Sports
2017 WPIAL Boys & Girls Swimming Results From Day One
March 2, 2017
The North Allegheny machine just keeps rolling on as both the boys and girls marched out to a solid day-1 lead over their competition in Day One of the WPIAL Swimming championships.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Wednesday 3/1
As the calendar changed from the February Frenzy to the madness of March, three days of Final Four action in the WPIAL basketball postseason also came to an end. Section supremecy was the theme on the boys side as a pair of Section 1 teams are title game bound in Class 6-A while two teams from Section 2 are headed to clash at The Pete in Class 4-A. For the girls, the lone district team with a perfect record is unbeaten no more and two lower seeds advance to play for gold in Class 5-A. Here are recaps from the eight Semifinals games on Wednesday from Boys 6-A, Boys 4-A, Girls 5-A and Girls 3-A. A special thanks to Bob Barrickman, Tyler Friel, Dennis Fischer, Mike Azadian, Scott Majesky, Bob Gregg, Mark Schaas and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.WPIAL Championship Game Previews For Friday
March 1, 2017
An early start as Day 2 of heaven for WPIAL Basketball fans with 4 more games at the Pete. Friday features three first-timers to the title game plus some experienced veterans. All 4 games can be heard on the NETWORK, plus game stories, Center Stage interviews and much more. Here are the game previews in order of their starting time. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 1-A GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Winchester Thurston Bears (20-1) vs #2 Cornell Raiders (20-4) AT The Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday, March 3rd at 3:00pm on MSAsports.net Both teams will make their 1st title game trip. Winchester Thurston defeated Cornell 62-59 on December 12th at home.WPIAL Championship Game Previews For Thursday
It’s the conclusion to the Path to the Pete as over a 3 day stretch, players and fans will make the trip up Cardiac Hill to the home of the Pitt Panthers and the WPIAL Championships. MSA Sports Network will offer up broadcasts of ALL 12 title games, plus stories, photos, Center Stage video interviews and much more. Kicking of our coverage, here are game previews of Thursday’s action in order by game time. 2017 WPIAL CLASS 2-A GIRLS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers (22-2) vs #2 Vincentian Academy Royals (20-4) AT The Petersen Events Center at the University of Pittsburgh on Thursday, March 2nd at 5:00pm on MSAsports.netWPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Tuesday 2/28
February 28, 2017
In a postseason with very few surprises across both genders, we saw a 7th-seed advance to the finals and a pair of top-seeds get eliminated on Tuesday. After knocking off #2 Pine-Richland in the Girls 6-A Quarterfinals, #7 Bethel Park followed up by beating #3 Penn Hills to advance to the title game. Meanwhile, two teams not championship bound are #1 Mars in 5-A and #1 Greensburg Central Catholic in 2-A. The Fightin' Planets were ousted by rival Hampton while the Centurions undefeated season earned its first blemish with a loss to OLSH. Here are recaps from the eight Semifinals games on Tuesday from Boys 5-A, Boys 2-A, Girls 6-A and Girls 1-A.PIHL Notebook – 02/28/2017
The 2016-17 PIHL regular season has concluded, and now the brackets are nearly set for the playoffs, which begin on March 6. Subsequently, this week's edition of the PIHL Notebook will take a slightly different format, previewing some of notable contenders and darkhorse teams in each classification. Melting the Ice (The favorite and a darkhorse from each classification)WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Monday 2/27
February 27, 2017
The first of three nights of Final Four district postseason hoops is in the books with a familiar theme ringing true. In both the Boys 3-A and the Boys 1-A Semifinals, the #1-seeds were winners and will now face the #3-seeds in the finals. Meanwhile, it was a simpler formula for Girls 4-A and Girls 2-A where in the title games it will be #1 vs #2. Here are the summaries from the eight WPIAL Semifinals in the above mentioned classifications from Monday night on MSA Sports. A special thanks to Brandon Showers, Mark Uriah, Rob McKinney, Bob Gregg, Mark Schaas, Tom Hays and Donny Chedrick for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 3-A Semifinals:
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Josh Shields
For many years, Western Pennsylvania has been a hotbed for high-school wrestling. In particular, the Franklin Regional Panthers produced a few historic seasons recently. Josh Shields was one of the key components of the Panthers success, and now he's achieved similar success on the mat at Arizona State. Shields, who on Sunday claimed both individual and team gold, is this week's feature for the WPIAL Alum Q&A.
WPIAL Coaches Corner – Tim McConnell
February 26, 2017
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 highlights Chartiers Valley boys basketball coach Tim McConnell. Coach McConnell is in his 24th season as head coach of the Colts, posting 20+ win seasons in 20 of his previous 23 years. He is closing in on 550 career wins as a coach and he has led Chartiers Valley to 6 WPIAL championships, including titles with each of his sons: TJ and Matty. Let’s take a look inside Coach McConnell’s corner:This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 02/26/2017
A golden week marks the transition from the February Frenzy to the scholastic version of the Madness of March all this week on the MSA Sports Network. Our EXCLUSIVE postseason coverage concludes with Semifinals and Championship action in the WPIAL and District 6 boys and girls basketball playoffs along with the start of the PIHL high school hockey playoffs, the 2017 WPIAL Individual Wrestling Class 3-A Championships and the 2017 WPIAL Boys and Girls Swimming Championships, plus we have The WPIAL Roundball Report on the road at a special time, The PIHL Power Play Show and Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, February 27th:FINAL 2016-2017 PIHL High School Hockey Standings
Here are the FINAL 2016-2017 standings for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League...plus the FINAL PIHL and Penguins Cup Playoff clinchings. You can follow the PIHL high school hockey regular season with weekly audio and video broadcasts, plus the PIHL Notebook every Tuesday and the PIHL Power Play Show on Wednesday nights at 8:00pm ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network. The top eight teams in Class 3-A qualify for the Penguins Cup Playoffs. The top five teams in each Class 2-A conference qualify for the Penguins Cup Playoffs. The top seven teams in each Class 1-A conference qualify for the Penguins Cup Playoffs. The top eight teams in Division II qualify for the Penguins Cup Playoffs.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Saturday 2/25
February 25, 2017
One 'Super Section' enjoyed a fabulous Saturday afternoon while another got swept into the abyss of not knowing if their season is over or if a berth in the state playoffs is in their future. While there were no surprises again on the girls side and the top four seeds advanced in Boys 4-A (All from Section 2), Boys Class 6-A was shaken big time when Section 2 Tri-Champs Latrobe, Fox Chapel and Penn Hills...seeds 2, 3 and 4, all lost. Here are the recaps from the Boys 6-A, Boys 4-A, Girls 5-A and Girls 3-A Quarterfinals on Saturday to Conclude Round Two.
