Pine-Richland notebook: Fourth grade girls basketball team wins state title

By: Jerin Steele
Sunday, March 27, 2022 | 11:01 AM

The fourth-grade Pine-Richland girls basketball team is a state champion.

The Rams topped Whitpain Recreational Association, 16-12, in the state final March 20 in State College.

Pine-Richland went 4-0 at the tournament. They defeated Whitpain in the first round, Chartiers Valley in the quarterfinals and Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals before defeating Whitpain for a second time.

The Rams also had a fifth and sixth grade team compete at the tournament.

Inline hockey wins title

The Rams inline hockey team swept North Allegheny, 2-0, in a best-of-three series to win the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Roller Hockey League championship.

Pine-Richland took Game 1, 6-3, and Game 2, 4-1.

The junior varsity team placed second in JV Tier-4, and the middle school team won the MS Tier 2 title.

Laffey earns state medal

With a sixth-place finish, Kelin Laffey capped his Pine-Richland wrestling career by getting his first state medal at the PIAA Class 3A championship in Hershey. Laffey, a Pitt recruit, made it to the semifinals of the 152-pound bracket, where he fell to Cathedral Prep’s Kaemen Smith in a 4-2 decision.

He finished 101-24 in his high school career and was selected to represent the WPIAL at the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic on March 25 at Peters Township’s AHN Arena. The WPIAL is matched up against an all-star team from Indiana.

Anthony Ferraro, a junior, won two matches at states before being eliminated. He finished 38-8 and with 84 career victories will push to eclipse 100 next season.

Basketball players named all-section

A quartet of Pine-Richland boys and a pair of girls basketball players received all-section honors.

Luke Shanahan and Joey Dudkowski were named to the Section 1 first team. Andy Swartout was a second teamer, and Jameson O’Toole was an honorable mention. All four are seniors.

Sophomore forward Madison Zavasky made the Section 1 second team, and junior guard Sarah Pifer was an honorable mention.

Shaffer gets top 10

Freshman swimmer Sarah Anne Shaffer narrowly missed cracking the top eight to make the A-final in the 100 breaststroke in her first try at the PIAA meet at Bucknell but still came home with a 10th place finish.

Shaffer placed second in the consolation race with a time of 1 minute, 5.39 seconds.

Rams picked for PIHL All-Star game

Five Pine-Richland hockey players were selected to play in the PIHL Class 3A All-Star game, and because of a unique way the teams are split up, some teammates will be on opposite sides.

Forwards Alex Erlain, Michael Mengine and goalie Dan Mooney are on Team Gold, and Forward Carson Kalpakis and defenseman Esai Morse are on Team Blue.

Pine-Richland coach Jordan Yoklic is part of the Team Blue coaching staff.

The Class 3A game is 6 p.m. April 3 at Alpha Ice Complex in Harmar.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland