Local Sports

A complete defensive gem was seen at Sewickley Academy as Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic’s suffocating zone defense caused fits for Riverside all night long. It was was a theme across the Class-3A quarterfinals as three of the four games combined to score no more than the 87 points in North Catholic’s 55-32 victory. The 3-seeded Trojans never trailed in the game, led by as many as 29 points, and forced 21 Panther turnovers. Kenny Fukon scored 21 for the Trojans, followed by eight a piece for Zach Offi and Vinnie DiNicola. DiNicola recorded a half dozen steals to lead the…

Riverside junior point guard Sydney Wolf scored a game high 18 points for the Lady Panthers as they secured a first round victory its WPIAL Playoff action Wednesday night in Peters Township. The Panthers pulled away from what became a close game to gain a 47-39 victory over Brownsville.  The Panthers led by double digits at halftime but had to hold on what became a four point game at the end of the third quarter. Bekah Bettencourt connected on three 3-points for Riverside to finish with nine points while her sister Lauren chipped in with 8 points for the victorious…

The WPIAL announced their 2017 high school basketball playoffs Tuesday night with three local teams earning a playoff birth.  Both Riverside girls and boys squads made the playoff picture along with the Ellwood City boys basketball team. For the boys in their Class 3A playoff bracket with opening round action on Saturday, Riverside (15-7) squares off against Burgettstown (11-11) at North Allegheny, 3 p.m. while Ellwood City (9-10) plays vs. Washington (18-4) at Peters Township, 3 p.m. An opening round victory could possibly pit the Panthers against heavyweight Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (17-5 overall) in second round action, while a upset…

Taylor Petrak, a senior swimmer at Lincoln High School won a double gold medal in her MAC Swim Meet, according to Lincoln High’s Twitter page. Saturday, Feb. 11,2017 was the MAC Swimming and Diving Championship hosted by Moon High School and directed by West Allegheny’s coach Bob Miller. “High school swimming is a little bit different than other sports in that you are only permitted to enter two individual events. However, if you are on a team you may also be a member of two relays.  We were pleased that Taylor won her two individual events – 200 yard freestyle…

Ellwood City’s summer youth baseball, brought to the community by the Ellwood City Amateur Baseball Federation, is preparing for their 67th season. Parents can sign their kids ages 4-18 up and registrations are from now until the end of February. Once a widely participated sport, Michael Widmaier, the organizations Vice President stated that they’re lucky if they get over 300 sign ups, which was almost doubled in the past. “The idea of the summer youth baseball program is to promote youth in the community being outgoing and active,” Widmaier said, “were hoping to see a good turn out this year.”…

The first season of bocce matches for Ellwood City’s Lincoln High School is already proving to be a success. Ellwood reigns champion against New Wilmington after their first and only home game, which included the support of the high school’s band and cheerleaders, on Tuesday night. The team of 12 students has been practicing since the beginning of December, and the coach says the students couldn’t be more excited about winning their first game. “I have several of the team members in my class and they have been so upbeat and excited since the win,” Mr. DiBuono, the coach said….