Dave Mackall stories, Page 9

After a few wrong turns, top-ranked Deer Lakes managed to make it up the mountain in time to face Ligonier Valley on Saturday afternoon in a rescheduled boys basketball game that had been postponed a day earlier by the elements. Turns out the extra time off benefited the hobbled Lancers,...

After a few wrong turns, top-ranked Deer Lakes managed to make it up the mountain in time to face Ligonier Valley on Saturday afternoon in a rescheduled boys basketball game that had been postponed a day earlier by the elements. Turns out the extra time off benefited the hobbled Lancers,...

TJ Wainwright considered the possibility of Robert Morris being “that team,” but he said the Colonials were determined not to allow Detroit Mercy to get its first men’s basketball victory of the season. Even when things were looking bleak. “I kept telling the guys, ‘We’re still going to win this...

Back in October, when the college basketball buzz was picking up, Duquesne’s optimism for a successful Atlantic 10 season was everywhere. The Dukes were chosen to finish fourth in a preseason poll of conference coaches and select media members. There was talk, even, of a long-awaited return to the NCAA...

The dust hadn’t settled from a frantic finish Friday night at UPMC Events Center, where Markeese Hastings’ buzzer-beating 3-point shot lifted Robert Morris to a 91-88 overtime victory over Purdue Fort Wayne, when Colonials coach Andy Toole was swarmed by his ecstatic players. “Is your shirt wet?” Toole was asked...

It wasn’t a question of who would win the WPIAL Section 3-3A wrestling match at Penn-Trafford — No. 4 Franklin Regional came in Wednesday night as a heavy favorite against the undermanned Warriors — but rather how it would be won. Indeed, Franklin Regional captured a 43-16 victory, but the...

A boys basketball blowout at Kiski Area turned into a nail-biter before it was over Friday night, but Franklin Regional will take the road victory just the same. Cooper Rankin scored 23 points, and Cam Rowell added 21, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, as the Panthers held...

Another season of struggles in the Horizon League provided a reprieve for Robert Morris on Thursday night at UPMC Events Center as the Colonials scored their most lopsided victory against a conference opponent in four seasons in the league. Josh Corbin’s 15 points led six RMU players in double figures...

How good has the Burrell wrestling team been so far? Hmm, the second-ranked Buccaneers were pretty good Wednesday night, remaining unbeaten with a 40-18 victory over No. 8 Derry. “I’m satisfied. It was a good team win,” Burrell coach Josh Shields said. Derry, despite an upset victory early in the...

It wasn’t about the game. It was about the event. The bond between Saturday’s coaching opponents was on display all afternoon at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, where former Duquesne assistant Carl Thomas and his first-year NAIA program at Cleary University were in town to face Thomas’ old boss, Keith Dambrot, and...

Moments after his team knocked off the WPIAL’s No. 1 boys basketball team in Class 3A, Knoch coach Alan Bauman rejoiced with his staff. Then, the real celebration took place. When Bauman walked into the Knights’ locker room Friday night at Deer Lakes High School, his players hooted and hollered...

Long after the last of Friday afternoon’s fans had vacated UPMC Events Center following Robert Morris’ 90-85 loss to Cornell, coach Andy Toole slowly exited the Colonials locker room, head slightly bowed, and walked across the arena floor and out of sight. Merry Christmas, coach. Toole, who’s in the midst...

From the moment the Burrell wrestling team set out Wednesday on a short bus ride to Valley until the time they returned home, the Bucs treated the evening like any other. It mattered not that they were heavy favorites. “Just go out and wrestle your match,” said Cooper Hornack, Burrell’s...

There’s a new sheriff in town. His name is Dusan Mahorcic. Word is the oft-injured Mahorcic is close to making his Duquesne basketball debut after months of strenuous rehab of his surgically repaired right knee. The Serbian-born Mahorcic, who played just 13 minutes while getting nine points and three rebounds...

The postgame hug was brief, but that doesn’t mean the love is gone. This father-son combo enjoys a bond made in hoops heaven. That family tie was on display Sunday at UPMC Events Center as Mike Iuzzolino and the Robert Morris Colonials entertained Mike Iuzzolino and the St. Vincent Bearcats...

These are the moments Braylon Littlejohn dreams of. “Always put the blinders on and just walk in on the game,” said the senior star, who scored 24 points Friday night to lead visiting Butler past Franklin Regional, 63-60, in a WPIAL boys basketball game that lived up to its hype....

Bradyn Foster figures to encounter many more pressure situations this basketball season and beyond. The Penn commit and Highlands senior navigated through a tough time during the Class 4A Golden Rams’ 62-58 victory at Class 3A Shady Side Academy on Tuesday night but came away smiling. “The pressure is off...

In the past six seasons, Dan Fisher’s teams at Pitt have won more women’s volleyball matches than any other Division I school in the country. Trouble is Fisher’s Panthers haven’t won the big prize of an NCAA championship. Perhaps that trend is about to end. For the second time this...

This is turning into something special. Two ACC opponents, both quite familiar with each other, will be playing for another chance at a Final Four appearance. Ah, the Pitt-Louisville women’s volleyball series. No, please, call it a rivalry. “They talk about Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and David and Goliath....

There were times Thursday when the Pitt women’s volleyball team appeared to be running on automatic pilot while methodically handling Washington State in straight sets 3-0 in the NCAA Sweet 16 at Fitzgerald Field House. Even coach Dan Fisher seemed a bit surprised by the Panthers’ dominance after a tightly...

The final statistics don’t tell the story. No. 15 Slippery Rock ran roughshod over Kutztown, outgaining the Golden Bears, 502-203. Kutztown finished with just 11 first downs, two in the second half, when it held the ball for only about 8 minutes. And it ran zero plays from scrimmage inside...

Rick Klimchock’s love affair with basketball continues. The veteran high school coach began his 27th season on the bench Friday night with another victory, as host Greensburg Salem routed Ringgold, 71-12, in the opening round of the Lady Lions tip-off tournament. Junior Regan Kerr led four Greensburg Salem players in...

Kam Kruzelyak represents the WPIAL football brand. An uncompromising kid from Coraopolis, Kruzelyak was on the radar of Division I schools while at West Allegheny. Turns out, he chose to play in Division II, much like many other former WPIAL players, past and present. This season, he became a star...