Chris Harlan stories, Page 38

Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi was sitting among the home fans in Aliquippa’s gym Wednesday night, there with dozens of others to watch a group of football players throw around a basketball. Sometimes there’s a linebacker, a safety, a running back, a tight end and maybe a lineman on the...

Tom Pipkins jokes that he might already be retired from working if high school athletes could’ve signed endorsement deals back in his day. That’s how much interest there was around the former Valley basketball star when he broke the WPIAL career scoring record 30 years ago this month. As part...

Peters Township broke a tie on the scoreboard to create a tie in the standings. Locked at 66 with 70 seconds left, Peters Township used its defense, some clutch free throws and a disputed technical foul to clinch a 75-67 victory over host Bethel Park, a win that created a...

Central Catholic linebacker Anthony Speca, one of the state’s top college football recruits, committed Tuesday to Penn State. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior announced his decision on Twitter. He chose the Nittany Lions from a list of scholarship offers that included national semifinalists Michigan and Ohio State, along with Pitt, West...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 12-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 10-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 9-4, 3 4. North Allegheny, 7-3, 4 5. Chartiers Valley, 7-4, NR Out: Peters Township (8-6, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 12-1, 1 2. South Fayette, 12-2,...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 6-5, NR 2. Mt. Lebanon, 9-4, 2 3. New Castle, 11-1, 1 4. Butler, 10-3, 3 5. Upper St. Clair, 8-6, 4 Out: Norwin (7-5, 5) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Penn Hills, 8-2, 2 2. North Hills, 10-2,...

North Allegheny has a high school sports team that’s undefeated this winter, a motivated roster that’s trying to avenge a second-place finish from last year. Yet, most folks probably know little about the program, said inline hockey coach Dom Manz, who hopes the team’s success might spark renewed interest in...

After a week of big tests in the classroom, the Mars boys basketball team passed another on the court Friday night. Mars senior Tasso Sfanos scored a game-high 31 points and the Planets used their size advantage to rout No. 1 Chartiers Valley, 71-34, in a one-sided section win that...

North Allegheny senior Mia Tuman was recognized as the state’s top girls volleyball player for the second year in a row Friday when she was named Gatorade Pennsylvania Volleyball Player of the Year. This is the fifth time in nine years that a North Allegheny athlete has won the award,...

Pine-Richland football coach Jon LeDonne, who led the Rams to a state title this season, was one of 32 coaches nationwide nominated for the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year award. The NFL announced the full list Thursday. Each NFL franchise nominated one high school coach from...

Two dozen 3-pointers made the score higher than a typical Mt. Lebanon-Upper St. Clair grind, but the dramatic finish still fit this gritty rivalry’s history. The teams answered shot after shot from beyond the arc Tuesday night, until Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 90 seconds left...

Sixteen years ago, as Brian Sakowski remembers, he worked his first varsity football game, a WPIAL rivalry between Trinity and Canon-McMillan. That game almost was his last, he says now, with a laugh. “There was a blocked punt, and I called this absolutely horrible holding call when the ball was...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 10-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 8-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 7-4, 5 4. North Allegheny, 5-3, 3 5. Peters Township, 8-4, 4 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 10-1, 1 2. South Fayette, 10-2, 2 3. Penn-Trafford,...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 10-0, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 7-4, 4 3. Butler, 9-2, 2 4. Upper St. Clair, 7-5, NR 5. Norwin, 7-3, 5 Out: Central Catholic (4-5, 3) Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Chartiers Valley, 12-0, 1 2. Penn Hills, 6-2,...

New Castle’s Jonathan Anderson already knew all about his school’s old rivalry with Butler, even though the senior hadn’t faced the Tornado in his playing days. “I’ve been hearing about it all week in school,” he said. “They’ve been saying we haven’t seen Butler and New Castle play in so...

Montour sophomore Ama Sow kept asking boys basketball coach Bill Minear the same question. “He would ask, ‘When can I play? When can I play?’” said Minear, who finally could answer his question Friday, after the WPIAL held an eligibility hearing and fully cleared Sow to play this season for...

Thirteen months after celebrating a state championship with the Blue Devils, Bob Palko has resigned as Mt. Lebanon’s football coach to focus attention on concerns away from the field. “I’ve got some personal health issues I need to deal with,” he said Friday. “It’s nothing like I’m going to die,...

PIHL commissioner John Mucha, the top administrator for high school hockey in Western Pennsylvania, has died. League president Jack Kukan, who described him as a strong leader with a business-like approach to finances, said Mucha died Thursday while traveling to New York City. Mucha, 63, was hired four years ago...

Hempfield’s Nick Bruno and Bishop Canevin’s Ryan Saginaw, two of the PIHL’s top scorers, are among 210 players selected for the league’s all-star games. The five games are Jan. 29 at RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island. The D2 game starts at noon, with Class A Gold at 1:40...

Hampton’s Peter Kramer shushed the Highlands crowd after one of his seven 3-pointers, a celebration he downplayed later, but nobody was able to quiet the Talbots’ newest star on this night. “I was in the moment,” said the 6-foot-4 junior, who scored a game-high 37 points as No. 4 Hampton...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. New Castle, 8-0, 1 2. Butler, 8-1, 2 3. Central Catholic, 3-4, 3 4. Mt. Lebanon, 5-4, 5 5. Norwin, 6-2, 4 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Chartiers Valley, 10-0, 4 2. Penn Hills, 4-2, 1 3. Mars, 6-1,...

Class 6A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. Norwin, 8-1, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 6-2, 2 3. North Allegheny, 4-2, 3 4. Peters Township, 8-2, 5 5. Mt. Lebanon, 6-3, 4 Out: none Class 5A Rk., Team, W-L, Last 1. McKeesport, 8-1, 2 2. South Fayette, 8-2, 1 3. Penn-Trafford,...

With a hyped crowd watching inside CCBC’s dome, Lincoln Park’s Meleek Thomas made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left Thursday, the final points in a 70-66 victory over top-ranked Laurel Highlands. The answer is months away, but was this a WPIAL Class 4A championship preview? “I wouldn’t...

Class 6A 1. New Castle, 6-0, 1 2. Butler, 6-1, 3 3. Central Catholic, 2-3, 2 4. Norwin, 6-0, NR 5. Mt. Lebanon, 4-3, 5 Out: Upper St. Clair (4-4, 4) Class 5A 1. Penn Hills, 3-1, 1 2. North Hills, 5-1, 2 3. Mars, 5-0, 3 4. Chartiers Valley,...

Class 6A 1. Norwin, 7-0, 1 2. Upper St. Clair, 6-2, 2 3. North Allegheny, 2-1, 3 4. Peters Township, 7-1, 5 5. Mt. Lebanon, 4-3, 4 Out: none Class 5A 1. South Fayette, 5-1, 1 2. McKeesport, 6-1, 2 3. Penn-Trafford, 8-1, 4 4. Oakland Catholic, 6-2, 5 5....