Junior Jaden Gales came back to Saint Vincent to rejoin his former teammates and make more memories with the men’s basketball team.

While he was at it, he pocketed a milestone.

Gales, a 6-foot-7 forward, scored his 1,000th career point in the Bearcats’ 78-62 victory over Waynesburg, his team’s sixth win in seven games.

Sophomore Maxwell Gordon led SVC with 18 points, and senior Mike Iuzzolino had 17 and junior Dev Ostrowski 12.

Gales, a midseason transfer who spent last season at Division II Newman in Wichita, Kan., had nine points and eight rebounds. He is a former PAC MVP.

The Bearcats (18-5, 14-4) followed with an 82-73 win over Allegheny as Ostrowski netted 22 and Gales added 17 points and 10 rebounds, making 7 of 8 shots. SVC shot 52.5% from the field.

Pitt-Greensburg: The Bobcats defeated La Roche, 84-77, as sophomore Trent Rozich led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds, and junior Matt Marinchak (Ligonier Valley) added 21 points and eight rebounds.

Freshman Ty Keffer (Southmoreland) chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.

UPG then won a thriller, as Keffer tipped in his own miss at the buzzer for an 83-82 win at Hilbert. Rozich scored 20, Joziah Wyatt-Taylor 16, Marinchak 15 and Keffer 12 for the Bobcats (16-7, 10-4) in their 13th win in 14 games.

FINAL: UPG 83, Hilbert 82.

Ty Keffer with the game winning tip-in at the buzzer !#BobcatPride #D3Hoops pic.twitter.com/wmNiEV8kw2

— Pitt-Greensburg Men's Basketball (@UPGbasketball) February 15, 2025

Washington & Jefferson: Freshman Cam Rowell (Franklin Regional) had 16 points as the Presidents tore past Allegheny, 90-68, in PAC action. He was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week for the third time.

Westmoreland County Community College: Freshman Nate Papuga (Derry) scored 24 points, and freshman Colin Masten (Franklin Regional) added 20 off the bench to lead WCCC to an 88-84 victory over Anne Arundel C.C.

Women’s basketball

Allegheny: Freshman Ava Kobus (Norwin) scored a game- and career-high 23 points, including 12 in a row at one stretch and 16 in the first half, to lead the Gators past Saint Vincent, 66-54.

Kobus was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week.

Grove City: Senior Mara Polczynski (Norwin) scored 14 points, pulled down nine rebounds and grabbed five steals to lead Grove City past Thiel, 81-52, to clinch a spot in the PAC playoffs.

Mercyhurst: Junior Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds but the Lakers fell to Stonehill, 69-62.

Westminster: Freshman Angelina Brush (Franklin Regional) scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in an 86-68 loss to Geneva.

Wrestling

Ohio: Redshirt junior Garrett Thompson (Franklin Regional) is fourth at 174 pounds in the latest NCAA rankings. Thompson is 22-5 with four pins and five technical falls.

Pitt: Two local wrestlers made another appearance in the NCAA rankings. Finn Solomon (Franklin Regional) is No. 27 this week at 149 pounds, and Dayton Pitzer (Mt. Pleasant), a 285-pounder, is No. 16.

Both are redshirt sophomores.

Saint Vincent: Led by two individual champions, the Bearcats finished as the runners-up at the PAC championships at Waynesburg.

Sophomores Sean Cain (Mt. Pleasant) and Chase Brandebura were repeat champions, Cain at 125 pounds and Brandebura at 165.

Cain, the top seed at his weight, picked up a 25-second pin in the semifinals and won by forfeit in the finals to his teammate, freshman Sam Snyder.

Brandebura recorded a pin in 43 seconds in the semis to advance to the finals, then notched another pin for the title.

SVC also had four other second-place finishers: junior 133-pounder Kyle McCollum, sophomore 141-pounder Ryan Yocum, Anthony Orlandini at 149, and freshman Nathan Barkley (Derry) at 174.

Washington & Jefferson sophomore Christian McChesney (Greensburg Salem) was the runner-up at 285. The Presidents won their eighth conference title.

Men’s volleyball

Grove City: Sophomore Andrew Kessler (Penn-Trafford) had 10 kills, five blocks and three digs to pace the Wolverines to a 3-2 win over Saint Vincent.

Freshman Keith Otto (Penn-Trafford) added eight kills in the victory.

Kessler was named the PAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Saint Vincent: Junior right side hitter Shawn McSwiggen was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week. He had 32 kills and hit .254 in a pair of matches for the Bearcats.

Thiel: Senior JC Govannucci (Norwin) recorded his 500th career kill as the Tomcats (5-0, 1-0) swept their way to a 3-0 win over Bethany in the PAC opener.

He finished the match with four kills and two digs.

Govannucci is the 10th player in program history to reach the 500-kill milestone.

Baseball

Patrick & Henry: Sophomore utility man Dylan Grabowski (Penn-Trafford) struck out 15 in a no-hitter and also doubled twice and drove in two runs in a 7-0 victory over Southwest Virginia.

Grabowski walked two of the 25 batters he faced. He plans to play at Division I Liberty after this season.

Pitt: Junior Jake Kendro (Norwin) doubled, walked three times and scored a run as Pitt opened the season with a 9-8 win over Eastern Michigan in 12 innings.

Softball

Penn State: Senior rightfielder Haylie Brunson (Mt. Pleasant) went 2 for 3 with a double, home run, three RBIs and two runs scored as Penn State clubbed Loyola Chicago, 12-2, in five innings.

Brunson has 12 career home runs: seven at Penn State and five at Pitt. Last year, she hit a career-high six homers and drove in 34.

Women’s track and field

Clarion: Senior Leah Perry (Derry) finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 9.45 seconds at the YSU Last Chance Invitational.

Duquesne: Senior Hannah Seitzinger (Belle Vernon) was named the Atlantic 10 co-track performer of the week.

Seitzinger set conference-leading marks with her first-place finishes in the 400-meter run (55.17 seconds) and 1,600-meter relay (3:44.25) at the Ashland Jud Logan Meet.

Edinboro: Junior Bernadette Zukina (Norwin) broke her own school record in the 400-meter run at the Grand Valley State Big Meet with a time of 56.47 seconds.

Saint Vincent: Freshman Grace Neubert set a program record, breaking her own mark, in the 5K at the Boston University Valentine Invitational with a time of 17:47.15.

Freshman Gabrielle Dove also broke a school record with a time of 8.40 seconds in the 60-meter dash.

Seton Hill: Freshman Nemani Moon set the program record in the 400-meter run at the Grand Valley Big Meet with a time of 57.61 seconds.

She also was part of another record-breaker in the 1,600-meter relay (3:55.10), joining senior Haley Brenny, sophomore Carly Yanek and junior Layla Robertson (Norwin).

Men’s lacrosse

Grove City: Sophomore goalie Kyle Gill (Norwin) made two saves in the first half as the Wolverines won n a 23-1 rout over Bethany. Gill was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week.

Seton Hill: Senior Braeden Lockyer had five goals and two assists to lead the Griffins to a 23-5 victory over Roberts Wesleyan in the snowy season opener.

Junior Wade Brunelle added four goals and two helpers.

Lockyer was named the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, while junior goalie Will Cody won the weekly award for top defensive player.

Cody made six saves in the win.

Washington & Jefferson: Junior Braden Petrarco (Norwin) was named the PAC Specialist of the Week after going 12-for-15 on faceoffs with a career-high 15 ground balls in a win over Pitt-Bradford.

Women’s bowling

Saint Vincent: Freshman Brooke Street was named the AMCC Player of the Week. Street helped SVC to a 6-1 mark and the top seed in the AMCC Championships, averaging 200.6 in seven games, including a season-best 245. She tossed strikes on 53% of her attempts in two days of competition.

Westmoreland County Community College: Sophomore Faith Shean was named the NJCAA Region 20 player of the month.

Shean had a 144 average in 12 games, including a high of 173 (452 series) in a match at CCAC.

Football

Saint Vincent: Zach Shaw was named offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the still-forming Bearcats staff, led by new head coach Casey Goff.

Shaw was an assistant at Manchester University last year, which followed a five-year stint as head coach at Fitchburg State.

He also held coaching jobs at Elmhurst College, Hiram, Nichols, Wisconsin Lutheran, Mesabi Range, and several pro programs in Europe, including the Winterthur Warriors, Potsdam Royals and Elancourt Templiers.

A Wisconsin Lutheran alum, Shaw also played quarterback for Potsdam, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 41 touchdowns.

Honors

Mercyhurst: Mike Brown (Penn-Trafford), the head football coach at Norwin, joined his teammates from the 2010 Mercyhurst football team for induction into the Lakers’ hall of fame.

The team became the first in program history to win a PSAC championship and advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs, finishing 10-3 (6-0 PSAC West) under coach Marty Schaetzle.

The Lakers made the NCAA quarterfinals, averaging 30.7 points.

Brown was a reserve defensive back as a redshirt freshman in 2010 but played in 45 games over four years. He had two interceptions and 4.5 tackles for loss as a senior.

Pitt-Johnstown: Former soccer star Alicia Zack (Brentzel), a Norwin alum, is set to be inducted into the Pitt-Johnstown Athletics Hall of Fame.

The ceremony for the 16th hall class will be April 26 at the Pitt-Johnstown Wellness Center.

Zack set multiple program records after joining the team in its second season in 2006.

She went on to play four years and tallied 44 goals, including 22 as a freshman.

Her 53 points in her first season remains a school record, along with her career mark for assists (21) and points (109).

Zack also competed for the Mountain Cats track and field team.

She married former UPJ wrestler A.J. Brentzel (Penn-Trafford) and they have five children.

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