February 13, 2024 1:46 am
The WPIAL Basketball playoffs begin Friday night as the League set the pairings for this year’s tournaments. All told, Washington/Greene Counties have 12 girls and 12 boys teams in the brackets. Peters Township is the highest-seeded girls team, checking in at #2 in 6A after suffering their first loss of the season Friday night. Trinity girls moved up to the #3 seed in the 5A brackets with an impressive road win at Lincoln Park last Thursday. Waynesburg is seeded sixth in the 3A girls with Fort Cherry, Chartiers-Houston and Wash High slotted 4-5-6 in the 2A girls pairings. On the boys side, Fort Cherry is the highest-seeded squad among the teams from the two-county area, checking in at #4 in the 2A bracket. 5A Peters Township is listed at #5. The schedule for each team’s first game is below. We’ll have live coverage of as many games as we can, on-air and online. Our audio stream is free to all. The video, when possible, will be streamed through WPIAL partner NFHS Network (links provided). For WPIAL brackets, CLICK HERE.
Friday, Feb. 16–all at 7 pm & home gyms except as noted
2A Girls #9 Rochester at #8 Burgettstown
2A Girls #12 South Side Area at #5 Chartiers-Houston
2A Girls #11 Winchester Thurston at #6 Wash High
2A Girls #15 California at #2 Aliquippa
2A Girls #4 Fort Cherry vs. #13 Beth-Center, 6 pm at Peters Township
1A Boys #10 California vs. #7 Aquinas Academy, 8 pm at Peters Township
1A Boys #9 Avella at #8 West Greene, 6:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen/Watch Here
1A Boys #11 Jeff-Morgan at #6 Carlynton
5A Boys #17 Woodland Hills at #16 Trinity, 6:45 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen/Watch Here
Saturday, Feb. 17
3A Girls #14 McGuffey at #3 Beaver Falls, 11:45 am, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen/Watch Here
3A Girls #11 Seton-La Salle at #6 Waynesburg, 12 noon
Monday, Feb. 19–all at 7 pm & home gyms except as noted
1A Girls #9 Jeannette at #8 West Greene
1A Girls #11 Mapletown at #6 Bishop Canevin
3A Boys #9 Ellwood City at #8 Wash High, 6:45 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen/Watch Here
3A Boys #15 McGuffey at #2 Mohawk
5A Boys #12 Kiski Area at #5 Peters Township
5A Boys #16 Trinity at #1 Moon Area (if Trinity wins)
Tuesday, Feb. 20–all at 7 pm & home gyms except as noted
5A Girls #14 Woodland Hills at #3 Trinity, 6:45 pm, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen/Watch Here
2A Boys #13 Winchester Thurston vs. #4 Fort Cherry, 7 pm at Avella
2A Boys #9 Chartiers-Houston at #8 Serra Catholic
2A Boys #12 Burgettstown at #5 Bishop Canevin, 6:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen/Watch Here
Thursday, Feb. 22–times to be determined
6A Girls #7 Pine-Richland at #2 Peters Township
Friday, Feb. 23–times to be determined
6A Boys #7 Canon-McMillan at #2 Central Catholic
February 14, 2024 4:37 am
Two people with knowledge of the agreement say ESPN and the College Football Playoff have agreed to a six-year deal worth $1.3 billion annually that will allow the network to keep exclusive rights to the 12-team playoff through the 2031 season. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because a deal cannot be finalized until the CFP works through other outstanding issues regarding the format and revenue distribution. The Athletic first reported an agreement had been reached on those terms. ESPN declined to comment and CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock says negotiations are continuing.
February 13, 2024 4:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers have cut quarterback Mitch Trubisky, sending the former No. 2 overall draft pick into free agency after two disappointing seasons. Trubisky signed with the Steelers in March 2022 and was given first crack at replacing the retired Ben Roethlisberger. Trubisky started four games before being benched in favor of then-rookie Kenny Pickett. Trubisky struggled again this season while filling in for an injured Pickett, losing two starts before being replaced by third-stringer Mason Rudolph. The Steelers also cut offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor and punter Pressley Harvin III on Monday.
February 13, 2024 4:34 am
The longest Super Bowl game will also go down as the most-watched program in television history. According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, Kansas City’s 25-22 overtime victory over San Francisco averaged 123.4 million viewers across television and streaming platforms. That shattered last year’s mark of 115.1 million for Kansas City’s last-play victory over Philadelphia and is a 7% increase. The game was televised by CBS, Nickelodeon and Univision and streamed on Paramount+ as well as the NFL’s digital platforms. Some of the increase can be attributed to a change in the way viewers are counted, with out-of-home viewers from all 50 states included for the first time.
February 12, 2024 4:48 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid have made the Kansas City Chiefs a dynasty. They’re already thinking three-peat. First, they had to become the NFL’s first back-to-back Super Bowl champions in 19 years. Mahomes made sure of it, leading another super comeback on the NFL’s biggest stage in America’s showcase capital. Mahomes threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman in overtime, and the Chiefs rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 on Sunday, becoming the NFL’s ninth repeat Super Bowl champs. With pop star Taylor Swift watching boyfriend Kelce from a suite, the Chiefs captured their third title in five years and joined some of the league’s greatest franchises.
