Westmoreland basketball notebook: Norwin’s Edwards finds range from 3

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, December 29, 2022 | 6:21 PM

In a game at Penn-Trafford earlier in the season, Norwin made eight 3-pointers in a quarter.

Impressive? Sure.

But senior Ryan Edwards nearly outdid that all by himself at Thomas Jefferson last week when he made eight 3s in a 56-41 victory.

“It was a lot of fun, especially to go in there and get another win,” Edwards said.

The guard finished with 26 points as Norwin ran its record to 6-0 and moved into the No. 4 spot in the TribLliveHSSN Class 6A rankings.

He also tossed an alley-oop to senior guard Adam Bilinsky, who had 12 points in the win.

Edwards was 8 of 12 from deep for the Knights.

Marching toward 1,000

A pair of local players are approaching the 1,000-point milestone.

Latrobe senior Landon Butler and Yough junior Terek Crosby topped the 900-point mark last week.

Richter returns

Southmoreland has one of its key players back in Wyatt Richter.

The junior guard returned from injury Wednesday and scored 11 points as the Scotties (7-1) defeated Charleroi, 69-49, at the Charleroi Tournament.

Richter has been out with an ankle injury, which forced the team to change the way it played on both ends of the floor.

Remember me?

Belle Vernon’s Zion Moore went against his former team this week.

A transfer from Ringgold, Moore scored 22 points to lead the Leopards to a 63-38 win over Ringgold in the Charleroi Tournament.

Moore scored 20 or more points in his first seven games at Belle Vernon, including three games of 30 or more.

Showing support

At a couple of recent Hempfield games, and at other points during the season, Spartans coach Bill Swan has had his own personal cheering section.

A number of his former players gathered to support their coach and his team when Hempfield played at Greensburg Central Catholic, and when it played in the Paul Sapotichne Holiday Classic at Greensburg Salem.

Many of the former players were home from college.

“You see that and you think, that is what it’s all about,” Swan said.

On the road again

Hempfield opened the season with four straight games at home but then boarded the bus. The Spartans are on a 10-game road stretch. They won’t return to the Spartan Field House until Jan. 20 against Butler — a 40-day span.

There is some reprieve: The last five regular-season games are at home.

“We’re the road warriors,” Swan said.

Unbeatens

Norwin suffered its first loss of the season Wednesday when it fell to Beaver, 60-52.

The Knights fell from a list of unbeatens that, heading into Thursday, included the following teams: New Castle (8-0), Chartiers Valley (8-0), South Allegheny (8-0), Mohawk (8-0), Bishop Canevin (7-0), Neighborhood Academy (7-0), Aquinas Academy (6-0), Highlands (6-0), Laurel Highlands (6-0), Lincoln Park (5-0), Union (5-0) and Summit Academy (3-0).

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin, Southmoreland, Yough