filled its football vacancy Thursday by naming Raymond Monica head coach. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference school did not retain Chris Weibel, who guided the Golden Eagles for seven seasons but saw the team finish 0-10 last year. Assistant Matt Hanhold served as interim head coach while Clarion looked...

Belle Vernon is miscast sometimes as a two-man basketball team. A two-man show. Now, senior Devin Whitlock and sophomore Quinton Martin are about as NBA Jam as you can get as a scoring pair, but they don’t do it all. Whitlock and Martin have an ensemble of role players with...

Somewhat in jest, Joe Salvino said there are two people who care more about his career win total than he does. “My scorekeeper and my wife,” the Belle Vernon boys basketball coach said with a laugh. “I’m not saying it doesn’t matter. It means I’ve won, but this is my...

When teams yell “shooter!” while they’re defending Southmoreland, Delaynie Morvosh is usually surprised when she realizes they mean her. “It makes me feel good,” Morvosh said with a grin. “I have always been more of a defensive player.” The warning cry from opponents represents a sign of respect for Morvosh,...

When the ball goes up, Emma Blair is ready for it to come down. The Latrobe junior forward takes many would-be rebounders to task, firmly planting herself into a position to snare a missed shot and give the Wildcats a fresh chance at a putback or new possession. The 6-foot-1...

Bryce Butler is having a career season at West Liberty and the country is watching. The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard out of Latrobe is on a national watch list for the Clarence “Bevo” Francis Award, which recognizes America’s top small-college basketball player. He joins teammate Pat Robinson III on the 50-player...

Saint Vincent made quite a splash at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s swimming and diving championships. Junior Lauren Connors won four individual championships and earned the meet’s most valuable performer, the first woman in team history to earn the honor. The Bearcats’ Josh Gurekovich, meantime, was named PAC coach of...

Greensburg Central Catholic and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will not meet again in the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball championship game. No, their rematch will have to come in the semifinals after GCC was given the No. 4 seed in this year’s tournament. The Centurions (16-3) will play...

Penn State senior softball pitcher Bailey Parshall (Belle Vernon) returned from a injury rehab to make a start in the Nittany Lions’ season opener. She struck out 10 in seven innings and reached 400 career strikeouts as Penn State fell, 2-1, against No. 11 Missouri in eight innings. She gave...

Late-season basketball games are often platforms for special occasions. Senior night and youth recognition night are among them. But more schools are using the game times, where fans are gathered again, to get teachers noticed. Ligonier Valley and Belle Vernon are two local schools that celebrated teachers last week during...

The Greensburg Central Catholic boys basketball team had its 20-game home winning streak end Friday night in a loss to Serra Catholic. It was the No. 2-ranked Centurions’ second defeat in three games. One way to make it all better and end the late-season slip? Blow out your rival on...

Jake Hollick is one of the top senior basketball players at Ligonier Valley this season. He is known for playing with a little bit of an edge. Well, there’s an explanation for that. Hollick also is a talented hockey player. But because Ligonier Valley does not have a team, he...

A longtime soccer rivalry was sideswiped by the new enrollment numbers for the PIAA’s next two-year cycle. The ramifications will be felt from Turner Valley to the Bushy Run Soccer Complex. Norwin and Penn-Trafford have been playing in the same section since the 1990s, but the girls and boys teams...

Norwin senior Joey Testa moved from Katy, Texas, where she was a standout for Katy Aquatics in the AAA Junior Olympics. She still holds records there. But she earned her college scholarship as a Norwin Knight. Testa, who moved to the area in eighth grade, recently signed to swim at...

Franklin Regional standout senior Caden Smith, a terrific three-sport athlete, wants to play football in college. Many consider him a Division I prospect, and some schools have inquired. But the 6-foot-4 wide receiver and safety doesn’t have any offers — yet. He was hoping to commit by national signing day,...

Norwin didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter, but that might have had something to do with the effort the Knights were putting in on the defensive end against visiting Penn-Trafford. It was, attack on defense, rest on offense and hold on tight from there. Or, maybe they...

Brianna Zajicek moved to point guard this season, so she has a different perspective on the game and new decisions to make. As she dribbled up the floor Thursday night at Penn-Trafford with the third-quarter clock ticking down to single digits, she made some magic happen. “I was trying to...

The Westmoreland County WPIAL boys basketball playoff field is nearly complete. All that remains in Section 3-6A is the postseason fate of Hempfield and Norwin, who head into Friday night’s action tied for fourth place. Hempfield (6-13, 3-6) will finish section play at home Friday against Greensburg Salem (2-18, 0-9),...

Penn-Trafford stole one. Literally. A flurry of late takeaways, including two by Maura Suman — their all-time steals leader and lone senior — along with some three-point plays down the stretch, propelled the Lady Warriors to a spirited 37-36 upset over No. 3 Norwin on Thursday night in the Section...

Ligonier Valley got a free pass to the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs last year because the league had an open tournament where any team could participate, a result of the covid pandemic. It was a nice benefit for the Rams in their first season in District 7. But they knew...

Yough is looking for an athletic director after the resignation of Scott Morrison, who held the position for nearly two years. Morrison said he wants to pursue other opportunities. Yough’s AD position is part time but Morrison worked full-time hours, often putting in 12-hour days while attending games and matches....

Spencer Lee already has a Wikipedia page, his own clothing line and a fan following that stretches from Murrysville to Des Moines, Iowa — and beyond. He is a well-known figure in college wrestling. But the Iowa sensation’s popularity has reached new heights. The Franklin Regional graduate was part of...

Westmoreland County’s contributions to the WPIAL girls basketball playoff field are set. In Class 6A, local rivals Norwin (15-4, 12-1) and Penn-Trafford (11-8, 8-5), who will meet Thursday night at Penn-Trafford in the Section 1 finale, have qualified. In 5A, Latrobe (14-3, 10-1) is back in the postseason after reaching...

A number of basketball coaches expressed their admiration for the WPIAL’s decision to allow higher-seeded teams to host first-round and quarterfinal playoff games last season because of the pandemic. The WPIAL was listening. Home sweet home will be the theme again as the league uses the same format for this...