Westmoreland HS notebook: Southmoreland’s Moore headed to Navy

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, July 16, 2018 | 3:54 PM

A high-level offer one day, a commitment a few days later.

That’s how fast things happened for Southmoreland’s Maggie Moore during the latest NCAA Division I basketball live period — when college coaches can watch and evaluate prospects up close.

The long-limbed Moore, playing this summer for the Western Pa. Bruins AAU program, announced Friday she received an offer to play at the Naval Academy. On Sunday evening, the 6-foot-2 forward/center posted her verbal commitment to the Midshipmen on Twitter.

Moore will be a senior in the fall.

“I am so happy for Maggie and super proud of her,” Southmoreland coach Brian Pritts said. “She has worked extremely hard and has earned everything that is coming her way.”

Moore also had offers from Niagara and Charleston.

She averaged a double-double last season with 11.1 points and 12.4 rebounds. She had 17 double-digit rebound games, including a career-high 23 against Freeport, and added a 22-point, 19-rebound peformance against Laurel Highlands.

Moore also averaged 4.2 blocks for the Scotties.

Fenton on the rise

Latrobe incoming senior basketball standout Reed Fenton was expected to draw college attention during the NCAA’s latest evaluation period, and the schools have not disappointed.

In the past week, Fenton picked up offers from Marist, Dartmouth, American and Holy Cross.

Those were added to the combo guard’s other three: Navy, Drake and NJIT.

Bryce Butler, Fenton’s AAU and high school teammate, has interest from a number of Division I programs, including several that also like Fenton — American, Holy Cross, Lafayette Columbia, and Dartmouth among them.

Like Fenton, Butler is a 6-foot-4 swingman. Both players averaged more than 20 points per game as juniors.

Norwin favorite at WCCA 7 on 7

Coaches are pointing to Norwin as the favorite to win the WCCA 7 on 7 passing championship Thursday at Latrobe High School.

Norwin reached the final last season but lost to two-time defending champion Hempfield, 22-8. Hempfield lost talented quarterback Justin Sliwoski and forceful tight end Braden Brose, among others, to graduation.

Norwin, on the flip side, returns a number of key players, including senior running back/safety Jayvon Thrift, senior receiver/linebacker Gianni Rizzo and junior quarterback Jack Salopek.

All three have Division I scholarship offers, Thrift and Salopok from Pitt. Thrift’s other offers include West Virginia, Indiana and Syracuse.

Rizzo has more than a dozen offers, mostly from FCS programs like New Hampshire and Youngstown State.

Games begin at 9 a.m. and also will be played on three campus turf fields: Rossi Field, which is the main football stadium; along with the baseball and softball fields at nearby Graham-Sobota Field.

Rossi Field will be divided in half to accomodate two games at a time. The softball field will be used for junior varsity games througout the day.

The championship is set for about 2:15 p.m.

There are 12 teams.

Bracket A has Derry, Franklin Regional, Southmoreland, Jeannette, Norwin and Greensburg Salem. Bracket B includes Mt. Pleasant, Hempfield, Yough, Burrell, Penn-Trafford and Latrobe.

Thursday’s schedule is as follows:

9 a.m. — Rossi Field: Franklin Regional vs. Derry; Jeannette vs. Norwin; Baseball field: Southmoreland vs. Greensburg Salem

9:30 a.m. — Rossi Field: Hempfield vs. Mt. Pleasant; Burrell vs. Penn-Trafford; Baseball field: Yough vs. Latrobe

10 a.m. — Rossi Field: Southmoreland vs. Jeannette; Greensburg Salem vs. Derry; Baseball field: Franklin Regional vs. Norwin

10:30 a.m. — Rossi Field: Yough vs. Burrell; Latrobe vs. Mt. Pleasant; Baseball field: Hempfield vs. Penn-Trafford

11 a.m. — Rossi Field: Greensburg Salem vs. Jeannette; Franklin Regional vs. Southmoreland; Baseball field: Derry vs. Norwin

11:30 a.m. — Rossi Field: Latrobe vs. Burrell; Hempfield vs. Yough; Baseball field: Mt. Pleasant vs. Penn-Trafford

Noon — Rossi Field: Norwin vs. Southmoreland; Greensburg Salem vs. Franklin Regional; Baseball field: Jeannette vs. Derry

12:30 p.m. — Rossi Field: Penn-Trafford vs. Burrell; Latrobe vs. Hempfield; Latrobe vs. Hempfield; Baseball field: Burrell vs. Mt. Pleasant

1 p.m. — Rossi Field: Derry vs. Southmoreland; Norwin vs. Greensburg Salem; Baseball field: Franklin Regional vs. Jeannette

1:30 p.m. — Rossi Field: Mt. Pleasant vs. Yough; Penn-Trafford vs. Latrobe; Baseball field: Hempfield vs. Burrell

2:15 p.m. — Championship, Rossi Field

Skylights time

Football season must be approaching.

WPXI Skylights media day will be Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. at Heinz Field. WPXI said more than 80 WPIAL schools signed up to attend the event, which allows players, coaches and cheerleaders to mingle with media and opponents, tour the facility and pose for photos.

Westmoreland teams expected to attend include Belle Vernon, Burrell, Greensburg Central Catholic, Greensburg Salem, Kiski Area, Norwin, and Yough.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.