February 26, 2022 8:45 pm
Washington & Jefferson swept the Presidents Athletic Conference basketball championships Saturday. The W&J women rolled past Westminster to start the afternoon. The W&J men rallied from nine points down with 14 minutes to play to beat Chatham for the second time in 10 days. The sweep is the first in the school’s history.
Aleena McDaniel came off the bench to score 11 points for the the top-seeded women. Sarah Berardelli also had 11 for W&J. Victoria Koeck added 10. The Presidents led for all but three minutes in the middle of the second quarter, a stretch that was answered by a 6-0 run to close the half. W&J rattled off a dozen straight points in the middle of the third to put the game away then nailed seven of 8 free throws in the fourth to close it out. The PAC championship is the 5th for the women’s basketball program at W&J, the first since 2006.
Plagued by turnovers and poor shot selection, the W&J men found themselves down 10 points with 13 minutes to play in the first half but rallied back late to close to within six at the break. Chatham pushed the lead back to nine points with 14 minutes to play but W&J held the Cougars to 13 points the rest of the way. Five Presidents finished the game in double figures, led by Okikola Agbale 18 off the bench. Kyran Mitchell, who was called for four offense fouls, measured himself enough to stay in the game and finish with 13 points. JR Mazza scored 12, all in the second half. Nick Gearhart added 11 and Isaiah Langston had 10 including a pair of foul shots in the final minute to clinch the win. The title is the W&J men’s first since 1995 and their 10th overall. Only Bethany (14) has more.
Both teams have earned the League’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The brackets will be released Monday afternoon with first-round games due to be played Friday at campus sites.
February 26, 2022 10:46 pm
The Fort Cherry boys took the lead for good late in the first half, then blew the game open with a 10-point spurt midway through the third quarter on the way to the school’s first berth in the WPIAL semifinals in 61 years. Dylan Rogers returned from an ankle injury to score 28 points. Owen Norman added 19, Maddox Truschel chipped in 15. The win also clinches a state tournament spot for the Rangers. Trinity’s girls trailed most of the game, staged a wild, fourth-quarter rally only to see Madeline Cherepko’s 40-foot buzzer beater hit home, lifting #6 McKeesport past the host Hillers. Alyssa Clutter scored 31, 26 in the second half in the loss. Trinity joins the Burgettstown girls and Wash High boys in the follow-the-leader waiting game to see if their seasons continue in the state playoffs. Trinity qualifies if McKeesport beats South Fayette in Tuesday’s semifinal. Burgettstown qualifies if Serra Catholic reaches the finals or if Neshannock wins the championship. The Little Prexies earn a state berth if Shady Side Academy reaches the finals or if Aliquippa wins the title. Click for WPIAL brackets.
Tuesday, Mar. 1 (winner to 2A Boys Championship game)
2A Boys #2 Fort Cherry vs. #3 Carlynton at West Allegheny, 7:45 pm, WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here
February 27, 2022 7:32 am
PITTSBURGH — It’s difficult to get a read on Tristan Jarry. The reserved Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender speaks with a monotone that makes it hard to tell if he’s coming off his best performance of the season, or his worst. It’s a steadiness that has fueled Jarry to a pair of All-Star appearances. Yet, look hard enough at the way Jarry plays, and there’s an edge now that didn’t exist a year ago during a forgettable first-round playoff loss to the New York Islanders. Jarry no longer sits back in his crease. Instead he’s out there cutting down angles and occasionally mixing it up in the process. Jarry calls it “taking the ice that’s mine.” He claimed plenty of it in a taut 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday that leapfrogged the Penguins over their rivals for second-place in the tight Metropolitan Division. Two days after getting pulled for the first time all season in a dismal loss to last-place New Jersey — a game in which he allowed five goals on 19 shots thanks in large part to some shaky play in front of him — Jarry turned aside all 27 shots he saw from the Rangers to post the 11th shutout of his career, tied with Matt Murray and Les Binkley for third-most in team history. Evgeni Malkin provided the difference with a power-play goal 5:09 into the third period when he went down to one knee to rifle a snapshot from the right circle past Igor Shesterkin. The score was Malkin’s eighth of the season. Pittsburgh ended a three-game losing streak by returning to the kind of responsible, disciplined play that was the team’s hallmark until a recent dip in which they were shaky in losses to Toronto, Carolina and the Islanders. Shesterkin finished with 25 saves, but the Rangers, who tested Jarry early and late, ended their six-game point streak.
February 26, 2022 10:55 am
The PIAA individual wrestling championship series is underway for Class 3A wrestlers in the area. Section tournaments are happening Saturday at four sites including the Section 4-AAA matches at Peters Township. WJPA-AM (1450) has live, start-to-finish coverage.
Saturday, Feb. 26–Section 4-AAA Wrestling
9:20 am Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, 1st/2nd Consolations, WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
1:50 pm Championship & Consolation Finals (3rd/5th), WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
February 26, 2022 1:11 pm
Washington & Jefferson swept the women’s & men’s semifinal doubleheader Thursday night, advancing to the Presidents Athletic Conference championship games happening today. The #1 W&J women jumped in front comfortably, then held off a Bethany rally to earn a spot in the final against #2 Westminster. W&J opened conference play with a one-point win over the Titans in early December, then followed that up with a 16-point home win in mid-January.
The top-seeded W&J men battled back and forth with Waynesburg, finally securing the win and a third meeting with Chatham this season. The teams split their regular season home-and-home series, each winning on the road.
The two championship games will be played at W&J’s Salvitti Family Gymnasium. We’ll have live coverage of both games on WJPA. The women’s game is set to tip at 4:30 pm with the men’s title tilt set for 7:30 pm. Hear both games on WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
Championship Saturday
Women
4:20 pm #2 Westminster (18-8, 15-5) at #1 Washington & Jefferson (22-4, 19-1), WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
Men
7:20 pm #2 Chatham (21-4, 16-4) at #1 Washington & Jefferson (23-4, 18-2), WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here
February 25, 2022 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jesper Bratt scored twice in the first six minutes, rookie Nico Daws made 37 saves and the last-place New Jersey Devils drilled the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1. Yegor Sharangovich, Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer and Damon Severson also scored for the Devils, who won for just the third time in their last 12 games. Evgeni Malkin scored his seventh of the season for Pittsburgh but the Penguins dropped their third straight.
February 25, 2022 3:56 am
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – The two sides in the major league lockout met for the fourth straight day at Roger Dean Stadium, the idle spring training home of the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals. The union made proposals in two small areas, narrowing the number of young players who could earn additional major league service for accomplishments and loosening the union’s proposed restrictions on high amateur draft picks in consecutive years. The latter would be an attempt to assist lower revenue teams. They scheduled another day of talks on Friday. MLB told the union that it will cancel regular-season games if a contract is not agreed to by the end of Monday, a deadline the union has not accepted.
February 23, 2022 1:49 am
The top seeded W&J basketball teams rolled to first-round wins Tuesday night, claiming spots in Presidents Athletic Conference semifinals Thursday. The W&J women rolled by #8 Waynesburg in the first game with the men handling Grove City for the second time in a week. W&J will host a double-header Thursday, starting at 6 pm. The championship games are set for Saturday with the higher remaining seeds hosting. The PAC champions earn the League’s automatic bids to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Here’s are the semifinal matchups for both brackets (PAC records):
Semifinals, Thursday, Feb. 24
Women
#5 Bethany (10-8) at #1 Washington & Jefferson (18-1)
#3 Grove CIty (14-5) at #2 Westminster (14-5)
Men
#5 Waynesburg (10-9) at #1 Washington & Jefferson (17-2)
#3 Westminster (14-5) at #2 Chatham (15-4)
February 24, 2022 3:50 am
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Major League Baseball says the regular season will be shortened if a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t in place by Monday. Locked-out baseball players and team owners met for a third straight day Wednesday in an attempt to reach a deal that would salvage opening day on March 31. The announcement by management comes amid little negotiating progress with the lockout in its 84th day. Players have not accepted Monday as a deadline and have suggested any missed games could be made up as part of doubleheaders, a method MLB said it will not agree to. The union told MLB that if games are missed and salaries are lost, clubs should not expect players to agree to management’s proposals to expand the postseason and to allow advertisements on uniforms and helmets. MLB’s only new offer to players Wednesday was to increase the minimum salary by an additional $10,000 a year. MLB increased its proposed minimum for this year to $640,000, with the figure rising by $10,000 in each additional season of a five-year agreement. Players have asked for $775,000 in 2022, with $30,000 jumps each season.
February 23, 2022 2:59 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Charlie Moore and Kameron McGusty each scored 19 points and Miami beat Pittsburgh 85-64. Moore was 7-of-10 shooting and had five assists. Sam Waardenburg and Jordan Miller scored 12 points apiece for Miami (20-8, 12-5 ACC). The Hurricanes are tied with North Carolina for third in the conference standings, a half-game behind Notre Dame and 1 1/2 games behind first-place Duke with less than two weeks left in the regular season. Moore hit a 3-pointer 29 seconds into the game to open the scoring and Miami led the rest of the way. John Hugley led Pittsburgh (11-17, 6-11 ACC) with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds.
