Dave Mackall stories, Page 20

Rick Klimchock doesn’t need to be reminded of how quickly a basketball season can go south — even with a veteran team. Last year, his Greensburg Salem girls returned four starters, yet the team finished the season under .500. “Last year was a hard year for us,” he said. It...

A year ago, the Greensburg Salem boys basketball team was hit with the “perfect storm” for a winless season with the cancellation of seven games because of covid-19 while moving up to the WPIAL’s highest classification. A year later, coach Mark Zahorchak is hopeful for some calm. “Last year’s struggles...

For Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, a one-point victory goes a long way when you get this far. The Chargers are headed all the way to Heinz Field next week to play in the WPIAL Class A championship game for the second time in four years after edging Rochester,...

Downplaying a last-place prediction by his coaching peers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division, Kendrick Saunders chooses to teach patience to a Seton Hill men’s basketball team that was itching to get back on the court after a season of inactivity. The Griffins, with three games in four...

When the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference coaches cast their ballots this year for the league’s preseason women’s basketball poll, Seton Hill’s Mark Katarski again was among those with a vote. Not swayed by the predictions that landed Seton Hill fifth among nine teams in the PSAC West Division, Katarski instead...

Shortly after the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s basketball coaches picked Saint Vincent to finish eighth among the league’s 10 teams, the Bearcats proceeded to lose their regular-season opener by 60 points. Mt. Union, which began the season ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division III, made sure of it with a...

It appears it could be another typical season in women’s basketball at Saint Vincent. The Bearcats are overwhelming favorites to repeat as Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions after completing an abbreviated 10-0 schedule a year ago, capped by a victory over Washington & Jefferson in the PAC Tournament championship game. “Typical...

It was another step in a learning process for a new Duquesne basketball team trying to find a successful formula in the early going. Baby steps. “We’re consistently inconsistent right now,” coach Keith Dambrot said. Koby McEwen scored 21 points and Dillon Jones had 12 points and 13 rebounds to...

After just two college basketball games, Duquesne’s rebuilt men’s team already is finding out a lot of things about itself, and it’s not all bad. “I respect our team’s fight,” freshman guard Primo Spears said. “We have freshman guards who have played two college games. You know what I mean?”...

Ian Syam had himself a Friday night, running for the length of nearly 21⁄2 football fields while playing in just half of a WPIAL playoff game. He touched the ball only nine times and was tackled on just three occasions. The Avonworth senior running back electrified the home crowd, rushing...

The last time Duquesne played in an NCAA Tournament men’s basketball game was during the 1976-77 season, the same year the Dukes played their only game against Hofstra, a 76-70 loss to the Pride in the first round of the Pittsburgh Classic at the former Civic Arena. Duquesne finally gets...

The Westmoreland County Community College cross country team is headed south to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III meet. For a change this year, it’s the WCCC men’s team, not the women, taking center stage Saturday at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, 80 miles southeast of Atlanta. “The...

Programs here! If you attended Duquesne’s first season-opening men’s basketball game Tuesday night at the new UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse — a come-from-behind, 73-61 victory over Rider — chances are you found yourself staring at your game program as much as you were watching the court. Everything appeared new, including an...

Mike Brown isn’t budging. Doesn’t matter what day it is, what month or who’s listening. His message isn’t changing. Not one bit. “I wouldn’t have taken this job if I didn’t think we could win here,” he said. “We’ve just got to really develop physically and mentally. The kids understand...

Robert Morris enters its second season of men’s basketball in the Horizon League with the idea of concentrating on … basketball. The other stuff that seemingly got in the way last year — covid-19, dissension, defections — shouldn’t be a distraction again this season. Except, sometimes, when you least expect...

A year ago, Angela Wyman stepped into some big shoes, and she’s been walking the sideline since. Different coach, same result for the Bishop Canevin girls volleyball team. “It’s been a transition year, a hard year, an emotional year,” Wyman said Saturday after top-seeded Bishop Canevin rallied from a first-set...

From one end of the WPIAL to the other, Ligonier Valley traveled to South Side Beaver on Friday — a span of 83 miles — for its first appearance in the WPIAL football playoffs. When the Class 2A first-round game was over, the Rams were on top, 34-14 — the...

You could say Hempfield’s early exit from the WPIAL field hockey playoffs has cast a persistent pall of doubt over a program that, until this year, hadn’t even sniffed a postseason opportunity. But it did little to break the Spartans’ spirit. Not that the coaches and players were dwelling on...

Back in September, the Greensburg Central Catholic and Freedom girls soccer teams went on a scoring frenzy, combining for 14 goals in a two-goal GCC win. When the teams met again Monday night in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at West Mifflin, it started to look like a repeat of...

Two playoff-bound high school football teams, eager to flex their muscles one last time during the regular season, waged a heavyweight battle Friday night in the WPIAL Class A Eastern League. In the “someone-wins-and-someone-loses” category, Leechburg came out on top in a wild, 31-27 decision at No. 4 Greensburg Central...

South Fayette goalkeeper Kaylee Hendricks met her counterpart, Aris Lamanna of Franklin Regional, face-to-face, eye-to-eye. And in that moment, all Hendricks could think was, “Make the save and win the game.” A marathon of two halves, two overtimes and a total of nine shootout goals came down to Lamanna, Franklin...

Over the past decade, two teams, including one from Westmoreland County, have dominated the WPIAL Class A girls volleyball playoffs. Allegheny County’s Bishop Canevin has won six championships since 2012, and the Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions gathered up the remaining three. Could there be another title run in store this...

The Latrobe girls volleyball team has met its first preseason goal of finishing in the top three in its section to secure a spot in the WPIAL playoff brackets for a fourth consecutive season. Everything else, following its final two scheduled regular-season matches this week, is to be determined. “The...

Cody Rubrecht was everywhere Friday night for Greensburg Salem’s football team. Need a rushing touchdown, a pass reception for a score, a hustling tackle to thwart a long run, an interception to stop a last-ditch drive? Cody’s your man. “He’s amazing. He’s really good,” Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer said...

After an 0-4 start to his first year as football coach in 2019 at Saint Vincent, Aaron Smetanka since has guided the Bearcats to a combined 8-6 mark while his third season marches on. They are 3-2 this year and angling for just their second winning record since the school...