Montour edges Belle Vernon for Class 4A Trib Cup in tight race

By: Don Rebel
Saturday, July 15, 2023 | 6:01 AM

For years, Montour has come close but could not seal the deal on raising a Trib Cup championship.

The chase is now over as we salute and toast the new Class 4A winners from the West Hills.

The HSSN Trib Cup is a yearlong competition in 25 varsity sports to determine the top WPIAL sports program in each classification. It awards points for section or conference championships, district and state playoff berths and district and state championships and runner-up finishes.

Montour was the runner-up to Quaker Valley in 4A last year but is second fiddle no more thanks to scoring points in 15 of the 25 sports, more than any other school in the class.

The Spartans also won WPIAL gold in girls cross-country, highlighting a fall sports season in which the Spartans earned 170 of their 350 points.

The Montour softball team didn’t win a championship, but they earned double silver after heartbreaking one-run losses to Belle Vernon in the WPIAL finals and Blue Mountain in the PIAA title game.

The Trib Cup title might be seen as redemption by some after the WPIAL 4A finals ended on a bang-bang play at the plate as Belle Vernon beat Montour.

In the closest chase in the cup’s 20-year history, the Spartans edged the Leopards by only five points as Belle Vernon earned 345 total points thanks in part to district and state gold for the football team and the district softball crown.

Rounding out the Top 5 in Class 4A were former champion Hampton in third place, Kiski Area taking fourth and for a second straight year, Blackhawk finishing in fifth place.

Final 2022-2023 HSSN Trib Cup standings in Class 4A:

1. Montour – 350

2. Belle Vernon – 345

3. Hampton – 300

4. Kiski Area – 275

5. Blackhawk – 270

6. Thomas Jefferson – 235

7. Latrobe – 230

8. Indiana – 200

9. Ringgold – 180

10. Elizabeth Forward – 130

11. Chartiers Valley – 125

12. Laurel Highlands – 120

13. Ambridge – 90

14. Highlands – 80

14. McKeesport – 80

16. West Allegheny – 70

17. Albert Gallatin– 10

Tags: Albert Gallatin, Ambridge, Belle Vernon, Blackhawk, Chartiers Valley, Elizabeth Forward, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana, Kiski Area, Latrobe, Laurel Highlands, McKeesport, Montour, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny