Bill Beckner stories, Page 116

Belle Vernon made it to the WPIAL championship game with highlight-reel plays that punctuated short scoring drives. It was almost the team’s trademark. The top-seeded Leopards had short drives again in the Class 4A title game against No. 2 Aliquippa, but for the wrong reasons. And that meant a long...

Consistency is not a word you would associate with last year’s Hempfield girls basketball team. One of the programs truly affected by covid-19, the Spartans endured three shutdowns and went 31 days between their first and second section games. They had 13 postponements. “Just when we would get going again,...

Hempfield is not backing down from anyone this season, that much is clear from a quick once-over of the Spartans’ boys basketball schedule. Aside from daunting Section 3-6A home-and-homes against Fox Chapel and Central Catholic, the Spartans will take on North Allegheny, North Hills, Butler, Pine-Richland, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon,...

Cade Yacamelli is headed to Wisconsin to play defensive back. The Badgers might want to give him some reps at running back. The film doesn’t lie. The senior from Penn-Trafford put on a show Saturday night in the WPIAL Class 5A championship at Heinz Field, rushing for 136 yards and...

The local coaches who will try to lead their teams to WPIAL football championships on Saturday at Heinz Field have more in common than a desire to break through. John Ruane of Penn-Trafford and Matt Humbert of Belle Vernon have taken competitive programs to the next level, following similar trajectory...

A WPIAL championship would be special to Penn-Trafford. Special teams might play a key role in the Warriors’ quest to win their first title. The Warriors (10-2) have been exceptional at times on special teams this season, particularly in the playoffs. Last week, senior Nathan Schlessinger, one of the WPIAL’s...

Chris Skatell is a practicing attorney. The new Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball coach hopes his defense doesn’t rest. “We want to mix it up on defense and never give teams the same look,” said Skatell, a former assistant under recent coaches Sam Salih and Joe Eisaman. “If you play...

Good luck getting rebounds against Greensburg Central Catholic this season. The Centurions will be one of the tallest boys basketball teams in WPIAL Class 2A with the return of 6-foot-3 swingmen Brevan Williams and Ryan Appleby, both seniors and returning starters from a WPIAL runner-up team that finished 16-4 and...

Bernie Pucka used to be an assistant football coach at Franklin Regional, but now he is the school’s new girls basketball coach. He may still have some football tendencies as he settles into his new surroundings. “I’m the defensive coordinator and (assistant) Krista Pietropola is the offensive coordinator,” Pucka said....

The more time Jesse Reed spends around his Franklin Regional boys basketball team, the more enlivened he gets. “It’s been better than I ever imagined,” Reed said. “I love this.” Reed, a former standout at Greensburg Central Catholic, Saltsburg and The Kiski School who played collegiately at American and professionally...

Championship teams usually have it all sorted out by now. They know who is starting on both sides of the ball, where they’ll play and who will be their backups. But Belle Vernon, set to play for a WPIAL football title Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field, still has moving pieces....

A number of area soccer players were recognized by the Big 5/6 Conference, which follows the top classifications in WPIAL sports. The website’s all-section teams were announced for boys and girls soccer. Girls’ first-team selections for Section 3-4A include senior Paloma Swankler, junior Reagan Casper and freshman Julia Bursick of...

Tara Zollinger is a national champion — again. The Hempfield alum guided Shippensburg to its fifth national title, the third since she took over the program in 2017, as the Raiders topped West Chester, 3-0, on Sunday in the title match. Shippensburg (20-0) was the No. 1 seed in the...

Justin Huss did some things on the football field at Derry you might call “special.” A tightrope-run down the far sideline for a huge gain. A defense-defying cutback for a touchdown. A breakaway run up the middle for six. His field vision was one of his best attributes and it...

Greensburg Salem senior Billy McChesney is a standout football player and heavyweight wrestler. So was the great Bill Fralic. Which makes McChesney a perfect fit as a candidate for the 3rd annual Bill Fralic Award, which recognizes the top senior interior lineman in the WPIAL. McChesney is the Class 4A...

Kelsey Salopek led Steel Valley to its first WPIAL girls soccer championship this season. The Ironmen midfielder was one of the league’s top goal scorers. Now, the senior has distinguished herself even more as one of the premier players in District 7 and the PIAA. Salopek on Sunday was named...

Signing day once again was good to Norwin. Or was it the other way around? Prospective student-athletes for all college sports except football could make their commitments official Nov. 10, and Norwin had 19 signees. Baseball had the most with seven, while girls soccer was next with five. The baseball players...

The Norwin hockey team rebounded nicely from its first loss of the 2021-22 season. After a 5-4 setback against North Hills, the Knights scored a 6-3 win over Westmont Hilltop to move to 4-1 on the season. Joey Vecchio scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Jake Meier...

HERSHEY — A choice more related to superstition than diet, Winchester Thurston junior defender Oliver Daboo stopped eating chocolate a few weeks ago with the playoffs approaching. The fast was worth it as he held a soon-to-be devoured five-pound Hershey’s chocolate bar under his arm Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium. “Since...

HERSHEY — Disarmed early and down two goals before it even took a shot, Greensburg Central Catholic could not recover from a coarse start and lost the state girls soccer championship for the second year in a row to Southern Columbia. GCC (18-3), looking for its third PIAA title, was...

It’s the time of year when postseason games and accolades pile up for the Franklin Regional boys soccer program. Another season stretched into mid-November for the program, which learned a new scheme and overcame some adversity to stay among the WPIAL powers. The Panthers reached the WPIAL semifinals before falling...

PIAA Class A girls soccer championship Greensburg Central Catholic (18-2) vs. Southern Columbia (18-7) 11 a.m. Saturday, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey Coaches: Olivia Kruger, GCC; Derek Stine, Southern Columbia Players to watch: Sara Felder, Jr., F, GCC; Loren Gehret, Jr., F, Southern Columbia Road to Hershey: GCC — Defeated Mercer, 3-2;...

The Ward family name has long been a part of Greensburg Central Catholic soccer. It holds pride and championship clout. Three sisters and a brother have continued the family legacy up the program ladder — Sarah, Sydney, Natalie and Nate. They know a little about playing for championships, WPIAL and...

The Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association has rounded up its All-WPIAL lists for the season, just in time for the PIAA finals in Hershey. Here are the teams by classification: Class 4A Sean Ahia, Sr., Fox Chapel Evan Anderson, Sr., North Allegheny Ben Beale, Sr., Allderdice Aidan Dyga, Jr., North...

Christine Chiodo has come a long way from her days as a ball girl for the West Allegheny football team. Chiodo, who just completed her first season as the head girls soccer coach at Baldwin, is part of a national mentoring program for on-the-rise coaches. She was named to United...