Bill Beckner stories, Page 201

Dribbling circles around helpless Washington Generals, making half-court shots while blindfolded and throwing buckets of confetti on flinching fans made people laugh for years. But when Lamont Robinson took a brief timeout from comedy basketball to acknowledge a more serious moment, one that knocked the spinning ball off his finger,...

When it comes to awards and championships, Hempfield softball wins in bunches. The Spartans won their fourth straight WPIAL title last season, then followed with a third consecutive PIAA title — a record in the state’s largest classification. All that winning produced another repeat for the team with the YWCA...

Chris Firmstone does not get bogged down with or obsess over statistics. The Mt. Pleasant baseball coach couldn’t tell you who led the team in a certain category last year or what opponents batted against the Vikings. He is not an analytics type of guy. Keep your sabermetrics to yourself....

Seton Hill is sending another lacrosse player to the pros. Senior long-stick midfielder Brett Craig was picked by the Atlanta Blaze in the fifth round of the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft. He was the 39th overall pick but the first from a Division II program. The reigning Great Midwest...

Dozens of Dick Groat stories have been shared in around Pitt basketball circles in the past few days since word surfaced that the longtime courtside broadcaster and sidekick to Bill Hillgrove was parting ways with the Panthers after 40 years. Steve Scorpion knows those stories, and many more, only he...

On the eve of her senior season, Mt. Pleasant softball player Carolyn Alincic is changing her college plans. The fast-throwing strikeout pitcher announced Thursday she is decommitting from Division II Dominican (N.Y.) and instead will play at Division I Morehead State (Ky.). Alincic said “many obstacles have presented themselves along...

When Emily Brozeski and Jessica Kolesar were freshmen, they were part of Norwin’s varsity scout team. They helped get the WPIAL-champion Knights ready for intense, later-round playoff games. “They would want us to come in and (simulate) speed and fly around,” Brozeski said. “We learned a lot from that team.”...

Family connections tend to follow successful sports programs at the high school level. The same last names tend to surface over and again as teams make postseason runs. Family trees branch into playoff trees. That is the case at Norwin where the girls basketball program has become a perennial power...

Boys Class A Quarterfinals Nazareth Prep (21-3) vs. Monessen (17-9) 6 p.m. Friday at Keystone Oaks Winner plays: Winner of Vincentian Academy (18-8)/Cornell (21-5) on Monday in semifinals Coaches: Nehemiah Brazil, Nazareth Prep; Dan Bosnic, Monessen Players to watch: Tre Harvey, Sr., F, Nazareth Prep; Dishon Howell, Sr., G, Monessen...

John Gay IV wants to be a more traditional college student, which he hopes can make him a more traditional college football player — and maybe lead to something further. The former Penn-Trafford standout running back is leaving the Air Force Academy and will transfer to Lafayette, a FCS program...

Change has been good for a few local athletes who have found new homes this spring sports season. Tommy Pellis transferred from Penn to Seton Hill, seeking a better on-field opportunity and a chance to play baseball in the area where he grew up. Pellis, a junior infielder out of...

Moving day for the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association a year ago brought it to a new home on Pittsburgh’s North Side. A spacious and classic-style red brick building — as vintage-looking as an Arnold Palmer cardigan — not only allowed the organization to stretch its legs but also afforded them...

There is a sense of the unknown surrounding Nazareth Prep, the tiny private Catholic school situated along Ohio River Boulevard in the Allegheny County borough of Emsworth. One thing is quite clear, however, regarding that obscure third-year WPIAL member, the former Holy Family Academy: The Saints know how to play...

Several individual and team winners were announced this week for the annual YWCA Sportswomen of the Year Awards Banquet set for 5:30 p.m. April 15 at the Ramada Inn, Greensburg. Sports Girl of the Year for Excellence in a Team Sport: Morgan Phillips Sports Teen of the Year Excellence in...

Usually by state playoff time, basketball teams have pared their rotations down to a workable number, maybe six or seven players. They go with what got them there and don’t mess with chemistry. Championships have been won with minimal depth. Then there is this year’s Norwin girls team. As the...

Seton Hill is sending another lacrosse player to the pros. Senior long-stick midfielder Brett Craig was picked by the Atlanta Blaze in the fifth round of the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft. He was the 39th overall pick but the first chosen from a Division II program. The reining Great...

Trying to figure out some of the new rule changes in golf can be enough to cause a club toss. That might result in said club being damaged. But wait, there is a new rule for that. A club damaged during a round can now continue to be used, “even...

Seven teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference were selected to play in the NCAA Division II basketball tournaments. Conference winners received automatic spots in the postseason brackets, while 40 at-large bids went to teams chosen by the tournament committee. There are eight regional tournaments (8 teams each) that will...

What would the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh be without a Pittsburgh presence? No need to fret. When it comes to star power at the tournament, the question might be, who isn’t from Pittsburgh? Several talented Westmoreland County wrestlers qualified for nationals, set to take place March 21-23...

TUESDAY Girls basketball: The state playoffs will continue for Norwin as the Knights take on Northhampton, a District 11 school near Philadelphia, in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs. The game tips at 5 p.m. at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg. Boys basketball: Monessen, the last...

A running back with breakaway speed, one who averaged nearly 9 yards a carry last season, has his first two Division I offers. Penn-Trafford junior Caleb Lisbon is expected to draw many more offers, but Navy will be the pace car after the Midshipmen offered last week. Fordham followed a...