Bill Beckner stories, Page 110

With a potentially tough stretch of games this week, high-scoring Greensburg Central Catholic was hoping for a strong showing Sunday night at the five-game Shootout at Seton Hill basketball event — a tune-up of sorts that could do more for the team than a practice. The Centurions hit 80 points...

Penn-Trafford traveled to Hershey to win a state football championship. The Warriors went to Harrisburg to be recognized for it. The WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A champs were honored Tuesday at the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Players and coaches were announced in the house and senate before touring the capital...

Monessen had an unusual time Wednesday when it hosted Fort Cherry for a girls basketball game. The power went out just before tip-off, and the teams played with generator lights and no scoreboard. But then the back-up lights also conked out with just 2 minutes, 7 seconds to play in...

Point Park fifth-year point guard Michelle Burns continues to climb the program’s scoring ranks, which might seem like hard work to some. Not to Burns. Crunching numbers in an office, now that is work to the Hempfield alum. Burns, who recently topped the 1,700-point mark for her career to move...

Two rounds. Thirty-six holes. Two courses? That is what will await golfers next fall for the WPIAL golf championships. The WPIAL changed its format for the boys and girls individual finals by eliminating the semifinal rounds and turning the championship into a two-round event spread over a week. Qualifiers will...

Norwin and Hempfield know something about tough nonsection schedules. Both boys basketball teams have gone against some of the top teams in Class 6A and 5A in the hopes those games would sharpen their lineups for Section 3-6A play. After playing 5A No. 1 Laurel Highlands close and then beating...

Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts has never missed the WPIAL playoffs in 12 seasons leading the Jayhawks and he is on pace to reach the postseason again this year. Batts reached a milestone along the way Friday night, posting his 200th win at Jeannette. The Jayhawks won a Section...

Ben Roethlisberger walked off into the sunset Thursday, announcing his retirement from pro football after 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But long before No. 7 dodged Terrell Suggs, extended play after play or won two Super Bowls, he was a terrific high school player in Ohio — at least...

Penn-Trafford senior point guard Maura Suman can handle the ball and score with some of the better backcourt players in Section 1-6A. But Suman is a quietly good defender, and a school record quietly sneaked up on her Thursday night. Suman broke the school’s career record for steals. She had...

Basketball showcase events went by the wayside last season as the covid pandemic stretched its long reach over high school and college sports. But a local event returns this weekend, and it features five games at Seton Hill’s McKenna Center. The Shootout at Seton Hill will be played Sunday, beginning...

Norwin had a “purple out” Thursday night as part of a fundraiser. The girls basketball team was seeing red from the opening tip. Fourth-ranked Norwin started fast and never loosened its grip, leaving a trail of nine 3-pointers in its wake on the way to beating the No. 1 out...

Terek Crosby is a gifted athlete and a natural scorer on the basketball court. Just a sophomore, he can get to the rim and do some impressive things once he gets there. Swift layups. Up-and-under scores. Slam dunks. At times, he looks like a Maserati with the fast lane all...

Latrobe has gained some attention around WPIAL girls basketball circles because of its height and old-school post play. The Wildcats have a size advantage that teams envy. They are a skyscraper in a Class 5A skyline. But watch the team play this season and it’s clear there is much more...

Odds do not favor an offensive extravaganza when North Allegheny and Norwin meet again Thursday night in North Huntingdon. It’s a good a bet to expect the opposite. These are teams that usually come away with dirt under their finger nails. No. 1 North Allegheny (15-0, 9-0) won the first...

The grind makes the victory that much sweeter. That was what Franklin Regional coach Jesse Reed had to say after his team rallied — scratched and clawed was more like it — to finally brush past visiting Woodland Hills, 45-42, on Tuesday night in a Section 3-5A boys basketball game...

A pair of Seton Hill senior relief pitchers received preseason plaudits from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Nash Bryan was named to the first team, and Caiden Wood was an honorable mention selection. Bryan led the PSAC with seven saves in 17 appearances and closed five postseason games. He...

Greensburg Salem was coming back furiously late in the third quarter. A 22-point lead for Jeannette was dwindling — fast — as the Golden Lions scored 18 straight points to close the gap considerably. Did Jeannette coach Adrian Batts call timeout during the run? “No, but maybe I should have...

It’s game day at Seton Hill. Kelly Weeks, awake since 5:15 a.m., already has taught five full periods at Hempfield Area High School when lunchtime rolls around. She puts down her sandwich long enough to watch some game film and catch up on her own studies. At 2:45 p.m., school...

Seton Hill remained one of the hottest teams in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference basketball, rallying past Pitt-Johnstown, 65-58, for a ninth straight victory. Senior Katie Nolan played her best game of the season, scoring a career-high 31 points and pulling down 15 rebounds while shooting 12 of 16 from the...

Penn-Trafford sophomore Nick Turowski, the reigning WPIAL Class 3A golf champion, will play in a prestigious tournament this summer. Turowski will compete in the National High School Golf Invitational on July 10-13 at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. He will join a field of the top 270 prep players in...

The Southmoreland girls began the day by singing the national anthem together. Like the game that followed, they were a little off-key early. But they were just building toward a big finish. And there was something to that “home of the brave” part. The third-ranked Scotties finally found their touch...

Now that they have a better idea of what they will be dealing with in their new classification and conference, Norwin and Hempfield can begin to plan out next football season. The WPIAL announced new alignments for the next two-year cycle, and Class 5A newcomers Norwin and Hempfield are stationed...

Chase Kranitz checked off a career milestone when the Norwin wrestling team hit the road for a recent tournament. The senior 152-pounder recorded his 100th win on the way to a third-place finish at the Escape the Rock Tournament at Council Rock South High School in Holland, Pa. Kranitz, a...

The Franklin Regional girls and boys basketball teams will take a break from their section schedules to play in the Shootout at Seton Hill set for Sunday at Seton Hill University in Greensburg. The girls will play the first of five games at the McKenna Center, at 1 p.m. against...

With a name like Notorious Grooms, there has to be a back story. But the Uniontown freshman basketball player said it’s as simple as the definition. “It just means you’re known for something. You’re, like, famous for doing something,” he said. Grooms is becoming known for his clutch play in...