Chris Harlan stories, Page 35

HERSHEY — “Let’s go Lancers.” With the fourth-quarter clock running out, the Deer Lakes student section ignored the lopsided situation on the Giant Center scoreboard and chanted one last time. The Lancers were down 30 points and headed for an 83-55 loss to Philadelphia’s West Catholic in the PIAA Class...

HERSHEY — Trips to the so-called “Sweetest Place on Earth” have become bittersweet for Aliquippa. The Quips lost in the state basketball finals for the second year in a row Friday, this time doomed by a poor shooting night in a 60-44 loss to Lancaster Mennonite in a PIAA Class...

HERSHEY — With 11 seconds on the clock, Lincoln Park’s Meleek Thomas knew it was time to “boogie.” That’s his word to describe the late-game heroics he can do with the basketball in his hands. The 6-foot-4 sophomore star split two defenders and broke a tie with a high-arcing floater,...

HERSHEY — One of the smallest high schools in the state won the biggest basketball trophy in Pennsylvania, yet few will call this an underdog story. Imani Christian has a tiny enrollment, but the East Hills private school is big in basketball talent. This was evident when 6-foot-11 sophomore Alier...

Neither team had ever reached the state finals, so the Deer Lakes and Penn Cambria boys basketball teams knew history would be made one way or the other Tuesday night. The Lancers made sure they weren’t just a footnote. Billy Schaeffer made a go-ahead 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter...

On a hectic game day, with all of the preparation that needs to be done, coaches can neglect themselves at times, said longtime basketball coach Don Eckerle. That happened to him Monday night. The Our Lady of the Sacred Heart girls coach collapsed after a state semifinal game at Kiski...

The words of an opposing coach and heated talk about public vs. private wasn’t what ultimately motivated Imani Christian for Monday night’s playoff win. The Saints want a state title. All five starters scored in double figures including a team-high 20 points from 6-foot-11 sophomore Alier Maluk as Imani Christian...

The atmosphere around the Aliquippa vs. Bishop Canevin state quarterfinal was tense, to say the least. Individual fans were escorted out of Peters Township’s gym three times, including once after an argument spilled onto the court. Between the lines, there was physical play, some hard fouls and words were exchanged...

The gaggle of professional baseball scouts is gone, but that doesn’t mean there’s a quiet atmosphere nowadays at North Allegheny practices. “Quieter from the external side of things? Yes,” North Allegheny coach Andrew Heck said. “Quieter from the internal side of things? No. We felt like we need to make...

Lincoln Park’s Dontay Green left the locker room without a shoe on his right foot, the troublesome one that needed screws and plates to fix a lisfranc fracture several months ago. What he did wear was a smile. At times since his September surgery, Green wanted to quit the basketball...

Peters Township will host an all-WPIAL doubleheader Saturday in the quarterfinals of the state basketball tournament. The McKeesport and Oakland Catholic girls play at noon followed by the Aliquippa and Bishop Canevin boys at 1:30 p.m. The PIAA has announced sites and times for all Saturday contests. Saturday quarterfinals Class...

EBENSBURG — State College’s Braeden Shrewsberry didn’t accompany his father to the NCAA tournament, but the son of Penn State’s basketball coach created his own moments of March Madness. He busted Central Catholic’s bracket in the process. Shrewsberry scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and...

Laurel Highlands coach Rick Hauger’s practices can include some junk defenses, maybe a diamond-and-one or triangle-and-two, but the Mustangs don’t use them in games. Instead, he wants his offense to solve them. Rodney Gallagher faced one of those combination schemes Tuesday night and still scored a game-high 28 points as...

Butler junior Drew Griffith, one of the state’s top distance runners, was named the boys indoor track athlete of the year by the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association. The statewide honor was the second this school year for Griffith, who received the Gatorade Award as Pennsylvania’s top boys cross...

The Butler football team will rejoin the WPIAL in 2024, ending a legal dispute between the school district and PIAA over the team’s desire to stay in District 10. Butler athletic director Bill Mylan said the school district reached an agreement with the PIAA in an effort to avoid further...

The stairs that lead from the Deer Lakes locker room to the gym floor are quite steep, but the Lancers were confident they wouldn’t stumble on this day. A so-called “hangover” has tripped up some previous WPIAL champions, but those teams weren’t playing a state tournament game in their home...

North Hills spent the past 10 days putting up shots in its own gym, making Friday’s shooting woes hard to explain. The Indians shot 39% from the field and endured two single-digit quarters in a 56-52 home-court loss to Mechanicsburg in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs....

Central Catholic hadn’t won a WPIAL title in 15 years, but Dante DePante made himself at home in Petersen Events Center, an arena that’s about a mile from the Vikings’ gym. The big college floor seemed advantageous, said DePante, who found lanes into the paint and scored a game-high 29...

Lincoln Park’s Brandin Cummings and Meleek Thomas hear praise from many places, but on this championship night, the best accolades came from the coach of the other team. The coach who tried everything to stop them. “You’re talking about the two best players in the area,” North Catholic coach Jim...

The Deer Lakes boys made basketball history twice this winter, and each time they snapped an Our Lady of the Sacred Heart streak. This time, the Lancers ended OLSH’s four-year reign as a WPIAL champion. Senior guard Bryce Robson made a go-ahead layup with about 70 seconds left and No....

Penn Hills is underrated no more. Indians coach Chris Giles always insisted his team was OK with the No. 2 seed it received from the basketball committee, but there’s now no doubt who’s best in the WPIAL. Noah Barren scored 22 points and Daemar Kelly had 21 as Penn Hills...

Playing against Imani Christian is always a tall task, but as 6-foot-11 sophomore Alier Maluk swung from a Petersen Events Center rim Thursday night, the gigantic challenge became clear. Their championship opponent, in fact, called it unfair. Maluk punctuated a decisive third-quarter run with a breakaway two-handed dunk as No....

WPIAL Class 4A boys basketball final No. 1 Lincoln Park vs. No. 6 North Catholic 9 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com On the air: KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM), WBVP (1230 AM, 99.3 FM), WMBA (1460 AM) WPIAL titles: Lincoln Park 5 (2021, ’19, ’18, ’14, ’12);...

WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball final No. 5 Deer Lakes vs. No. 6 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 5 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com WPIAL titles: Deer Lakes 0; OLSH 4 (2022, ’21, ’20, ’19) Deer Lakes (16-8) Projected starting lineup Coach: Albie Fletcher No., Name,...