Westmoreland County high school notebook: New Hempfield coach ready to hit the road
In a way, Hempfield already felt like home to Jessica Peterson, even though she lives and works more than 40 miles away in Indiana. The new Hempfield girls basketball coach had acquaintances with ties to the program through her endeavors in AAU. They opened her eyes to the possibility of...
Derry boys basketball coach Tom Esposito resigns
Often, a coaching staff begins to dissipate when a head coach leaves. They follow their leader out the door. But in Derry’s case, the staff left before the top man resigned. Despite the inverted order of things, the bench is now empty. With his four assistants departing for reasons related...
Saint Vincent to host high school basketball shootout at new facility this weekend
The idea is twofold. One, showcase a lustrous, new building on campus. And two, get some of the area’s top varsity basketball teams together to play in it. On Saturday and Sunday, the Saint Vincent Basketball Shootout will take place at the Dunlap Family Athletic and Recreation Center on the...
Jessica Peterson hired to lead Hempfield girls basketball program
Hempfield hired Jessica Peterson as its girls basketball coach Monday night by a 9-0 vote. She replaces Bob Madison, who resigned after three seasons. Peterson, 45, is a former Indiana High School assistant coach who also has experience coaching at the AAU level. She is the mother of Jayla Peterson,...
Apollo-Ridge dedicates court in memory of Caleb Altmire
A renovated multi-use sport court at Apollo-Ridge High School now bears the name of a graduate who held his school in high regard and who made sure his family and friends knew he cared so much for them. Rain didn’t dampen the mix of enthusiasm and emotion last Monday as...
Owner of school records for 3 decades, Quaker Valley basketball star takes place in hall of fame
The wait is over for former Quaker Valley basketball star Farrah (Causby) Clanagan, a 1995 QV graduate. Clanagan will be inducted into the Quaker Valley Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 18 along with the other members of this year’s HOF class: 2000 grad John Martin (football), 2004 alum Kara...
Joey David steps down after 25 years, 3 WPIAL titles at Mt. Lebanon
John Grogan made a lot of decisions in his long tenure as athletic director at Mt. Lebanon. He feels his best was when he hired a young Joey David to take over the boys basketball program. “I still remember the day I offered him the job,” Grogan said. “One of...
GoFundMe page set up for former Derry basketball star Stanley Rajkovich
Three months after transferring to The Kiski School, former Derry basketball star Stanley Rajkovich is facing a long road to recovery after a leukemia diagnosis. A GoFundMe page has been started to help cover medical expenses for the 6-foot-7 all-state forward who reclassified to the class of 2028. Rajkovich was...
Derry basketball player Gary Tarbuk reels in unusual summer job
A storm is brewing, and a darkening sky looms over a bobbing fishing charter boat whose anchor is stuck in the lake bed. Charter captain Gary Tarbuk has to act quickly to get everyone on board back to shore safely. He cuts anchor and revs up the engine. “Lightning was...
Belle Vernon ready to open refurbished gym
As Belle Vernon athletic director Matt Humbert gets ready to head to Bethel Park in the same position, he can look back proudly at a number of facility upgrades around the district. The final one will be complete next week. The high school gymnasium has been undergoing renovations since the...
Belle Vernon girls basketball is a team on the rise … and colleges are taking notice
Maybe the sudden surge in girls basketball talent that has transformed Belle Vernon into a recruiting hotbed and WPIAL title contender isn’t such a surprise after all. Not when you consider the genealogy of the Leopards’ three Division I prospects: Aubrey Brown, Isis Almyty and Lyla McConnell. “Yeah, they do...
North Catholic’s Lauren Reitz makes Division I basketball commitment
It’s unclear if Lauren Reitz will enter the sweepstakes to call football plays for Akron, but she does plan on playing basketball for the Zips next season. The North Catholic rising senior announced a verbal commitment to Akron on Thursday. A 6-foot-2 forward from Murrysville, she chose the Zips over...
New Springdale girls basketball coach Martin hopes familiarity makes for smooth transition
Ronnie Martin gathered several Springdale girls basketball players for a gym workout Monday afternoon. It was the first time he worked with the group since his recent hiring as the Dynamos coach. But he is not unfamiliar with the players or their skills. He most recently was an assistant in...
