Michael Love stories, Page 25

Ahead by 15 points in the second quarter of Thursday’s Section 3-3A matchup at Apollo-Ridge, the Burrell girls basketball team had designs on widening its lead and running away with a victory. The Vikings didn’t make it easy on the Bucs and rallied to within three in the early stages...

Highlands maintained its unblemished record in Section 5-2A Wednesday with victories in nine of the 13 contested bouts with rival Knoch at a packed Highlands Middle School gym. It all added up to a 45-24 triumph for the Golden Knights, which lifted them to 11-4 overall and 4-0 in the...

A quartet of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s top basketball scorers this season reached the 1,000-point milestone. Kiski Area senior Isaiah Gonzalez and Plum senior Megan Marston accomplished the feat in games Jan. 2. Marston delivered a 3-pointer in the second quarter of the Mustangs’ 53-43 victory at Woodland Hills to hit...

Big games and big performances have filled the first three months of the PIHL regular season. Now, many of those standout players will have the chance to come together at the end of this month to show their stuff in a series of all-star games. The 2024 PIHL all-star rosters...

Kira Schrecongost again was an iron woman at the WPIAL and PIAA swimming championships. The Freeport junior last season swam four events — two individual and two relays — on the first day of the WPIAL Class 2A meet at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She earned four medals that day —...

Like many elite swimmers at the high school level, Katie Jackovic is versatile in what she can do in the water. That again is evident by the fact that the South Park senior already has qualified for WPIALs in every individual event. What she will swim at WPIALs in early...

Patton Graziano gained a second home in November as he signed a national letter of intent to swim at Division I West Virginia. His first home, Penn-Trafford, is where he hopes to continue to make his mark in a senior season filled with high expectations. The defending WPIAL Class 3A...

Daryn Freedman entered his fourth season as Penn State Greater Allegheny men’s basketball head coach in the fall, and his team had its sights set on making its mark in the Penn State University Athletic Conference and beyond. So far, things have gone well for the former boys head coach...

The Gateway boys basketball team kicked off 2024 in winning fashion Jan. 2 with a 62-46 victory over McKeesport in its Section 3-5A opener. It continued what has been a strong start for the Gators, who improved to 8-1 overall. While coach Alvis Rogers is happy with the way his...

Antonino Walker’s summer of wrestling competition and also his preparation for the 2023-24 high school season came to a halt when he suffered a broken ankle at a tournament with Young Guns in Nashville, Tenn. The injury required surgery and the standout Plum senior was off the mat for nearly...

The Highlands girls basketball team carried a lot of momentum from a pair of wins at its holiday tournament into a Section 1-4A matchup with Freeport on Thursday at Highlands High School. The Golden Rams’ senior-laden lineup came out strong on both ends of the court and began to overwhelm...

The Riverview girls basketball team got a later jump into the season than some others as several players who enjoyed a run to the state soccer finals in mid November didn’t get onto the court until two days after official practices began. Playing catch-up in a number of areas, the...

The Plum girls basketball team entered the New Year hoping to get back on the winning track after three straight losses to close out 2023. The Mustangs got what they were looking for as they improved to 3-0 in Section 1-5A on Tuesday with a 53-43 victory at Woodland Hills....

The year 2023 will long be remembered for many monumental happenings, from a landmark announcement by the PIAA to A-K Valley athletes’ accomplishments and championship performances and teams bringing home gold at the district, regional and state levels. Athletes again were able to pay off many hours of dedication and...

Landon Seman remembers it well. The current senior and the other three members of the Kiski Area boys 400-yard freestyle relay — junior Justin Tucker and graduates Parker Sterlitz and Levi Hansen — knew what they needed to do to overtake Indiana in the Class 2A team standings and wrap...

Fox Chapel coach Marty Matvey said his team had a strong offseason and had designs on claiming a section championship after just missing the playoffs a year ago. But after injuries to a pair of seniors – Sarah Slember and Skye Byrnes – Matvey has retooled the Foxes lineup as...

Demetrius Ballard was a focus of many offensive game plans during his senior season on the Valley defensive line. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder wreaked havoc in the trenches and in backfields, often garnering double and triple teams to try to neutralize his strength and quickness. The Valley News Dispatch first-team all-star...

The Kiski Area girls basketball team hoped to stop a two-game losing skid, which included a one-point loss to Mars last Friday, as it opened Section 1-5A play Tuesday against defending section champion Indiana. But the visiting Indians had other plans. Senior guard Bella Antonacci, a section all-star last year,...

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC will open the 2024 USL Championship schedule on the road at New Mexico United in Albuquerque March 9. The team then will begin the home portion of its 25th anniversary season against Orange County on March 16 at Highmark Stadium. The Hounds, winners of the 2023 Players’...

The Pennsylvania High School Field Hockey Coaches Association recently released its 2023 all-state teams, and while a majority of the players recognized are from the eastern side of the state, four from the WPIAL were honored with spots on the lists for both Class 2A and Class 3A. Penn-Trafford senior...

When the Plum school board voted to sponsor a girls wrestling program in June 2022, it got the ball rolling for new opportunities in a district rich with wrestling tradition. Eighteen months on, 12 girls represent the Mustangs in the newly sanctioned PIAA sport. Coach Dave Miller said progress was...

Paced by singles standouts in sophomores Adam Memije and Zidan Hassan and freshman Logan Memije, the Gateway boys tennis team captured the program’s first WPIAL team title in 35 years with a victory over North Allegheny in the Class 3A finals May 10 at Washington & Jefferson College. The No....

Offensive player of the year Derek Burk Deer Lakes, QB, sr. When Derek Burk stepped on the field against rival Freeport in the Allegheny 6 Conference finale, he had his sights set on doing what he could to help Deer Lakes clinch a spot in the playoffs for the second...

Defensive player of the year Luke Bombalski Highlands, RB/LB, sr. Before Highlands’ 2023 season started, Luke Bombalski was asked what his goals were for the season. The senior two-way standout didn’t point to any type of personal success. It was team accomplishments he was focused on. A playoff win was...

Parker Anderson Knoch, OL/DL, Sr. The 6-foot-1, 260-pounder was a difference maker in the trenches for the playoff-qualifying Knights in Class 3A. He helped Knoch gain more than 3,000 total yards and collect eight victories in 11 games. Coaches in the Allegheny 6 Conference recognized him as the most valuable...