Sports
MSA Sports 2017 All-Icers
March 31, 2017
With the Penguins Cup and Pennsylvania Cup championships concluded, it's nearly time to put a bow on the 2016-17 PIHL campaign. The final piece of business, though, is unveiling the highly-anticipated MSA Sports All-Icers teams. As voted on by the MSA Sports Network staff, six players, regardless of position, were named to the first team, while six more were voted to the second team. Three of the four championship squads were represented, and both Plum and Franklin Regional featured a pair of standouts. Here's a look at the very best the PIHL had to offer in 2016-17. All-Icers First-Team:PIHL Notebook – 03/28/2017
March 28, 2017
It was a whirlwind final five days of the 2016-17 PIHL hockey season. Four champions were crowned with Peters Township, Plum, Franklin Regional and Meadville claiming PIHL gold. Just a few days later, three of those teams competed for state supremacy, with the Indians taking Pennsylvania Cup gold, too. Here's a quick glance at the action throughout the final week. AAA: Peters Township defeated Central Catholic 5-2; defeated Holy Ghost Prep 2-1
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Danny Kucerovy
March 27, 2017
While the PIHL has produced numerous incredibly successful players over the past few decades, some of the most talented players do not participate in high-school hockey, instead electing to play on travel teams. That appeared to be the path that Daniel Kucerovy was going to take, until his junior year, when he was convinced by his friends and teammates to join the Bethel Park varsity team. Kucerovy made a big impact with the Black Hawks, and now he's playing for Bentley University. Kucerovy is this week's feature for the WPIAL Alum Q&A.
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Jeff Ackermann
In this feature titled “Coach’s Corner”, I will be interviewing a different coach every week and asking them questions about their personal life and about coaching. Hopefully their answers will not only shed some light on how they coach their respective teams, but also allow readers to get to know the men behind the fields/courts.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 03/27/2017
It's all about the transition. We make the transition of broadcasting winter sports to spring sports as march transitions into April this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We begin our spring scholastic sports coverage with a handful of WPIAL baseball games, a WPIAL softball contest and a WPIAL boys volleyball match, plus one more winter sports event with the Quigley Classic girls and boys high school basketball games ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, March 27th: WPIAL High School Baseball - Bishop Canevin vs West Allegheny at 4:30pm on MSAsports.net Tuesday, March 28th: No Broadcast Wednesday, March 29th:2017 PIAA BOYS BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS Results
March 26, 2017
While the east claimed four of the six state titles, it was once again District 12 that flexed its boys basketball muscles. The district made up of public and private schools in the Philadelphia area, won three PIAA boys basketball championships by a combined score of 242-150. The two exceptions from the west were WPIAL 2-A champion Sewickley Academy and District 10 1-A champ Kennedy Catholic. While the Sewickley Academy Panthers brought home state gold, it was the runner-up silver basketball that Pine-Richland in 6-A and Lincoln Park in 3-A brought back from Hershey. Here are ALL of the final results from the 2017 PIAA Boys Basketball Playoffs. All results with (MSA) after them are games you can hear anytime you want archived here on The Network.2017 PIAA GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE PLAYOFFS Results
When it comes to girls high school basketball in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the East is the Beast. It was a clean 6-0 sweep for teams from the eastern side of the state in the state championships. Among those from the west that had to settle for the runner-up silver trophy were North Allegheny in 6-A, Trinity in 5-A and Bishop Canevin in 3-A. Here are ALL of the final scores from the 2017 PIAA Girls Basketball Playoffs. All results with (MSA) after them are games you can hear anytime you want archived here on The Network. 2017 PIAA CLASS 6-A GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: Boyertown Bears 46 - NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS 35 (MSA)
Sellout Crowd Sees Reading Edge PIne-Richland for Boys 6-A State Title
March 25, 2017
The Giant Center in Hershey officially holds 10,500 attendees. It was near max capacity (9,531) for the PIAA Class 6A Boys Basketball Championship on Saturday night, and approximately 80% were supporting the Reading Red Knights. Nearly 8,000 fans dressed in red, but it was one red-clad player in particular who caused the havoc against Pine-Richland. Miami commit Lonnie Walker led his team in every major statistical category en route to a 64-60 Reading victory in a back-and-forth instant classic.
Peters Township Claims 5th PA Cup State 3-A Title
The front of the net is space reserved only for the courageous as goaltenders and their defensemen are not a very welcoming group when they have to share that space around the goal crease. But if you want to score goals in tight playoff hockey games, then you have to have the courage and willingness to venture into that area, and maybe, just maybe you can slam home a rebound for the decisive State Championship winning goal.
Archbishop Wood Beats Trinity to Repeat as PIAA Girls Champs
Archbishop Wood's slow down offense and tenacious defense added up to a 34-26 win over Trinity in the PIAA Class 5-A Girls Championship game Saturday night. The Vikings regularly held the ball outside the three-point line for upwards of 45 seconds while Trinity sat in a 2-3 zone inside the arch. The District 12 champions hit three treys in the game's first 4 minutes to lead 9-0 but scored only one more field goal before halftime. The Hillers struggle to take care of the ball and get good looks at basket, but stayed within reach, trailing 14-7 at the half.
Downingtown East Defeats Plum for 2-A PA Cup
If the 2017 Class-AA Pennsylvania Cup had theme songs, the title track for the Plum Mustangs would have been "It's Been A While" by Staind. After winning their first Penguins Cup and since 1989, Plum was looking to make it two for two in state title games as well. But for Downingtown-East, as Foreigner sang "It Feels Like The First Time", as the Cougars claimed their first Pennsylvania Cup in program history in their third state championship appearance, beating Plum 3-1 at the RMU Island Sports Complex on Neville Island.
Bayard Rustin Beats Franklin Regional in OT for PA Cup 1-A Title
Sophomore forward Matt Owens, who had a hat trick in the Golden Knights 6-0 PA Cup win over Franklin Regional last year, was the hero again for Bayard Rustin as he beat Danny Soltesz on a breakaway 3:07 into overtime to give Bayard Rustin its 4th consecutive PA Cup hockey championship.
Neumann-Goretti 3-Peats in Holding off Bishop Canevin in Girls 3-A
Defeating a two-time defending state champion is no easy task. Bishop Canevin seemed up to the task getting a double-digit lead over Neumann-Goretti in the first quarter. However, the Saints' pressure defense forced 26 Bishop Canevin turnovers, and despite a great fourth quarter comeback attempt, the Lady Crusaders fell to Neumann-Goretti 62-56 in the PIAA Class 3A Girls Basketball Championship.
North Allegheny Falls to Boyertown in PIAA Girls 6-A Finals
March 24, 2017
In a contest between two teams making their first ever PIAA title game appearance, it was the Boyertown Bears who won state gold with a 46-35 decision over the North Allegheny Tigers from the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Boyertown used a critical 20-4 run in the second half to claim its first state crown. Senior Abby Kapp, a Bucknell recruit, led Boyertown with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Sewickley Academy Wins State Title in Overtime Upset of Constitution
When Sewickley Academy trailed 16-4 to Constitution late in the first quarter of the Class 2A PIAA Championship, it appeared unlikely that the Panthers would pull off the upset. Sewickley Academy rallied, though, forcing overtime on a late 3-pointer, and then dominated the extra frame to prevail 68-63 at the Giant Center in Hershey. By knocking off the powerhouse squad from Philadelphia, Sewickley Academy (26-4) captured its third PIAA title, joining Panthers’ squads from 1997 and 2010 in the record books.
Lincoln Park Falls Big to Neumann-Goretti in Boys 3-A Finals
As the clocked ticked on the end of Lincoln Park’s season, the Leopards (25-6) took their lopsided loss in stride in the PIAA boys 3-A title game to District 12 powerhouse Neumann-Goretti (24-7), falling by a final score of 89-58.WPIAL Baseball: 2017 Season Preview
March 23, 2017
2016 WPIAL baseball champions covered the entire district with teams winning titles from the north (Riverside in AA), south (Serra Catholic in A), east (Norwin in AAAA) and west (Chartiers Valley in AAA). But in the new expanded PIAA and WPIAL classes, four champions is so last year. Now, the season of change heads down the stretch run and onto the diamonds as we try to figure out which teams are where in the bloated six classifications. So with the first pitch on 3/24, we give you the Preseason Top Ten and Players to Watch. CLASS 6-A Preseason Top Ten: 1) NORWIN KNIGHTS 2) BUTLER GOLDEN TORNADO 3) CANON-McMILLAN BIG MACS 4) PINE-RICHLAND RAMSWPIAL Softball: 2017 Season Preview
A mild winter is leading into a mild start to spring. While the roller coaster ride Mother Nature will put all of us on over the next couple of months will be interesting, so will the action on the diamond in the new world of six classifications. While the great thing about high school softball is they will decide the six champions on the field and not in the rankings, that doesn't slow us down from dishing out our Preseason Top Ten and Players to watch in each class. CLASS 6-A Preseason Top Ten: 1) HEMPFIELD SPARTANS 2) SHALER TITANS 3) CANON-McMILLAN BIG MACS 4) LATROBE WILDCATS 5) BETHEL PARK BLACK HAWKS 6) BALDWIN HIGHLANDERS
PIAA Basketball Championship Recaps
While 6 WPIAL teams played for titles, there were other championships handed out this weekend in Hershey. Here are recaps of all of those games.WPIAL Baseball: 2016 Season Review
There were a couple of new kids on the block and some programs that are used to success left standing with district gold once the dust cleared in WPIAL baseball in 2016. Three top-seeds were stunned in the finals as a pair of #2-seeds in Riverside (AA) and Serra Catholic (A) were joined by an 8th-seed in Chartiers Valley (AAA) and a 14th-seed in Norwin (AAAA) in the district champions circle. Joining them in the golden parade was Vincentian Academy, who won the schools first ever PIAA baseball state title. Before we look ahead, we look back at the 2016 WPIAL Baseball season. FINAL 2016 WPIAL BASEBALL STANDINGS:
