Westmoreland high school notebook: Big 5/6 dotted with county players

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, February 15, 2025 | 5:30 PM

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The Big 5/6 Conference, which recognizes accomplishments of the two largest classifications in the WPIAL, announced its all-section basketball teams.

The undefeated Penn-Trafford girls were rewarded with John Giannikas earning coach-of-the-year honors in Section 2-5A and junior Torrie DeStefano earning the section’s player of the year.

DeStefano joined seniors Kamryn Pieper and Lauren Marton on the first team, along Latrobe senior Carley Berk and Greensburg Salem junior Mya Heasley.

Second-team picks included sophomore Maggie Maiers of Latrobe, senior Regan Kerr of Greensburg Salem, sophomore Isabella Fontana of Penn-Trafford and junior Gianna DeVito of Kiski Area.

Madison DeRiggi of Franklin Regional was the Section 1-5A Player of the Year and made the first team alongside senior teammate Toryn Fulton.

Senior Addison Musto and sophomore Chloe Pucka, also of Franklin Regional, are second-team picks.

Seniors Kendall Berger and Averi Brozeski of Norwin were selected to the first team in Section 2-6A, and their coach, Brian Brozeski, was tabbed coach of the year.

Norwin senior Bella Furno and junior Ava Christopher and Hempfield senior Allie Cervola made the second team.

For the boys, Hempfield junior Danny Husenits made the All-Section 2-6A first team. His teammates, seniors Drew Gordon and Max Williams, were second teamers along with junior Nate Kuch of Norwin.

In 5A, senior Connor Crossey of Franklin Regional, senior Max Butler and senior Brayden Stone of Penn-Trafford made the all-Section 1 first team.

Junior Ian DeCerb (Latrobe), junior Zach Feldman (Penn-Trafford), senior John Wetzel (Latrobe) and senior Tyler Anthony (Penn-Trafford) made the second team.

Corey Smith of Kiski Area was tabbed the Section 2-5A coach of the Year, with Cavaliers seniors Carson Heinle and Colin Keller making the first team, and junior Amaree Gonzalez and senior Jacob Musselman making the second team.

Whipple in Big 33

Penn-Trafford standout running back Tasso Whipple was selected to the 68^th Big 33 Football Classic set for 7:30 p.m. May 25 at Cumberland Valley.

Whipple ran for 1,716 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, and made 73 tackles and posted two sacks at linebacker.

He is an IUP commit.

Whipple is the third Penn-Trafford player in three years to make the Big 33, joining Zach Tomosovich (2024) and Cade Yacamelli (‘22).

Other Warriors to be selected to the game include Dick Brown, Chris Schneider, Tony Zimmerman, Tim Cortazzo, Chris Stanford, Will Schumacher, and Will Mayer.

Per team historian Rush Pedder, Jackson Nunn played in the 1969 Big 33 and is the only player from Penn Joint and Trafford high schools to be selected.

Prady back to P-T

Former Latrobe football coach Ron Prady is coming back to Penn-Trafford.

He has plans to reunite with head coach John Ruane as a linebackers coach.

Prady already has been approved as an assistant coach with the softball team.

Prady spent 10 seasons as an assistant with the Warriors before leaving to coach Latrobe for three seasons. He resigned in December after guiding the Wildcats to a 20-15 record and a pair of playoff wins.

“My intention was always to come back,” Prady said. “This makes the most sense for me. I live here, and I have relationships here. I am looking forward to coming back.”

As for Latrobe and new head coach Tom McIntyre, Prady said, “They have 85 kids. They’re still going to be good. Tom will do a nice job. My goal was to go in and build a foundation and help them win again.”

School record

Hempfield junior Jonathan Stetchok broke his school record in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9 minutes, 26.54 seconds at a recent meet at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

The mark is faster than his outdoor record.

Hockey playoffs

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League playoff field is rounding into shape as the regular season crawls to a finish.

Teams get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win and one for an overtime loss.

Local teams that have clinched spots in the playoffs include: Penn-Trafford (13-3-1-1) and Latrobe (13-3-0-0) in Class 2A and Burrell (13-2-2-1) in Division II.

Hempfield (5-9-1-1) is still alive in Class 2A, and Greensburg Salem (8-10-1-0) is a bubble team in Class A.

Recruiting

• Latrobe football player Timothy Myers received an offer to play at Division II Seton Hill.

Myers is a 6-foot-2, 215-pound all-conference defensive end.

• Another Latrobe lineman, Cory Krall, will continue his playing career at Westminster. Krall (5-10, 255) played guard and defensive end for the Wildcats.

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

Tags: Burrell, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Kiski Area, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford