February 28, 2024 2:28 am
Defending champion Aliquippa outscored Fort Cherry in every quarter on the way to a 55-36 win over the Rangers in the WPIAL 2A semifinals. The Quips scored 7 points in 45 seconds in the middle of the second and the Rangers never got closer than seven the rest of the way. Josh Pratt and Cam Lindsey combined for 30 points to lead Aliquippa. Derek Errett had 14 for Fort Cherry, the only Rangers player in double figures. Aliquippa moves to Saturday’s WPIAL championship game. Fort Cherry will face Northgate Thursday to determine third place heading into the state tournament.
Earlier in the evening, the Fort Cherry girls got 26 points from Rainey Staub, 13 more off the bench from Brooke Cornali, in a solid win over Winchester Thurston. The Rangers fell behind 8-3 early but took the lead late in the first and never trailed again. Fort Cherry takes 7th place out of the WPIAL and will play at the District 10 champion in the opening round of the state tournament.
Trinity and Peters Township girls have state qualifier games Wednesday with the Fort Cherry boys playing for third on Thursday. For WPIAL brackets, CLICK HERE.
Tuesday, Feb. 27
WPIAL 7th place
2A Girls #4 Fort Cherry 61, #11 Winchester-Thurston 46 Listen/Watch Here
WPIAL Semifinals
2A Boys #1 Aliquippa 55, #4 Fort Cherry 36 Listen/Watch Here
Wednesday, Feb. 28
WPIAL 3rd place
6A Girls #5 Chartiers Valley at #2 Peters Township, 7:30 pm
WPIAL 5th place
5A Girls #4 Lincoln Park at #3 Trinity, 7:00 pm
Thursday, Feb. 29
WPIAL 3rd place
2A Boys #4 Fort Cherry at #3 Northgate, 7:00 pm (tentative)
February 28, 2024 4:49 am
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Erik Karlsson scored the winning goal at 1:42 of overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to their third consecutive victory, 4-3 over the Vancouver Canucks. Rickard Rakell, with two goals, and Lars Eller added the others for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry made 32 saves between regulation and overtime. J.T. Miller, with a goal and an assist, Nils Hoglander and Brock Boeser scored for Vancouver with Tyler Myers grabbing an assist. Thatcher Demko stopped 36 shots. Sidney Crosby had two assists for the Penguins.
February 28, 2024 4:50 am
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton says he won’t know until next week at the earliest if he’s moving on from quarterback Russell Wilson. But Payton did hint at an upcoming split when he suggested it’s imperative for the team to hit on ‘the next one’ at quarterback. A solid starter has been elusive for the Broncos ever since Peyton Manning’s retirement in 2016. They’ve churned through 13 starting quarterbacks since then. Wilson was believed to be the answer but he’s won just 11 of 30 starts and was benched for Jarrett Stidham in December.
February 27, 2024 2:39 am
Defending WPIAL champion North Allegheny stifled Peters Township, advancing to the 6A girls finals for the 8th time in nine years. The Tigers held Natalie Wetzel & Gemma Walker to a combined 15 points, less than half their season average. NA took the lead for good early in the second, built a 12-point lead in the third and held Peters Township at arms length the rest of the way.
Trinity clinched a PIAA 5A girls tournament berth, using a strong second half to beat Indiana. Trailing 30-24 early in the third, the Hillers outscored the visitors 32-9 to close the game.
Tuesday night, we’ll bring you a Fort Cherry girls/boys doubleheader on the WJPA Sports Network. The Rangers girls take on Winchester Thurston, both having already clinched state playoff spots. The winner takes 7th place and stays in the traditional “western” half of the bracket. The Fort Cherry boys then play #1 Aliquippa in the 2A boys semifinals with a spot in the championship game on the line. Our audio stream is free to all. The video for all four will be streamed through WPIAL partner NFHS Network (subscription required, links provided). For WPIAL brackets, CLICK HERE.
Monday, Feb. 26
WPIAL Semifinals
6A Girls #3 North Allegheny 43, #2 Peters Township 30 Listen/Watch Here
Consolation Round I
5A Girls Trinity 56, Indiana 39 Listen/Watch Here
Tuesday, Feb. 27
WPIAL 7th place
2A Girls Fort Cherry vs. Winchester-Thurston, 5:45 pm at Chartiers Valley, WJPA-AM (1450) Listen/Watch Here
WPIAL Semifinals
2A Boys #4 Fort Cherry vs. #1 Aliquippa, 7:45 pm at Chartiers Valley, WJPA-FM (95.3) Listen/Watch Here
February 27, 2024 4:41 am
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins will begin a crucial four-game western road trip without forward Bryan Rust. The 31-year-old Rust stayed behind in Pittsburgh while dealing with an upper-body injury sustained in the third period of a 7-6 win over Philadelphia. Rust’s 18 goals are third on the team behind captain Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. The 10-year veteran has been coming on strong of late, with seven goals in his last eight games, including two against the Flyers. Reilly Smith will take Rust’s spot on the top line next to Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
February 27, 2024 4:43 am
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — José DeLeón, a major league pitcher for 13 seasons who led the National League in strikeouts for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1989, has died. He was 63. Los Leones del Escogido, DeLeón’s team in the Dominican Winter League, said he died Sunday evening at Cedimat hospital in Santo Domingo. The team said DeLeón had health issues without giving further information. DeLeón was 86-119 with a 3.76 ERA in 264 starts and 151 relief appearances from 1983-95. Selected by the Pirates in the third round of the 1979 amateur draft, DeLeón made his major league debut on July 23, 1983, striking out nine over eight innings in a 5-2 win over visiting San Francisco. DeLeón was traded to the Chicago White Sox in July 1986 for Bobby Bonilla, who earned four consecutive All-Star Game selections with Pittsburgh from 1988-1991.
February 26, 2024 4:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Drew O’Connor and Rickard Rakell scored less than two minutes apart in the third period to break open a tie game and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Philadelphia Flyers 7-6. Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists for Pittsburgh. The Penguins captain has 129 points (55 goals, 74 assists) in 87 regular season games against the Flyers. That’s the most by any opponent against Philadelphia. Travis Sanheim and Tyson Foerster had two goals each for the Flyers.
February 26, 2024 4:45 am
Cody Bellinger is going back to the Chicago Cubs, agreeing to an $80 million, three-year contract, according to a person familiar with the deal. The slugger can opt out of the deal after each of the first two years. The person confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was pending a physical. Bellinger’s return would be a big win for the Cubs, who waited into spring training as the center fielder explored his options in free agency. He hit a career-best .307 with 26 homers, 97 RBIs and 20 steals in 130 games for Chicago in 2023.
February 26, 2024 4:44 am
VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) — Jake Knapp has won the Mexico Open, and it wasn’t easy until the end. Knapp had a four-shot lead going into the final round. That was cut in half in three holes and gone after seven holes. But the 29-year-old rookie from UCLA never lost the lead. He hit only two fairways and leaned on a short game that carried him to a 71. He won by two shots over Sami Valimaki. The victory gives Knapp a spot in the Masters and the PGA Championship. He also gets into the remaining five signature events with a $20 million purse.
February 25, 2024 1:20 am
The individual wrestling series got underway Saturday for area 3A wrestlers at the Sectional tournaments. Most large-school teams in the area took part in the Southern Sectional at South Fayette. Ringgold was placed in the Eastern Sectional at Norwin. The top six finishers in each weightclass advance to next week’s WPIAL 3A Championships at Canon-McMillan. We’ll have start-to-finish coverage of the WPIAL 3A Wrestling Championships and the PIAA West Regional Girls Tournament on the WJPA Sports Network with free audio on WJPA-AM (1450) and online at wjpa.com. We’ll also provide video coverage of the championship finals through the WPIAL partnership with FloWrestling and NFHS Network.
Trinity and Ringgold advanced nine wrestlers each. Peters Township and Waynesburg have seven qualifiers while Canon-McMillan will have five wrestlers in next weeks action. Trinity won four individual championships. Canon-McMillan and Waynesburg won two each, Peters Township one.
3A Southern Sectional Championships
107 Nicholas McGarrity (Peters Township) DEC Jonathan Emma (Mt. Lebanon), 11-4
114 Caiden Harbert (West Allegheny) DEC Ejiro Montoya (Mt. Lebanon), 1-0
121 Dom Canali (Trinity) DEC Collier Hartman (Canon-McMillan), 7-0
127 Andrew Binni (Canon-McMillan) DEC Ky Szewczyk (Waynesburg), 8-3
133 Mason Kernan (Bethel Park) DEC Ramil Islamov (Baldwin), 1-0
139 Blake Reihner (Trinity) F Ryder Joseph (Canon-McMillan), 1:35
145 Ethan Higgins (Bethel Park) DEC TJ Allison (Trinity), 3-2 TB2
152 Nick Jones (West Allegheny) DEC Luke Dunlap (South Fayette), 3-2
160 Keith Mincin (Baldwin) DEC Michael Lawrence (Chartiers Valley), 3-1 SV
172 Bode Morgan (Trinity) MD Parker Nave (Peters Township), 11-0
189 Robbie Allison (Trinity) FOR Jake Stephenson (Waynesburg), 0-0
215 Geno Calgaro (Canon-McMillan) F Landon Hartman (Bethel Park), 2:30
285 Roan Tustin (Waynesburg) DEC Michael Albert (Upper St. Clair), 6-4
Third place
107 Bryce Thomas (Moon) DEC Cade Stern (West Allegheny), 3-0
114 Brock Dennision (South Fayette) MD Jake Wright (Trinity), 8-0
121 Cael Yanek (Moon) MD Evan Sala (Mt. Lebanon), 9-1
127 Owen Klodowski (Baldwin) DEC AJ Snatchko (West Allegheny), 6-4
133 Logan Connolly (Chartiers Valley) DEC Logan Slovick (West Allegheny), 6-5
139 A.J. McGarrity (Peters Township) DEC Peter Leventis (South Fayette), 7-6
145 Cole Gibbons (Mt. Lebanon) DEC Liam Costa (Moon), 7-4
152 Ian Bucheli (Bethel Park) DEC Daniel Huffman (Waynesburg), 7-4
160 Cordan McDonnell (Bethel Park) DEC Brock Evans (Waynesburg), 3-1
172 Lachin Islamov (Baldwin) DEC AJ Tomaino (Bethel Park), 12-7
189 Nick Pruchnitzky (Chartiers Valley) TF Caleb Bebout (Peters Township), 21-6 4:24
215 Tyler Glover (Chartiers Valley) DEC Ronan Gibbons (Upper St. Clair), 6-5
285 Ben Lloyd (Mt. Lebanon) DEC Zack Stromock (Peters Township), 2-0
Fifth Place
107 Mickey Horne (Trinity) M FOR Mike Schoeb (Baldwin)
114 Floyd Huff (Waynesburg) F Jason Alex (Baldwin), 4:29
121 Colton Fisher (Bethel Park) DEC Issac Meyers (Peters Township), 2-0
127 Jonny Baiano (South Fayette) DEC Seth Miller (Bethel Park), 9-6
133 Joey Maritato (Moon) F Luke Rush (Waynesburg), 4:00
139 Aden Stout (Bethel Park) DEC Elijah Thomas (Moon), 6-2
145 Talan Mizenko (South Fayette) DEC Chris Cibrone (Peters Township), 3-1
152 Mario Del Rosario (Baldwin) F Zack Regotti (Moon), 4:19
160 Michael Olszewski (Moon) M FOR Cael Nicollela (Trinity)
172 Brayden Collins (Canon-McMillan) DEC Cameron Simon (West Allegheny), 8-1
189 Hunter Goelz (Bethel Park) DEC Bekzod Sharifov (Moon), 7-2
215 Roemiere Washington (Moon) F Adam Watson (Trinity), 2:52
285 Cam Danna (West Allegheny) F Michael Gibson (Bethel Park), 4:04
3A Eastern Sectional Results (Ringgold wrestlers)
Championships
133 Kai Vielma (Connellsville) F Braydon Campbell (Ringgold), 1:32
215 Juliano Marion (Franklin Regional) DEC Jake Conroy (Ringgold), 4-2
Third Place
114 Evan Tolliver (Ringgold) DEC Zachary Franks (Connellsville), 7-6
145 Luke Ankney (Franklin Regional) DEC Cristian Lowther (Ringgold), 5-3 SV
160 Ewan Olson (West Mifflin) DEC Jack Duncan (Ringgold), 6-2
Fifth Place
121 Nathan Klingensmith (Norwin) F Nico Bove (Ringgold), 1:52
152 Ethan Cartwright (Franklin Regional) MD Tanner Shawl (Ringgold), 10-2
189 Owen Conroy (Ringgold) F Jacen Wright (Penn Hills), 4:23
285 Elisua Daugherty (Franklin Regional) DEC Jay Holmes (Ringgold), 5-1
