Tag: Gateway

PIHL Notebook – 2014-2015 Class A Preview

October 20, 2014

Welcome to another edition of “PIHL Notebook” as we continue our comprehensive preview of the 2014-15 high school hockey season. Today we take a look at the teams vying for the Class A championship. Class A has the most complex breakdown of the new alignment, split into two tiers with two conferences in each. Tier 1 is, fittingly, the more stacked of the two. Three of last year’s final four will compete in the Western Conference, including defending champion Quaker Valley, while McDowell and Montour join from the Open Division and Class AA respectively. The Eastern Conference includes Chiefs Cup finalist Hempfield, the “other” member of last year’s Class A final four in Freeport, and another Open transplant in Gateway.

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Scholastic Notebook – 09/19/2014

September 19, 2014

At the rate he is passing, Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci has a good chance to become the 17th player in WPIAL history to throw for 5,000 career yards. While that is an impressive feat, Pine-Richland does thro the ball often. So DiNucci will naturally pile up yardage. What might be more impressive about DiNucci is his accuracy. DiNucci is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior who you probably wouldn’t want to play in darts. Sure, in Pine-Richland’s spread offense, DiNucci throws a number of short passes. But he still throws downfield and his accuracy is uncanny.

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CTK ’14: WPIAL AAA Greater Allegheny Conference Preview

August 15, 2014

The teams in the Greater Allegheny Conference will have something new to worry about this season. They hope to avoid the bite of the Gators. One of the major changes in the WPIAL football landscape this year is Gateway dropping down to Class AAA. Since Gateway opened in the mid 1950s, the Gators had always played in the largest classification. But the school’s enrollment allowed the team to drop from Class AAAA to AAA this season.

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Scholastic Notebook – 05/02/2014

May 2, 2014

There are multi-sport athletes in the WPIAL who compete in more highly-visible sports than North Hills’ Noah Bostick. But as far as the number of sports and excelling in them, Bostick has few peers. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say Bostick is most one of the best all-around athletes in the WPIAL. He is a young man for all seasons – and then some. You don’t see many three-sport athletes these days at large schools. But Bostick is more than a three-sport athlete. He actually competes in four sports, and does well in all of them.

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Scholastic Notebook – 02/21/2014

February 21, 2014

If the WPIAL basketball quarterfinals are a party for eight, Class AAAA Section 1 has done and unusual thing and made reservations for two. It’s like Section 1 has finally stood up and said “what about us?” Hempfield and Kiski Area are Section 1 teams that have made it to the quarterfinals. It might not seem like much, but seeing two from Section 1 eating at the quarterfinal table doesn’t happen often. Since 2000, this is only the fourth time that two teams from Section 1 have made the quarterfinals and the first time since 2010. In 2007, Albert Gallatin and Norwin made the quarterfinals. Norwin and Franklin Regional made it in 2008. Kiski Area and Latrobe made it in 2010.

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Scholastic Notebook – 01/24/2014

January 24, 2014

All of a sudden, the menu of top boys basketball teams in WPIAL Class AAAA Section 4 has Big Macs on it. The Canon-McMillan Big Macs have pushed their way into a tie for the Section 4 lead with Upper St. Clair. The two teams meet tonight in a big game. Although Section 4 isn’t strong this year, nothing should take away from the Big Macs’ surge. They were 3-4 at one point this season and have since won seven of eight. Of the last five wins, Canon-McMillan has give up 46 points or less in four of those games. Canon-McMillan has a legitimate shot at a section title. Section title and Canon-McMillan usually aren’t mentioned in the same sentence.

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MSA Sports Countdown of Top 25 WPIAL Stories of 2013 – 12/30/13

December 30, 2013

It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holidays here at MSA Sports. It's time to look back at another high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2013. We continue our countdown with the five stories that ended up #15 through #11. #15 - Perfect Champions It was a rare Perfect Saturday at Heinz Field on November 23rd as all four WPIAL football champions crowned did so with no losses. Pittsburgh Central Catholic, West Allegheny, South Fayette and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic were all 13-0 as they were presented with the golden football on a snowy day on the North Shore, but both the Lions and Trojans were not satisfied with just a district title, they wanted to stake their claim to state gold as well.

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2013 MSA SPORTS ELITE ELEVEN

December 13, 2013

The Elite 11 all-star team this year is full of record breakers. The Elite 11 is made up of the top 11 players in the WPIAL, regardless of position. It is picked by the MSA Sports staff. This year’s Elite 11 includes: the all-time leading passer in WPIAL history; another quarterback who is close to records; a running back who is the leading rusher in Aliquippa history; a quarterback who made history this season with his arm and legs; a receiver who set a school record for receiving yards. Here is a look at the 2013 Elite 11: 2013 PLAYER OF THE YEAR CHASE WINOVICH, THOMAS JEFFERSON QB/RB-LB, 6-4, 220, SENIOR Looking for the top player in the WPIAL? The “Chase” is on.

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Scholastic Notebook – 12/09/2013

December 9, 2013

In 24 hours, basketball player Anthony Richards went from making nothing – to the New Castle record books. It was one of the oddest starts to a season you’ll see from a player, a Jekyll and Hyde thing for Richards, a 5-foot-7 senior guard at New Castle who has been a starter on two WPIAL championship teams. The season started Friday and Richards went scoreless in a victory against West Middlesex. It was hard to believe from one of the best shooters in the WPIAL. He also was 0 for 2 from the free-throw line. But the next night was a totally different story. Richards was “unconscious” from the field, making a school-record nine 3-pointers as New Castle crushed Perry, 88-34. Richards scored all of his 27 points on 3-pointers.

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Scholastic Notebook – 11/29/2013

November 29, 2013

It was a pretty big deal this fall when Sto-Rox’s Lenny Williams became the WPIAL all-time leading passer. But it’s looking like Williams’ record might not last more than a year. South Fayette’s Brett Brumbaugh appears to have a very good shot at Williams’ record next year. Let’s look at the numbers and the possibilities: Williams, a senior, finished his career with 8,508 yards. Besides that being the best in WPIAL history, it also was fifth-best in state history. Sto-Rox lost lost last week in the WPIAL Class A finals and the loss means Williams can’t add more distance between himself and Brumbaugh.

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