Hempfield girls basketball coach steps down, citing time commitment to family
Bob Madison said he had every intention of returning to coach the Hempfield girls basketball team for a fourth season, but priorities won out. “I need to invest more time in my family. That’s the reality of my situation,” Madison said. “A lot of coaches say that when they leave....
Sewickley Herald notebook: Panthers basketball standout embarking on college career
Sewickley Academy’s Lucas Grimsley signed a letter of intent May 14 to continue his hoops career at Kenyon College, a private liberal arts institution in Gambier, Ohio, and a member of the NCAA Division III North Coast Athletic Conference. Sewickley coach Mike Iuzzolino offered an interesting expectation for the 6-foot-5...
Revisiting a special season for Sewickley Academy boys basketball
One of the more unforgettable high school sports seasons in 2025-26 took place at Sewickley Academy. The boys basketball team left no doubt about who was the best Class 2A team in the state as the Panthers rolled to both the WPIAL and PIAA titles in impressive fashion. The following...
Julius Page Jr. returns to Chartiers Valley, adds talent to young roster
When sophomore guard Julius Page Jr. left Chartiers Valley after middle school and shadowed at Neighborhood Academy, he found the smaller school was a nice environment. “Culturally, I saw a lot of myself at Neighborhood and it felt like home,” Page said. “The class sizes were smaller, which made it...
Familiar face in Deer Lakes athletics happy to take reins of girls basketball program
Dana Petruska returned to the Deer Lakes girls basketball program in 2024 and guided her alma mater to 25 total wins, a 16-12 record in section play and a pair of WPIAL playoff appearances. She ended her two-year tenure at the close of this past season, and her departure opened...
Mark ‘Knobby’ Walsh returning to Seton LaSalle bench
Last month, Mark “Knobby” Walsh celebrated the 40th anniversary of his graduation from Seton LaSalle. Now he is going back home — again. Walsh has been hired to return for his second stint as boys basketball coach at Seton LaSalle. This comes two years after he walked away from Rebels...
Familiar face Nathan Conroy takes reins of Freeport girls basketball
Nathan Conroy is new to the varsity head coaching position in the Freeport girls basketball program. But he is no stranger to the Yellowjackets players. After serving as an assistant coach under Jason Kerr this past season, Conroy took over in May, and the transition, he said, was a smooth...
Latrobe’s Morgan Maiers masters the 4-sport grind
As one season blends into another, Morgan Maiers tries to get a few steps ahead. The rising sophomore at Latrobe played four sports in her first year of high school — with little to no down time between seasons — and will look to continue the crowded regimen. Her schedule...
Pair of rising sophomore girls basketball players from Westmoreland County get scholarship offers
A pair of Westmoreland County girls basketball players — rising sophomores — are already on the radar of NCAA Division I coaches. One university is trying to get ahead of the rest. Norwin’s Giuliana Giannikas and Lyla McConnell of Belle Vernon received scholarship offers this weekend from Mercyhurst. Both are...
Deer Lakes’ Collin Rodgers named Valley News Dispatch boys athlete of the year
Collin Rodgers is a winner. Across his storied Deer Lakes high school career, Rodgers’ teams won four WPIAL championships — two in soccer and two in basketball — and appeared in one PIAA basketball final. Rodgers helped those teams achieve what they did, but the senior was indispensable in their...
Plum’s Riley Stephans selected Valley News Dispatch girls athlete of the year
Plum’s Riley Stephans received Valley News Dispatch Girls Basketball Player of the Year honors in March after finishing a stellar season on the court. However, the senior was not done yet. Stephans led the Plum softball team to a 14-6 season and a first-round victory in the WPIAL Class 5A...
Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown selected TribLive Westmoreland boys athlete of the year
TribLive Westmoreland Boys Athlete of the Year Kymon’e Brown, Sr., Jeannette It is a special honor to be named the best athlete in Westmoreland County. It is even more special to do it for the second time. Jeannette senior Kymon’e Brown has been named 2026 TribLive Westmoreland Boys Athlete of...
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VIDEO: Rebel Yell Podcast: 2026 WPIAL Football Week 6 Player of the Week: Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg of Highlands
October 4, 1:04 PM EDT