2017 PIAA Class 2-A Southwest Regional Wrestling Results
The Southwest Regional Tournament in AA moved up one week, and to a different location, but the WPIAL produced similar results to a year ago. From the confines of Ed Frey Arena, Kovalchick Complex at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the WPIAL was able to produce 34 state qualifiers, down only one from last season. While the number of wrestlers going to Hershey from the WPIAL remains similar, the amount of champions was not quite up to par. The WPIAL featured many dominant wrestlers a year ago, en route to producing 7 champions out of the Southwest Region. This year, only 2 were champions, and both won over fellow WPIAL foes.WPIAL Individual Wrestling Class 3-A Sectional Results
The field for the 2017 WPIAL Class AAA Individual Wrestling Championships is now set following the results from all four Triple-A sectionals on Saturday. The top five wrestlers from each section qualify for the district championships next weekend at Canon-McMillan High School and here on MSA Sports.
Mars Taylor Hockenberry Still the Queen of WPIAL Diving
A move up in classification had no effect on Taylor Hockenberry. After a silver medal as a freshman and gold medals each of the past two seasons competing in Class AA, the Mars senior made it a three-peat as WPIAL Champion, this time in Class AAA.
Fox Chapel Sophomore Wins WPIAL 3-A Boys Diving
Fox Chapel sophomore Jonah Cagley earned a silver medal as a freshman last year and with two-time champion Joey Ference graduated, Cagley was considered one of the favorites for this year’s Boys (3A) competition at North Allegheny High School. Cagley did not disappoint, finishing with a score of 525.20 to capture the gold medal. Cagley was the only diver to post a score over 500 points. Cagley came into the final round with a score of 381.75 and he finished strong with scores of 51.0, 38.5 and 54.6 to finish in first place.WPIAL Basketball Playoff Summaries for Friday 2/24
February 24, 2017
Day Two of Round Two brought forth some hot action on the hardcourt. OK, so temps in the upper 70's in Southwestern Pa may have had something to do with the 'hot' aspect, but it was a great night for the 'Super Sections' in boys hoops while a couple of top four seeds were eliminated on the girls side. Here are recaps from Boys 5-A, Boys 2-A, Girls 6-A and Girls 1-A Quarterfinals game on Friday around the WPIAL. A special thanks to Josh Rowntree, Bob Gregg, Steve Nagler, Cory Campano, Dennis Fischer, Dave Floyd, Sam Hall, Nate Regotti, Matt Vandriak, Don Rebel, Tom Hays and Brian Mroziak for their help on these recaps. BOYS WPIAL CLASS 5-A Quarterfinals:
Beaver Sophomore Diver Wins WPIAL Girls 2-A Gold
At Moon High School in WPIAL Girls AA diving a new champion was crowned. With the PIAA realignment the last two years champion Taylor Hockenberry from Mars will try to win a third straight title in AAA Saturday. But the new girls AA champion is from Beaver and she is Sophomore Ava Talorico. Talorico led from wire to wire easily taking the crown. In 2016 she finished 4th and was the leading scorer returning for 2017. She won with a score of 392.35 beating her score form last year by 30.9 points. Anna Vogt a Sophomore from Ringgold finished a distant second with a score of 345.75 trailing Talorico by 46.6 points. These two should compete in the next two years as both are young divers. Jamieson Elia a Junior from Blackhawk was third scoring 288.35.
South Fayette Senior Repeats as WPIAL Boys 2-A Diving Champ
With the Class AA boys diving field reduced to only six competitors, the 2017 Championship concluded in record time. Despite the brevity of the event at Moon Area High School, drama was still at the forefront, as South Fayette senior Trevor Mahoney repeated as champion, winning by a razor-thin margin. Mahoney edged Laurel Highlands' John Ek by less than one point, 427.05 to 426.15. The gold was decided in the final round, as Ek executed a spectacular dive, which yielded a score of 54.60. Mahoney, who was unaware of Ek's dive and consequently the score the needed to win, recorded a 42.0, which was just enough to take first place.Scholastic Notebook – 02/24/2017
It’s unusual for the Canon-McMillan boys basketball team to still be playing in late February. It is certainly a fun time for the Big Macs. For the Bell family, it’s twice as nice. Canon-McMillan’s coach is Rick Bell. His son, R.J., is a 6-foot-4 senior guard who has played a big role in getting the Big Macs to the WPIAL 6A quarterfinals. They play No. 1 seed Pine-Richland Saturday. The younger Bell had six 3-pointers in a first round victory against North Allegheny. R.J. is averaging in double figures. The victory against North Allegheny was only the third playoff win in school history for Canon-McMillan. The others were in 1996 and 2008. This is only the ninth time the Big Macs have been to the postseason.
