Tag: Highlands
Big Game Hunting for Week Two 2016
September 7, 2016
Friday and Saturday the MSA Sports Network has you covered with wall to wall games from week two of the WPIAL season, and hey, even if your game turns out to be not that good, at least you won’t have to watch the Pirates! Some eyebrows were raised last week and there were also a lot of “I told you so”s being thrown around the WPIAL in week one. We continue to discover who is going to rise to the top, and who is going to find themselves in a dog fight for their playoff lives here in 2016. Because for sure, some of these teams are going to show a lot more fight for their playoff lives than the aforementioned Pirates. So forget that dusty old Jolly Roger over there in the corner and let’s go Big Game Hunting!
CTK ’16: 4-A Northwest Nine Conference Preview
August 21, 2016
With the coming of six classifications, some conferences were merged into others. Gone is the Parkway Conference, one of the toughest in the nation. Also gone is the Greater Allegheny, known for some REALLY long bus trips over a 5 county area. Now we have the Northwest Nine, a combination of the two above mentioned with a little Century Conference thrown in. Let’s preview the new conference, which is sure to be exciting for fans over the next 2 years. AMBRIDGE BRIDGERS The Bridgers finished 5-5 last season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2005 out of the Parkway Conference. Ambridge won their last 3 conference games to make the Highway to Heinz. That was the good news.Scholastic Notebook – 03/11/2016
March 11, 2016
Eight WPIAL boys basketball teams are left in the PIAA playoffs. For most of those teams, there is a certain football flavor to them. It’s a neat little storyline that some of the top basketball players on those eight teams were also top football players. Of the eight quarterfinalists from the WPIAL, the two that don’t have top football players are Lincoln Park and Sewickley Academy. But that’s because they don’t have football programs. But there is a common thread among the other six, and that is this: It doesn’t matter the gridiron or the court. Players can excel. In this day and age of athletes wanting to specialize in one sport, these are athletes proving that you can still be good in two.
Beaver Falls Goes From Silver to Gold
February 26, 2016
Last year, Beaver Falls lost the Class AAA Championship Game on a last-second shot. This year, the Tigers left no doubt, as they took control early, and secured a 56-45 victory against Highlands at the Petersen Events Center to capture the tenth WPIAL championship in school history. The Tigers won their first championship since capturing back-to-back crowns in 2012 and 2013. Leading the way for Beaver Falls was Josh Creach, the Tigers’ 6-foot-7 junior guard, who scored a game-high 17 points and collected 17 rebounds.
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Micah Mason
February 1, 2016
The storied history of basketball in the WPIAL has produced some tremendous shooters, but perhaps nobody has been a better marksman than Micah Mason. Mason, formerly of Highlands High School and current with Duquesne University, is the subject of this week's WPIAL Alum Q&A. Mason made an instant impact with the Highlands Golden Rams, as he scored 23 points in his first varsity game in helping his squad upset a highly-ranked Penn Hills team. From that point going forward, Mason rewrote the record books, finishing with 2,272 points in his storied career. Perhaps more impressively, Mason set the all-time WPIAL mark for most made three-pointers, besting a total previously held by T.J. McConnell.Scholastic Notebook – 01/22/2016
January 22, 2016
There seems to be some question as to how good the top teams really are in WPIAL Class AA Section 4 basketball. Brownsville is 13-4, Charleroi 12-3 and Waynesburg 7-7. History makes you wonder about the strength of the teams. Among the three, there are a total of three WPIAL titles and only one in the past 50-plus years. Brownsville won a championship in 2001 while Charleroi won titles in 1940 and 1958. On top of that, no one from the section has done much in the playoffs in recent history. But while many may question the strength of the teams in the section, there is no question that Section 4 is where the scorers reside.Chicks Picks – Week 10 – 2015
November 5, 2015
Welcome to Week 10 of the high school football season. As a veteran prognosticator, Chick’s Picks has received countless commendations over the years. None of these honors, however, were quite as prestigious as the one earned this week. Chick’s Picks received an anonymous phone call early Sunday morning. The caller, a woman, told Chick’s Picks that her presence was requested by The Committee on Monday afternoon. Confused, Chick’s Picks inquired further as to which committee the woman was referring. The woman simply said, “Report to the Double Tree Hotel in Greentree at noon tomorrow. Bring your crystal ball. All of your questions will be answered there.”WPIAL Big Game Hunting – First Round
The Highway to Heinz begins this week, a very exciting time in southwestern Pennsylvania and at the MSA Sports Network. We have been stretched to the max by the fall championship season but with one final tug we found a way to carry every single WPIAL football playoff game yet again. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Most years I fall in love with 8 v 9 games, but this year was different for me. Looking through the brackets I found myself most fascinated by three of the 7 v 10 games. Hey at this point they’re all big games, so easy pickins as we go post season Big Game Hunting. Class AAAA:WPIAL Friday Night HighLights – Week Two 2015
September 12, 2015
While Mother Nature held off on the fancy sky light shows and the rain that plagued many games on opening night, the second Friday of the season was an historic one in two ways. First, a tip of the cap 700 times to the Jeannette Jayhawks for becoming only the second district school and sixth school in Pennsylvania to mass that many wins. And one win has eluded Thomas Jefferson in the first two weeks of a season for the first time in the 21-year golden career of head coach Bill Cherpek. It was also a memorable Friday for these young men: Phil Jurkovec - Pine-RichlandChick Picks for Week Two
September 10, 2015
Welcome to Week 2 of the high school football season. The term Friday Night Lights was given new meaning last week, with severe storms and lightning causing several Week 1 games to be delayed and even postponed. Earlier last week, Chick’s Picks was contacted by one of her fellow MSA Sports broadcasters, Matt Vandriak, who had a proposition for the prognosticator. He said, “Hey Chick’s – I’m going to be broadcasting the inaugural Armstrong River Hawks game Friday night. I think it would be great if I could take your crystal ball along to the press box. Good PR for the network.” Chick’s Picks, who is not one to pass up publicity, agreed. So, off went the crystal ball.