February 12, 2024 4:50 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — San Francisco’s decision to take the ball first in overtime of the Super Bowl will be debated for a while. The 49ers drove for a field goal, then lost 25-22 when Patrick Mahomes guided Kansas City 75 yards the other way for the winning touchdown. San Francisco’s drive ended when the 49ers kicked a field goal on fourth-and-4 from the 9. If they’d known three points wouldn’t be good enough, they could have gone for a touchdown in that spot. Instead it was the Chiefs who knew exactly what they needed to do to win.
February 12, 2024 4:51 am
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Nick Taylor made an 11-foot birdie putt to beat Charley Hoffman on the second hole of a playoff after birdieing three of the last four in regulation Sunday, capping another wild week at the Phoenix Open with his second memorable victory. Taylor closed with a 6-under 65 to reach 21-under 263, with the 35-year-old Canadian forcing the playoff with a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th. Both players birdied the extra hole and hit the green on No. 18 a second time, and Taylor birdied the hole for the third time in less than an hour. He won his fourth PGA Tour title. Last year, he took the Canadian Open with a 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth extra hole.
February 12, 2024 4:52 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Natalie Spooner and Emma Maltais each scored twice, Ann-Renée Desbiens made 24 saves and Canada routed the United States 6-1 on Sunday in the decisive seventh game of the Rivalry Series. Marie-Philip Poulin and Ashton Bell also scored for Canada and Sarah Nurse added three assists. It’s the second straight Rivalry Series in which the United States won the first three games, only to see Canada storm back and win four straight. Grace Zumwinkle scored for the Americans. Nicole Hensley stopped 10 of 13 shots before being replaced midway thorough the game by Abbey Levy, who made six saves.
February 10, 2024 1:58 am
All WPIAL basketball playoff tickets have been claimed, including 24 teams from the Washington/Greene Counties. Nine schools have teams in both boys and girls brackets. Burgettstown, California, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, McGuffey, Peters Township, Trinity, Wash High and West Greene will have boys & girls teams placed in the brackets set to be released Monday afternoon by the League. Once posted, we’ll update all of the match-ups on our sports page. All 24 qualifiers are listed below.
Saturday Results
Boys N/C Wash High 59, Monessen 56
Girls N/C Wash High 38, Monessen 36 OT
Girls WPIAL Qualifiers (*-Section champion)
6A Peters Township*
5A Trinity*
3A Waynesburg*, McGuffey
2A Beth-Center, Burgettstown*, California, Chartiers-Houston*, Fort Cherry*, Wash High*
1A Mapletown, West Greene
Boys WPIAL Qualifiers (*-Section champion)
6A Canon-McMillan
5A Peters Township, Trinity
3A McGuffey, Wash High*
2A Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry*
1A Avella, California, Jeff-Morgan, West Greene
February 10, 2024 12:02 am
PIAA Wrestling Team Tournament — We’ll have coverage on WJPA-AM (1450) of every Burgettstown and Trinity match all weekend. PIAA Team Tournament info: CLICK HERE
Trinity schedule Listen Here
First Round: Trinity 54, Selinsgrove 14
Quarterfinal, Bethlehem Catholic 41, Trinity 24
Round II Consolation, Trinity 45, La Salle College HS 23
Saturday, Round III Consolation, Connellsville 30, Trinity 26
Trinity lost to Connellsville for the second straight time, falling to the WPIAL champion Falcons in the PIAA Team Tournament Round III Consolations, ending the Hillers’ stay in the tournament. Major decisions for Robbie Allison and Dom Canali, wins by Blake Reihner and Zane Garner and forfeits to Bodie Morgan and Adam Watson could not overcome an early Connellsville lead. Three pins and a major decision led the Falcons into the consolation semifinals.
Facing elimination, Trinity nearly doubled up La Salle College, 45-23, to advance to Saturday’s Round III Consolations. Trinity got pins from Zane Garner, Blake Reihner, Bodie Morgan and a tech fall from TJ Allison in the win. The Hillers face Connellsville for the second time in a week. The Falcons edged Trinity last Saturday in the WPIAL Finals.
Friday afternoon, Bethlehem Catholic won the final three bouts to break a 24-all tie, beating Trinity in the 3A quarterfinals. Blake Reihner, TJ Allison and Robbie Allison scored falls to pull Trinity even with three bouts to go. Bethlehem Catholic scored two falls and a tech fall to set the final score. The Hillers drop into a Round II consolation match later Friday afternoon against District 12 champion La Salle College High School.
Thursday, Trinity rebounded from a one-point loss in the WPIAL Team Tournament final, scoring a 54-14 win over District 4 champion Selinsgrove in the opening round of the 3A bracket. Mickey Horne, Jacob Wright, Dom Canali, Zane Garner, Blake Reihner, TJ Allison, Bodie Morgan and Robbie Allison delivered pins for the Hillers. Trinity advances to the quarterfinals and will face District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic Friday afternoon on the WJPA Sports Network.
Burgettstown schedule Listen Here
First Round: Clearfield 42, Burgettstown 27
Round I Consolation: Montoursville 42, Burgettstown 23
Friday morning, Burgettstown’s stay in the tournament ended as the Blue Devils lost to Montoursville. Rudy Brown had a pin for Burgettstown and Gaven Suica added a technical fall for the Blue Devils only bonus points.
Thursday, Burgettstown built a 27-24 lead against District 9 champion Clearfield but lost the final three bouts, losing 42-27. The Blue Devils got pins from Joey Baronick and Darius Simmons, and a technical fall from Gaven Suica.
